Seminar / Chinese Silent Cinema 1920-1935 中国无声电影 1920-1935 University of Heidelberg Dr. Paul G. Pickowicz 毕克伟 and Dr. Sun Liying 孙丽莹 Dates: April 20 - July 16, 2016

Written reflections on individual films © Bonato Michela, 2016

The class included the production of a movie which had to resemble a Chinese b/w movie shot in the 1930s in Shanghai, covering the topics

typical of Chinese Cinema at that time. The movie is available for private purposes and/or didactic purposes at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgTAKHU1MOE

All the rights remain to the Authors (Wang Yizhou, Wu Jun, Zhang Yafei,

Huang Luyu, Michela Bonato, Lydia Rachel, Andrea Tsang)

MichelaBonatoMatrikelnummer ChineseSilentCinema1920‐1935CommentonRomanceoftheFruitPeddler–劳工之爱情 ThemovieRomanceoftheFruitPeddler,shotin1921,isthefirstmovieinChinesecinematic

history to be survived. The linkageswith the theatrical representations aremanifold, clear

signthatthisartisstillinitsembryonicstageanddrawsmanyofitscharacteristicsfromthe

richandvibranttraditionoftheatre.

Thecharactersmakeuseofspaceasinatheaterset:theirgesturesandvisualexpressionsare

greatly emphasized, the sequences are fixed and the actorsmove in their own setting. The

protagonisthasitsareawherehesellsfruit,thedoctorwithhisdaughterhavetheirown,as

well as the bad guy of the storywhodraws a teahouse. Every character can then be easily

memorizedbytheaudiencethroughthevisualassociationwiththeirworkandsurrounding.

The settingsalsohelp ingivingdetailson the intimate featuresof the characters: thisearly

movieinfactlacksofaprofoundinnersoulsurvey.Thecharactersmainlyoperateinaregime

ofstereotypes.

TheprotagonistZhenghasthedoubledutytogetridoftheoppressionofthewicked,andwin

thehostilityoftheolddoctorZhuwhowantstoearnsomethingbyallowingherdaughterto

marry him. A comic style accompanies all the duration of the movie, so that any possible

reformistmessage concerning arrangedmarriage, is somehow blurred and 'smeared' on a

comic surfacewhich prevents a rational assimilation of the content. Laughing and surprise

triumphastoindicatehowthismovie,inadditiontoseekinganeconomicreturnbyattracting

morepeopletothecinema,isalsoanexperimentinitsgenre,anewartistictypologythathas

not found its own identity yet. Visual effects like fast motion and film overlapping are

thereforeparticularlywelcomesincetheyemphasizethewonderintheaudience.

Zheng askswhichqualification should he have in order tomarryMrs. Zhu, and the doctor

replieshewillconsenttothemarriagewithsomeoneabletoimprovehisbusiness.Fromthis

pointon,Zheng falls intoaraceagainst time inorder to findasolution to thisobstacle.His

innerpainisgivenbytheinexorablepassageoftimeshownbythemodernclock.Hiscunning

will leadhim tovictory, even if itmeans to take temporarily advantageoverotherpersons,

whoaredepictedasviciousbecausegamblingclubgoers.This resolution is justifiedby the

factthatZhengcannotsleepatnight,sincetheplayersupstairsaretoonoisy.Justiceseemsto

beobtainablethroughhisownresources;everyonemustfightforhisbeliefs.

DoctorZhurepresentstraditionandoldsociety:inhissetting,Confucianslogansarevisible

onthewall,evenifheisthefirstonetodisregardthosecommunityprinciplessuchasthatof

benevolence, ren, in order to gain some profit. Traditional medicine is also derided, and

sooneritwon'tcompeteanylongerwithWesternscientificapproach.

Old society is a rotten past, but still it is perpetuated in the present, and new generations

shoulddosomethingtobringinanewmodernChineseidentitybasedonfreedom,justiceand

equality. Inthemovieinfactthetwoyoungpeoplespeaktoeachotherdirectlywithoutany

intermediary:abreachhasbeenopenedinthemillenarywallofChinesefixedsociety.

Michela Bonato Matrikelnummer  Chinese Silent Cinema 1920‐1935 

 

Comment on 一串珍珠 ‐ String of Pearls    

 The movie String of Pearls, shot  in 1925 by Li Zeyuan, starts with a short animation  that,  like a 

form of metacinema, reveals to the audience the process of creating a movie: we may  interpret 

the hand drawing a figure as the mind of the director thinking and shaping the characters of his 

movies. Later on we see six circles revolving like six reels, and then the movie company appears by 

showing the Great Wall, which is the symbol of the studio. This short prelude invites the audience 

into a new  ‘magic’  realm of  fantasy and hyper‐reality. After all Chinese  citizens  still need  to be 

properly educated for what concerns the use of this  instrument of entertainment – a movie can 

reproduce reality, but most of the times exacerbating  its characteristics through the use of non‐

sense. 

