tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post5176319724870717226..comments2024-03-15T06:33:47.450-05:00Comments on View from the Brooklyn Bridge (brns.com) - What's New: Two from Zhou XuanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-6445743701808263222010-02-10T23:35:29.911-05:002010-02-10T23:35:29.911-05:00Couple of things:
I'm preparing an article fo...Couple of things:<br /><br />I'm preparing an article for the Chinese Mirror about Yuan Muzhi and his actress-wife Chen Bo'er, but to respond to your wondering whether he made any more movies: "Street Angel" was his second directing effort, and his last. The couple acted the leads in one more movie in 1938, "800 Heroes," one of China's last silents, which was based on a true historical incident, sort of a Chinese "Wake Island." The couple then learned that they, as were many Communist Party members, were targeted for assassination by both the Japanese and the Kuomindang government. They escaped to Yanan, where they joined the Communist forces there. Chen seems to have been the more political of the two, and in 1950 was given a high-ranking position in the new regime's movie bureaucracy, while Yuan prepared to resume filmmaking. One of her first actions was to set up the film school that later became the Beijing Film Academy. But in late 1951, while attending a film conference in Shanghai, she collapsed and died of a heart attack, age 41. After this, Yuan retired from filmmaking, officially for health reasons, but it was widely known that his problems were psychological: every time he set foot on a film set, memories of Chen would come back to him, and he would break down, unable to work. Because of the couple's past dedication to the revolution he was given a position in the bureaucracy and lived out his days without making another picture.<br /><br />"Street Angel" was the only movie for Zhao Huishen, who played the older of the two sisters. She was a prominent stage actress, and after this one film she returned to the stage. After WW2 she became a university acting teacher, and later a major figure in the PRC Ministry of Culture's department that oversaw theater. She was a victim of the Cultural Revolution (it is believed that fully one-third of the Shanghai film community perished during that era), dying in 1967, age 53.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-91691964466395872952010-02-03T13:32:15.607-05:002010-02-03T13:32:15.607-05:00Shameless plugs are always welcome here! Especiall...Shameless plugs are always welcome here! Especially when they give me just what I was looking for! Thanks. Do you know if the upgrade for Spring in a Small Town took place? I didn't see anything about that on the their webpage.Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-53969000867496113712010-02-03T11:45:25.131-05:002010-02-03T11:45:25.131-05:00I definitely second the recommendation of Queen of...I definitely second the recommendation of Queen of Sports, as well as the semi-remake by MP&GI, "Beauty Parade," featuring Kitty Ting Hao. (Though as far as classic Chinese sports go, I love MP&GI's "Spring Song" most.)<br /><br />But yes, "Street Angel" is the absolute best. Zhou Xuan is intoxicating. And for a fascinating article about the uncanny life of Zhao Dan, see a recent article by Yingjin Zhang in the Journal of Chinese Cinemas.<br /><br />And shameless plug: I wrote a "user's guide" to the Cinema Epoch films here: http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/071019/article.asp?parentID=80005Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-30287517544728120792010-02-01T10:27:10.010-05:002010-02-01T10:27:10.010-05:00DD - thanks for all that. Often I approach "...DD - thanks for all that. Often I approach "classic" films with some trepidation worried that it will not live up to its billing or that time will simply have made it a bit irrelevant but Street Angel blew me away.<br /><br />GK - he will or it will be disaster time in November! Problem is Obama doesn't have a magic wand as people seem to think. Look at the House - they have passed a ton of legislation - but the Senate and their arcane rules is crazy. Literally the Republicans can stop everything with 41 votes and that is their intention clearly. And then once they are back in power the Dems will return the favor and nothing will ever get done in this country. The Republicans are setting a terrible precident here that could paralyze govt for years. And what pisses me off is that they are getting away with it with the American public.Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-52114471086837034142010-02-01T06:43:47.606-05:002010-02-01T06:43:47.606-05:00Street Angel sounds awesome!
And I agree with you...Street Angel sounds awesome!<br /><br />And I agree with you about the Republicans, though I still want results and not just political theater from Obama.Glenn, kenixfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735095946077123391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28108120.post-52367112967196638672010-02-01T02:58:24.000-05:002010-02-01T02:58:24.000-05:00I absolutely adore Street Angel. It easily one of ...I absolutely adore <i>Street Angel</i>. It easily one of my all-time favorite films.<br /><br />I was a little disappointed when I first started picking up the Cinema Epoch DVDs and realized that they were using the same crappy transfers that were used on for a series of VCDs that you used to be able to pick up in SF Chinatown for a couple of bucks. It's probably the best there is at this time, but a lot of these films totally deserve the Criterion treatment.<br /><br />But big props nonetheless to Cinema Epoch for creating superb English subtitles and new scores for the silent films.<br /><br />My favorites of the batch include, besides <i>Street Angel</i>: <i>The Big Road / Queen Of Sports</i>, both with Li Lili; and <i>Crossroads / Daybreak</i>, the first with Zhao Dan and the second with Li Lili.<br /><br />Finally, here's a brief, good <a href="http://chinesecinema.ucsd.edu/film/film_synopses_ccwlc.html" rel="nofollow">introduction</a> to the classics of Shanghai cinema.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com