Stanley Kwan’s unconventional masterpiece is back, and it looks better than ever.

“Center Stage,” the Hong Kong New Wave director’s kaleidoscopic portrait of tragic 1930s screen siren Ruan Lingyu, opens August 7 at Film Forum in a new 4K restoration. Maggie Cheung stars as the actress known as the “Greta Garbo of China,” who took her own life at 24 after Shanghai tabloids turned her private struggles into public spectacle.

Kwan doesn’t play it straight. The film weaves lush period drama with archival footage and documentary sequences where Cheung herself reflects on Ruan’s legacy. It’s intimate and metatextual, a biopic that constantly questions what we can actually know about someone’s life.

The restoration was scanned from the original 35mm negative in Hong Kong and digitally restored in Bologna, with Kwan overseeing the final color correction.

Cheung won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin for the role. Thirty-five years later, critics still call it one of her finest performances and one of the great Chinese films of its era.

Kwan will appear in person opening weekend for Q&As. The weeklong run goes through August 13.