 The plot turns around a pearl necklace, borrowed, stolen and later on reappearing before conclu‐

sion: pearls are visually associated with the feminine sphere for their purity, whiteness and beauty, 

but at the same time they are a cause of women’s vanity and perdition. The modern woman living 

in  the city, and  socially enabled of  joying  the public  sphere and  the nightlife,  seems  then  to be 

even more dangerous than a woman who spends her life following the traditional Confucian pre‐

cepts – or at least, this is the imaginary ideal of the director. The nuclear family is shown since the 

beginning of the movie as the most important thing the human being can aspire to, and therefore 

it must be celebrated and protected: “there  is nothing  in the world more precious than a sweet 

family”, states the caption. The side effects of Modernity are given by the overturning of tradition‐

al family roles: women can enjoy mundane life, while the husbands stay at home and take care of 

the offspring. The sequences concerning this game of roles are both comic and touching: the audi‐

ence  is naturally convinced of  the goodness of  the man,  trying his best as husband and  father, 

while some doubts might arise on the moral conduct of the woman. There is no intention to deni‐

grate the woman in his role of mother; the attention is more focused on the possible loss of some 

‘natural’ features that have always determined men and women in society. Mr. Wang, the protag‐

onist, seems to  lack of masculinity, while her wife could have a weak maternal  instinct. The pro‐

tagonists will retrieve their  full role  in society when their social status after a downgrade to the 

poor class, will converge with  the rising working class. The meaning of  their  life, after  the over‐

coming of  the  illusions built by bourgeoisie, will  then be clear again  in  their mind. The  final up‐

grade to the middle class seems then to be deserved, because both the protagonists have gone 

through pain and misery, and have now clearly understood their faults. 

Feminine ostentation  is also condemned as a product of modern times, since  in modern city  life 

women can be more easily  tempted by materialistic desires and have more chances  to publicly 

show their status through the means of powerful beautiful artifacts.        

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Michela Bonato Matrikelnummer 3000648 Chinese Silent Cinema 1920‐1935 

 

Comment on 西厢记 – Romance of the Western Chamber  The movie  Romance  of  the Western  Chamber,  shot  in  1926,  is  a  unique  example  of  the fuzhuangpian genre as  it  is the only  film survived  from the 1920s related to the topic. For this  reason,  it  represents  a  source  of  investigation  and  comparison  as  both  a cinematographic product and a reinterpretation of a literary masterpiece. The possibility for a classical book (even if written in baihua and therefore considered a second class book for the  literati  –  but  still  part  of  the  tradition)  to move  towards  a  film  adaptation  implies  a general acceptance of the cinema  in the Chinese artistic sphere of the 1920s as an artistic tool,   rising to the same  level of theatre, and moreover,  it underlines the role given to this media and artistic vehicle as expression of the “new”: a means to experience modern times, and to reevaluate tradition.  Analyzing  the  figure of Zhang Gong,  the protagonist of  the  story,  I would dare a physical comparison with one of  the most  famous Peking opera artists of  the modern era,  i.e. Mei Lanfang, or at  least this  is the  figure  I have recalled to mind while observing the actor, his poses and the beauty in his face. Even if performing opposite roles, the two have in common a kind of freshness and naiveté, some characteristics that let Zhang Gong appear somehow delicate  and  foolish.  His  sympathetic  nature  is made  clear  in  one  of  the  first  captions: “Where  is the most beautiful  landscape  in this area?” which emphasizes also the tendency among the men of letters to be constantly in search of the beauty. The way he attracts the attention of Ying Ying is also not determined by his force but rather by his capability to recite verses out loud (one of the first scenes, already inside the monastery). The character is built on certain stereotypes, but  that makes sense  if analyzed  in  the difficult context of a silent movie where  the  figures must  be  easily  recognized  by  the  audience,  and  apart  from  the visual emphasis given to the facial movements (a theatrical reminiscence), few possibilities remain to the director to underline the roles of the characters (in this movie, we see e.g. the play of colours black/white to represent good/evil both  in the faces of the warlords and  in the horse pigmentation). For what  concerns  the  facial expression of Zhang Gong  towards his beloved,  it brings me back to the male gaze discourse firstly “structured” around the figure of Rodolfo Valentino, a star in the Western history of cinema, but it also helps the scenography emphasizing the fact that  we  still  are  in  the  Chinese  traditional  milieu  where  patriarchal  structure  and  the Confucian  zhengming  rule  society.  The  female  characters  therefore  are  stuck  in  the background and act inside a traditional view: marriage to redeem family, obligations, sense of duty  and dishonor. Hung Niang,  the  servant of  Ying  Ying,  is  the only  female  character carrying fresh air, and empowered to act outside the schemes (she can laugh openly, make jokes, have body  contacts, etc.). A monito  for  the promoters of  the New modern  society, where  the  role  of  the marginalized  classes  is  destined  to  change,  bringing  them  to  gain decision‐making power?  The dream of Zhang Gong  is the key to modernity: achieved through a technical device,  it represents  a  metaphor  of  the  weakness  of  the  literati  social  class  after  1911.  Chinese territory  is  divided  among  subversive warlords  and  foreigners,  but  the  academia  doesn’t seem  to have enough power  to  react and at  least  “unify  the minds”  in order  to  fight  the 

