Shanghai film clips
My homework this week is scanning old Chinese movies for interesting clips of Shanghai for possible screening in the exhibition. The exhibition curator Michael Knight was given a stack of DVDs from a Chinese contact with permission to use. (I think they are all in the public domain).
乌鸦与麻雀 / Crows and Sparrows poster (1949)
Last night I watched Crows and Sparrows (乌鸦与麻雀) which is available online in its entirety on a Chinese website called 56.com. No subtitles though. It was filmed during a tumultuous time, when the Kuomintang and the Communist party were engaged in civil war, and was released after the Communists had taken power in 1949. You probably can tell from the poster that the film takes a dim view on the KMT character and his wife — they are the cartoon characters (the crows) fleeing above the flames. Even though I could not understand the dialogue, they came across as pretty sinister. There was a surprising amount of humor despite the grim themes of corruption, strife, and conflict. There is a nice English plot summary here.
There were some city shots that were interesting and relevant. For example much of the drama takes place in the shikumen style housing shared by the characters. Contemporary artist Zhang Jian Jun is using reclaimed bricks from these rapidly disappearing 19th century structures in his installation called “Vestiges of a Process: Shanghai Garden.” In an interview, Zhang said, “[in] my artwork, I always using time, and the transition. Because everything is moving, everything is changing.” What a perfect summation of the spirit of the Shanghai exhibition and the films that also tell a part of these stories.
6 Responses to “Shanghai film clips”
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Nancy on January 12th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
I remember seeing an early Chinese film on TCM staring Ruan Lingyg, It was about a prostitute who was using her money to support her son. Of course, she was scorned by the “respectable” people and the head of the school was going to expel her child because of the way his mother earned her living. She turned on her pimp and murdered him. Then, the school master had a change of heart and promised to raise the boy and protect him. She was exquisite with a face that registered all the pain and sorrow in her character’s life. The movie didn’t paint a pretty picture of what life must have been for Chinese women of the lower class; in fact, I was impressed with its honesty. I believe that the actress was caught up in some scandal and later committed suicide.
duriandave on January 12th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Edeb, I’ve been wanting to see Crows and Sparrows for a long time now. Still waiting for a subtitled release… sigh…
Nancy, the Ruan Lingyu film you saw is called The Goddess and is her most iconic film. I highly recommend it to all silent and Chinese movie fans! You can get it on DVD from the San Francisco Silent Film Society.
http://www.silentfilm.org/shop.html
I should also mention that Cinema Epoch has released nearly 20 classic Shanghai films — silent and sound — on DVD with English intertitles and subtitles. The image quality is not that great. Don’t expect a pristine, Criterion-quality transfer. But the subtitles are well-written (and seem accurate), and the silent films all have original music scores. Go to the following webpage for a list of what’s available (scroll to the bottom):
http://www.cinemaepoch.com/foreign.html
You can probably find many of these on NetFlix. I especially recommend Spring In A Small Town, Queen Of Sports, Street Angel, and Daybreak.
Nancy on January 12th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I found The Goddess on uTube and posted a link via my blog:
http://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/2010/01/upcoming-at-asian-shanghai-opening-feb.html
It’s really a masterpiece and it’s a shame that it’s not more widely know in the West. But, when I was reading about Shanghai, I was overwhelmed by the tragedy of China during the 1920’s and 1930’s. We are lucky to have anything from that time, given the brutalities of war, occupation and famine.
edeb on January 14th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Thanks for the good suggestions, duriandave, and Nancy, for your comments and interesting post on your own blog.
We will show a biopic/documentary about Ruan Lingyu’s life directed by Stanley Kwan called “Center Stage” with Maggie Cheung playing Ms. Ruan on one of the first Sundays during the Shanghai exhibition. Details to come soon. You can see a trailer on YouTube
duriandave on January 14th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Cool! Center Stage is one of my favorite Chinese films and was also my introduction to the classic Shanghai movies of the 1930s.
Looking forward to seeing it again!
Nature Photography on February 8th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Nice! center stage is also one of my favorite. thanks Edeb for sharing it.
God Bless!