Stanley Kwan's ACTRESS (the original Chinese title is the name of the
actress) is a 3 hour docudrama about a heroine of 1930s films who committed
suicide after an unhappy love affair.  Kwan interviewed surviving directors
and actors who worked with her and used clips from her own films while
Maggie Cheung (star of Jackie Chan movies) reenacts the events of the
times--Japanese invasion, political upheaval at home, etc.  I believe--it's
hard to get a grasp of all this unfamiliar material on one look--that one
actress friend of the star is interviewed and portrayed in her youth by
another actress--she may also appear in the film clips.