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enemies. The director is condemning the nihilist man of letter who expresses his dismay only through  ink  and  paper.  The  allegorical  escamotage  then  of  the  flying  erected  phallus represents a catharsis where the climax is determined by the final orgasm and the symbolic rescue of his beloved. The idea of man establishing dominance through a fly performance is quite old,  as we  can  go back  to  the Greek mythology  (see  Icarus).  In modern  times,  it  is worth mentioning the flight made by the Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio – together with eight  Army  aviators  ‐  on  August,  9th  1918  over  Vienna:  the  war  was  not  over,  but  the reinvigorated national spirit  let those “heroes” to flight from Padua to Vienna to show the enemies  the  superiority of  Italian people.  They  succeeded,  their ego  flew high, while  the Austrian newspaper Arbeiter Zeitung published: “Where are our D’Annunzio?”.  Scenography  is particularly  relevant  in  this movie, because  it  is  created on existing places and  not  in  a  film  studio.  The  visual  material  is  therefore  an  interesting  source  for  a geographical analysis of the landscape around Hangzhou and the Lingyin Temple, and maybe also Suzhou. Some landscape scenes in the movie have the power not only of charming the audience, but also of instilling a desire that at that time is in its initial phase: make a trip, a vacation,  or  a  pilgrimage  in  the  bourgeois  optics.  This  famous  monastery  could  hence become a popular but also affordable destination for the bored Shanghaiese middle class. It could  also  be  interesting  to  investigate  on  the  dial  probably  stipulated  between  the filmmaker and the abbot in order to shoot the movie inside the monastery. Landscape represents also a tool for the director to adjectivise two fundamental antagonists: the wicked warlord gathers his men in a grotto, while the monks walk in line surrounded by the harmonious peace of the monastery. The bucolic power of the earth, obscure and even malicious  is here vis‐à‐vis with  the benign  force of  the  sky delivered  through  the open air view of the land properties of the monks. I would conclude with the image of Zhang Gong living Ying Ying to go to the capital and pass the imperial examination. The way he turns his eyes back to the monastery and his beloved remembered me  the  famous scene  in The Betrothed by Manzoni  (Cap. VIII), when Lucia  is forced to leave her village on the shores of Lake Como in order to escape from the evil Don Rodrigo. Sitting on the boat, she turns her eyes back to capture a last view of her hills, and in her mind she thinks about that perverse  force which constraints her – and Renzo – to  flee away.  In  the movie,  the evil  force  is sarcastically embodied by Ying Ying’s mother and old social norms.                   References http://www.storiologia.it/aviazione/annunzio.htm (in Italian)  

MichelaBonatoMatrikelnummer ChineseSilentCinema1920‐1935

Commenton雪中孤雏 –OrphanintheSnow

ThemovieOrphanintheSnow,shotin1929,hasanintricateplot,signbothoftheadvancesmadeinfilmtechnologyandthewealthofknowledgeofthepeoplebehindthecamera.Theresult represents amixture of real elements connectedwith commonChinese imagery andtradition, exotic appearances, possible literary quotations and inspiration from previousmovies, as well as a nonsense vein which helps in digesting the tragedy through theintroductionofcomicscenes.Thecaptionsinthismovieareextremelydetailed,andIwouldarguethattheyhaveapreciseaimwithinthenarrativeandtheshapingofa“modernlanguage”,sourceofdiscussionamongtheliterarycirclesinthoseyears:theaudienceisprojectedintothelanguageregimeofdesires,with the intentionof insisting in forging anewmodern– andChinese –personality on thebasisofpeople'sownaspirationsand, of course,desires.This concept goes anywaybeyondmaterialism,astermsrelatedtoparticular'modern'feelingsarealsofrequent,e.g.compassion(“Ihavecompassiononthispoorgirl”),aswellastheadjectivesthathumanizethecharacterplayed by Wu Suxin: poor, miserable creature, frail, but also active and smart. The maleprotagonist on theotherhand isdescribedas rich andheroic, aperfect combination in theeyes of any woman, and he is also well inserted as an icon of the modern man, not onlybecause of his fashionable look, but also for his ability to impose his personality and hiswishes (“it'smydesire”)over social restrictionsand familydisappointment.Thisprocessofdetachmentfromthefather'swillisgraduallyachievedthroughasortofdisclosureoftheselfandhisownawareness(plottypicalofthetime,cf.UlyssesbyJoyce). Atthebeginningofthemovie,themother‐in‐lawalsosupportsthisnarrativeofdesire,“youmust comply with his desires”, but here we are in the sphere of tradition with theaccomplishmentofadutyinaConfucianperspective. Talkingaboutsexualityandsexualdesire,thelinkagebetweenthistopicandcinematographicart is something fresh and maybe also risky for those times if we consider the actualpercentageofChinesepopulationreallyinvolvedinthemodernistdiscoursearoundthebody.We should nevertheless mention the huge literature on sexuality that has been producedduring the centuries (but smotheredduring theprudishQingdynasty)which enablesus inassertingasortof continuity in tradition.Thesexualact isdepicted inThaoismasa tool toreinvigorate the spirit, and thousands are the stories concerning sexual learning, as “thesexual act leads toDao” (vanGulik,1974). In these terms,we should consider carefully theChinese culture of body, physicality and sexual act before starting a comparison with theWesterncounterpart:evenifthevisualimageismoreorlessthesame,itdoesnnotmeanthattheaudiencereceives,codifiesandreproducesitsmeaninginthesameway. Ofparticularinterestareallthosematerialsignsconnectedwiththeideaofmodernism:apartfrom the beautiful make‐up and hair style of the protagonist, we see in the movie agramophone,aniron(theironitselfisanancientinvention,butthematerialiscloselyrelatedwiththeideaofprogress,seee.g.thetourEiffelinParis),wallpapers,thebathsupplies,andalocomotive.ThesceneofWuSuxinlyingontherailsisanexpedienttoshowtheaudiencehow

a'modernsuicide'shouldlooklike.The physical violence that the girl must undergo, derives both from the 'feudal' past(personifiedbytheconcubine,whoisherselfahoveringfigureinthesociety,arepressedone,andthroughthebreaksintradition–shebringsmisfortuneonthefirstdayoftheyear),themodern (i.e. the eldest sister of the male protagonist, who is devoured by boredom – themodern spleen in Baudelaire), and the fairytale (when she is kidnapped by the bruteinhabitantofaChinesestylecastle).Thefabulouselementintheplotaddsofcoursesuspense:theflightofZhangHuiminusinglianasresemblesTarzanoftheApes,whosestoryhasactuallybeenshotseveral timesduring the '20sandwaswellknownat least inWesternworld.Theimageofthecastleandtherichbrutemangoesoutfromanymodernrealdepictionoflustandgreed,eveniftheysymbolizeit,sincethefantasticandtheabsurdityarepredominant.Iwouldlink this part of the story with the French folktale Bluebeard, the most famous survivingversionofwhichwaswrittenbyCharlesPerrault(1697). ReferencesGulik,R.H.van(1974).SexualLifeinAncientChina.Leiden:Brill(ItalianEd.consulted). TheChineseMirror,http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2010/05/wu-suxin-huaju-studio.html. Bluebeard,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard.

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Michela Bonato Matrikelnummer 3000648 Chinese Silent Cinema 1920‐1935 

 

Comment on 桃花泣血记 ‐ Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood     The movie Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood,  shot  in 1931, marks  the beginning of a 

new era  in Chinese silent cinema, since  it  inaugurates a new thematic strand which raison 

d'être is closely linked with the historical events of those years. The European “roaring years” 

(1920s) find no comparison in China: modernity with its new styles and behaviors is not that 

widespread as  it  is  in  the West, with  the exception of  the urban  sphere,  in particular  the 

middle‐class in Shanghai. Furthermore, Chiang Kai‐shek pushing towards political absolutism 

is  clearly  a  step  back  in  the  process  of  the  institutional  change  highly  acclaimed  by  his 

predecessor and father of the republic Sun Yat‐sen. While the country internally is folding in 

on  itself, culturally freezing between two opposite poles (i.e. tradition vs modernity), other 

threats  are  coming  from  the  outside:  in  1929  the  Great  Depression  begins  in  the  US, 

launching  a  dark  signal  over  the world  economy.  Although  in  China  the  economic  crisis 

arrived later, the discouraging news coming from the West may have adversely affected the 

Chinese opinion on all the process of modernization started at the end of 19th century and 

based on the alleged superiority of the ‘West over the East’. The fear of being overwhelmed 

by  the  American  economic  collapse,  combined  with  the  increasing  social  and  political 

problems which were  affecting  China  internally  (in  1927  the  Chinese Communist  Party  is 

banned,  and  in  1932  the Manchurian  area will  be  completely  occupied  by  the  Japanese 

troops), have surely contributed to worsening the climate also in the artistic context.  

 The  filmic approach on the topic of “spiritual pollution”  is built on a subtle critique of the 

West: this is no more the regime of greed on materialistic terms, but rather an approach to 

life  itself  based  on  what  are  considered  as  degenerate  values  of  the  West  ‐  widely 

stereotyped –  to be put on  trial. The difficulty of  interpretation of  this kind of movie  lies 

precisely  in  the  fact  that  the  aesthetic  evidence  of  a  Western  influence  on  Chinese 

environment  is minimized,  i.e. only a  few Western  technical devices  such as a wristwatch 

and a camera are displayed  in  the entire duration of  the  film:  small, almost  invisible, and 

therefore  “innocuous”  devices  not  affected  by  censorship  because  of  their  functionality 

(both in real life and in the plot). The narrative rupture with the films of the previous decade 

is  striking,  since  the audience  is not allowed anymore  to mentally associate  the  figures of 

cars, trains, telephones with the Western world, thus showing some inconsistent scenes like 

the probably obsolete use of sedan chairs  in a rich family of  landowners  in the Shanghai of 

the Thirties – at  least  in comparison with the content of some previous movies where cars 

and trains are clearly celebrated as new modern means of transportation.  

The  clothes worn  by  the  characters  also  differ  completely  from  the Western  fashionable 

clothes  used  so  far  in  the  movies:  the  female  main  actress  Ruan  Lingyu,  after  her 

metamorphosis into a citizen, wears in fact a qipao, whose origins are traceable in the Qing 

culture. The  typical Qing dress was however quite  large  in order  to hide  the  shape of  the 

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female body, while the ‘modern qipao’ re‐designed in Shanghai in the Twenties is tight and 

exalts the feminine curves. The choice to use this dress  in the movie means that already  in 

1930s  this  cloth had become  a  symbol:  it  stands  for  Shanghai,  the  city, modernization  in 

Chinese  terms, but  also  foreign  concessions,  submission  to  the Western, prostitution  and 

sale of the entire country.  

 In terms of social content, this movie is clear since the director uses arbitrary distinctions to 

show the good and the evil of Chinese society (in his perspective), but  it creates confusion 

and probably a sense of disorientation in the audience. The poor countrymen have inherited 

all the good by Chinese millenary tradition that  it seems  like they should be preserved as a 

rare species. The rich landowners are actually a constant feature of Chinese history and their 

role is questioned as ‘healthy carriers’ of the Western virus, and not because of their social 

power. The leftist political influence is therefore still weak and mainly expressed in terms of 

class  dignity  rather  than  social  justice  linked  with  the  idea  of  class  revolution,  some 

premature  concepts both  from  the Chinese  and  the Russian Communist perspective  (it  is 

worth noting that class struggle was firstly supposed to happen through the urban working 

class).   

 What could lead successfully to a relationship of concubinage in pre‐modern China, results 

instead in a dramatic ending, leaving many questions hanging and a bitter taste for the story 

narrated in the movie and its underlying meaning.                                 References Samarani, G. (2004). La Cina del Novecento. Dalla fine dell’impero ad oggi (China in 19

th Century). Torino: Einaudi. 

11.05.2016 1 

 

Michela Bonato Matrikelnummer 3000648 Chinese Silent Cinema 1920‐1935 

 

Comment on 粉红色的梦‐ Dream in Pink    

 The movie Dream in Pink, shot in 1932 by Cai Chusheng, is a controversial description of an 

urban story which has a family as protagonist, and a fascinating femme fatale as antagonist. 

The setting represents the city of Shanghai and all its grandeur as the ‘Paris of the East’, just 

before the devastation caused by the Japanese bombings. 

The  narrative  goes  along  two  rails:  on  one  side  there  is  a  clear  complaint  against  the 

degeneration of morals, while on the other side the audience has to face with the ambiguity 

of  the  film and negotiate on  its significance. Many are  in  fact  the elements which make  it 

difficult  to  discern  between  good  and  evil:  West  and  East,  city  and  countryside,  and 

modernity as a Western product in toto, have not clear boundaries anymore. The distinction 

and complete separation between these worlds fade away, and they are replaced by a vague 

representation of some human prototypes that, thanks to their behaviors and characteristics, 

may resemble reality more than in the past movies (without considering the arguable happy 

ending).  The married  couple  depicted  in  intimate moments,  their  kissing  in  public,  their 

Western‐style clothes, their ‘progressive’ behavior, all goes against the ideal of a traditional 

family.  The  social  struggle  is  therefore  internal:  we  don’t  see  two  different  worlds  in 

comparison  anymore,  but  rather  two  sides  of  the  same  coin.  The  bucolic  scenario  is  still 

visible and  idyllic, a  source of  interior peace, but  the city gains a new positive  role  in  the 

movie  (probably  a  sign  of  a  shift  in  Chinese  politics  and  social  attitudes  in  those  years): 

patriotism, national proud,  sense of  innocence and  chastity are not only  traceable among 

the peasants, but are also part of the urban society, which is called to raise up and take part 

in  the  process  of  construction  of  a modern  Chinese  identity,  in  particular  supporting  the 

nation  against  foreign  imperialism.  In  this  view  the  city  is  not  a  demoniac  environment 

anymore, even if some spaces like the nightclubs contain the seeds of evil.  

 The  two  women  placed  in  antithesis  are  however  similar  in  the  way  they  successfully 

manage  their  life also  in hard contexts:  they are strong modern women,  independent and 

self‐confident. They know how  to deal with men  in order  to obtain  their attention  (one  is 

using  her  sex  appeal, while  the  other  her  intelligence).  The  femme  fatale  reminds me  of 

11.05.2016 2 

 

Emma, the protagonist of the romance Madame Bouvary by Flaubert, because the two share 

the same need to escape from a fixed social framework and their ‘modern’ need to enjoy life. 

The male protagonist  is  actually weak: he blames her wife  for his  lack of  inspiration  and 

creativity, he cannot resist to desire, he cannot control her second wife and prevent to be 

abandoned, he loses his way with his small child, causing the hilarity of other men passing by 

in the street. In this sense masculinity in the movie seems to be downgraded.  

 The  role  of  the  baby  opens  a  space  for  hope  in  a  better  future: well  instructed  by  her 

mother on moral – but modern – values, the kid inspires a sense of confidence in her father, 

and helps in building up the happy ending.  

The title of the book the man is writing throughout the movie is tiantang, heaven, which he 

thinks to have actually found  in his second wife or better,  in the femme fatale before their 

marriage. She is uncontrollable and full of verve, who could resist to falling in love with her? 

The contrast between reality of facts and expectations should finally ensure the reunion with 

his first wife, who  is able to forgive for the good of the family, but also maybe for her own 

reputation.  

                                

17.05.2016 1 

 

Michela Bonato Matrikelnummer 3000648 Chinese Silent Cinema 1920‐1935 

 

Comment on 小玩意 – Small Toys   The movie Small Toys, shot in 1933, tells the story of a woman and all her feelings in relation 

to  some particular  circumstances of her  life. Her name  is  Sister Ye and  she  is a maker of 

traditional  toys:  during  the  movie  she  fully  demonstrates  her  independence  and 

resourcefulness, which made her  likely  to become  a heroine  in  the  eyes of  the  audience 

watching the movie at that time, shortly after the end of the Japanese bombings in Shanghai. 

Her life follows a downward spiral from a ‘normal’ routine filled with optimism, joie de vivre, 

innocent and tender feelings typical of the life in the countryside, to a series of misfortunes 

which  reach  the  climax  with  the  death  of  her  daughter  Zhu’er.  Sister  Ye  undergoes  a 

personal process of physical and psychological decay (in the end of the movie she is a beggar 

living on the street and she has become mentally ill) that remember the same historical facts 

which brought China  to  collapse under  the attacks of  the  Japanese, accused of being  the 

cause of all the problems the Chinese were facing at that time. The ideal of patriotism that 

the protagonist  teaches  throughout  the movie until her  final public harangue seems  to be 

born as an  immanent necessity as  if the Chinese decay were really fresh news without any 

structural cause. Superficiality and melodrama, along with the recent dramatic events, make 

the movie successful in shaking the minds and therefore promoting a nationalist urgency to 

the unity.  

 The political message is conveyed through the long captions that describe the monologues 

of Sister Ye, and  later on also of her daughter, who has  learned well  the  teachings of her 

mother:  from a  technical perspective,  it seems  that  the director  is already  fighting against 

the limits of silent films, because even if the acting is masterful, the message can actually be 

spread only through words. The content  is simple as addressed mainly to the villagers who 

by  counterparty  are  quite willing  to  listen  to  her  voice.  Sister  Ye  has  also  the  power  to 

persuade  the mind  of  an  educated middle  class man,  but  actually  this  can  happen  also 

because he is deeply in love with her.  

The  body  and  the  education  to  gymnastics  become  also  a  vehicle  of  political message:  a 

healthy and strong body is in fact the symbol for a prosperous country. This ideal is derived 

from  the West  and embraces both  the Nietzsche  theorization  concerning  “the new man” 

17.05.2016 2 

 

(übermensch) and the rebuilding of State power on the traces of ancient Roman Empire (cf. 

the  ideological  foundations of  fascism  in  Italy). Afterall  the  famous maxim of  Juvenal says: 

“mens sana in corpore sano”. 

                                                           References Nietzsche, F. Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). 

MichelaBonatoMatrikelnummer ChineseSilentCinema1920‐1935

CommentonDaybreak–天明

ThemovieTianming,shotin1933bythedirectorSunYu,presentsassomepreviousfilmsthe

dualism between countryside and city, but in this case through the opposite images of

dreaming and waking up in the real world. The idea of a bucolic world out of the

contemporaryChinesehistoryisinfactexpressedbytheprotagonistLingLingwhile,together

with her lover, she is calling to hermind the remote happy days of their life at the fishing

village.Thisinterludeissuddenlybrokenbyher“awakening”(shewasnotproperlyslipping)

– a sortofnew,matureandbitter awareness. Sheexclaims: “thatwasadream.Nowweare

awake”.Thissentencecouldsubtendtheideathatthecountrysideisactuallynottheproper

place inwhich a radical political and social change could take place: this destiny is in fact

reserved to the city, where a vibrant atmosphere of extremisms could become the right

scenario for a revolution (in this case, the subversion of the landlord’s power by the

NationalistPartyanditsarmy).

The city in SunYu’smoviehas alreadybecomea systemofmassiveproduction,where the

individuals seem to lose their personality and undergo a metamorphosis into automata.

People are shownwalking in line, shuffling fromexhaustionwhile goingbackhomeafter a

longworkday:theimageofthecityasa‘deityofprogress’thatswallowshumanity,evokesthe

scenario of a very famousWesternmovie shot in 1927by theAustriandirector Fritz Lang,

Metropolis.ScientificprogressandFordismcausealienationandsubmission,dividingsociety

into twomain groups: those who detain power by themeans of scientific knowledge, and

thosewho are bent to that ‘superiorwill’which actually allow them to become consumers

ratherthemcitizens.Sickandcontagiousmiserablepeoplearerejectedbysociety,sincethey

are tooweak to survive to the rapid change dictated by themodern times. According to a

unilinealviewofsocietalevolutionthatshouldtendtoperfection(wheretheEuropeanurban

modelatthebeginningof20thcenturyisconsideredasclosertoperfection),thoseindividuals

who cannot effort the shift are naturally destined to disappear. Humiliation and self‐

abnegation are features that could be well associated with the protagonists of the social

romanceswrittenbyCharlesDickens.

PoliceandlawenforcementagenciesinWarlordperiodworkinordertomaintainthestatus

quo:theyfightprostitutionassourceofmoraldisorderforsocietyitself,buttheyareaffiliated

with those people holding power through economic production and semi‐enslavement. the

GuomindangArmyemerges in this context as anew force able tobring social justiceanda

morehealthy formofmodernization. Thehistorical reconstruction of the foundation of the

nationalistmilitaryacademyinGuangzhou,theuseofmodernandsophisticatedweapons,the

demonstrationofsomewarfaretechniquestypicalofthattime(suchastrenchwarfare)areall

meansofknowledgeenhancementfortheaudienceandawaytobuildupasortoftianming

fortheNationalistPartyitself.

“苦吗？‐Frustrated?”Theprotagonistsareoftenaskedtoanswerthisquestion.Theystrive

for a better future, and they cultivate themselves in terms of social consciousness and

patriotismuptotheultimatesacrificeasmartyrsatthefootofthemotherland.

MichelaBonatoMatrikelnummer ChineseSilentCinema1920‐1935

CommentonQueenofSports–体育皇后

QueenofSports,shotin1934bySunYu,isamoviecompletelydedicatedtosportactivityand

feminine human body, to be interpreted as the representation of the state of health of an

entirecountry.Thepoliticalmessageisspreadloudlyinthedialoguesandinthegesturesof

theprotagonistLinYingandhiscoachMr.Yun:LinYingexperiencesthroughherbodyasort

of learningprocess that lasts for the entiredurationof themovie, and culminateswithher

renunciation of the crown for a greater good, i.e. the sacrifice of her personal desires, and

egoismforthesakeofthecollectivityandtheestablishmentofasolidnationalcommunity.

Thefigureoftheteacherandsportstrainerisfundamentalinordertopeiyang,cultivateboth

thephysicalandthementalaspectoftheindividualwhoshouldfinallybeforgedintoanew

renewed Body of the Nation: the realm of gnósiswhich is the aim to be reached, clearly

resemblestheTaoistprocesstowardsthepurificationoftheselfandthefinalascensiontoa

mysticallevelofcomprehensionoftherealityofthingsastheynaturallyareandnotasthey

appear.Thetrainingassumesimportance,andconsistsalsoinexperiencingpainonaphysical

level (consistent exercise and estrangement fromworldly distractions) and onmental level

(overcomingofthesorrowcausedbythedeathofamate).Thetrainerimposesrules(wesee

inthemovieMr.Yunexplaininghowtopositioninthestartingblocks),monitorsthedisciple,

supports her in weakness and warns her. He knows the secret way, the correct dao, to

accomplish themetamorphosis.LinYingat thebeginningof themovie is clearlyan “unripe

fruit”,becauseevenifembodyingfreedomandpurity,sheisalsoclearlysuperficialinthought

and naïve. She is addressed as an “immature little girl!” and later on as “a rich girl” – this

passageinthemovieisnotclear,sinceitcouldrefertoanallegedinfatuationofMr.YunforLin

Ying,oritcouldbereadasacritiquetotheupperclassandtheirviciousbehaviorinsociety.

AsChinatryingtopursuetheprimacy(actuallyinthoseyearsthecountrywasstrivingforits

own survival!) and deserve the title of daZhongguo, great China, Lin Ying is like a rough

diamondthatneedstobemodeled.Herfirststepistounderstandthedutytogiveherbest–

for the family, the school, but also the country and thewholeworld, and let everybody be

proudofher.ThisargumentisquitetraditionalandlinkedwiththeConfuciansubdivisionof

society,andthevisionofaglobeunifiedwherethegoodcanspreadlikeatsunamiandreach

the entire tianxia, ‘all under heaven’. The second step that might have destabilized the

audience is the commitment to renounce to her personal identity in order to enrich the

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MichelaBonatoMatrikelnummerChineseSilentCinema1920‐1935

CommentonLittleAngel–小天使

Little Angel, shot in 1935 by Wu Yonggang, is a film aligned with the Nationalist Party

propaganda,whichaimistore‐establishtraditionalChinesevaluesinthenewmodernsociety

thathasbeencorruptedbyWestern lifestyles.Confucian imaginarycovers in fact theentire

durationofthemovie,andit isbothexpressedinthegesturesandinthewrittenword.The

vocabularyofthecapturesfollowsthetraditionalnarrativesconcerningConfucianvirtues,in

particular concerning li礼 (ritual), li理 (order) and yi義 (senseof justice). Theplot turns

aroundthefigureofachildborninapoorbutwithsolidvaluesfamily,whoundergoesmany

trialsandexperiencesinordertofullyunderstandthemeaningofhispresenceintheworld.

He will have indeed a great future in front of him if he will act according with tradition;

moreover, he embodies all the expectations the Nationalist Party addresses to the next

generationofChinese.MuchimportanceisthereforegiventothefamilyasthebasisofChinese

society, where the patriarchal structure delineates the roles within it. In this sense, the

comparisonbetweenthepoorfamily(whereallmaindecisionsaretakenbythepatriarch,the

grandfather)andtherichandmodernfamilylivingontheothersideoftheroad(wherethe

father isoftenoutandthemothercannot imposehermethodsonthekids,becauseshehas

herselflostherway),putsclearevidenceonthesideeffectsofatotalembracementofWestern

Modernism.

The societal analysis going on in that period and orchestrated by the Nationalist Party,

underlines the importance ofmaintaining Chinese tradition alivewhile absorbing from the

Westernworld only technology and scientificmethod.Modernism should be only a tool to

reestablish Chinese primate under the Tianxia, and not a way of living. In the movie, the

benefits of modernism are shown through the modern school system and the healthcare

efficiencybothprovidedbyaneffectiveconfrontationandassimilationofWesternculture.The

conservativepoliticallineisalsocausedbythestrugglebetweennationalistsandcommunists,

becauseatthattimethelatterareillegallyengagedinspreadingliberalistvaluesthroughout

China,andinsodoing,theyweakenthecentralpower–aweakChinabecameeasyprayfor

theexternalimperialistpowers.

The movie contains some linkages with Christianity, i.e. the tile itself, the magisterium of

confession after committing a sin, the church music during surgery. New faiths had been

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