The Chinese Mirror

Wang Fuqing (? - ?)

    Wang Fuqing 汪福庆 was born Hubei, but his family relocated to Shanghai after the Nationalist revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911.  He began in movies with the Commercial Press Motion Picture Division as a set designer, but moved into acting in 1922, appearing in several shorts before securing a male lead, usually in romances like "The Predestined,"  "Patriotic Umbrella" and "My Dear Brother."  He soon moved into directing, working for several of the second-tier Shanghai studios.  When Shanghai was occupied, he moved to Hong Kong, where he continued working until the war shut down studios there.

The Chinese Filmography: 1923

       By the mid-1920s, although still very much in an exploratory phase, China's young movie industry was sufficiently established that its studios were entering commercial competition.  At first glance the statistics would seem to indicate a fervor of filmmaking was sweeping the country:  during the five-year period from 1922-1926, 175 movie studios were established nationally, with more than 140 of these in Shanghai, which by then was well on its way to becoming China's Hollywood.  The rest were medium and small-scale companies scattered among the cities of Guangzhou, Beiping (now Beijing), Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shantou.  But in reality most of these startups were "filmmakers" in name only, and never actually made a motion picture.  The statistics also show that during that same five-year period China's studios collectively produced a total of 192 narrative films, including numbered sequels and shorts, and the great majority of these were from only a handful of established Shanghai studios.  In this regard, it is interesting to note that while the year's biggest hit was from the Mingxing studio, the most prolific studio was the Commercial Press Motion Picture Division.
    With this post we initiate an occasional series, The Chinese Filmography, citing noteworthy motion pictures from China's classical era, year by year.  These are films which may not merit in-depth articles, but are still notable in historical context, from major Shanghai studios, and made by the era's most important on- and off-screen filmmakers.  While the Chinese Mirror will of course continue to post full articles or retro reviews on the classic era's most historically significant Chinese movies, a section providing less detailed data should give a fuller picture of the era's output, much as our "Brief Biographies" category does for lesser, but still significant, filmmakers.

Tang Wei Interview: one trip into Hell is enough

[This is a translation of an interview published in the Yangcheng Evening News 羊城晚报 (Guangzhou), November 21, 2008.  Byline:  Li Li 李丽. The original is online at Jinyang Net, the paper's online edition.  Italicized parts are the reporter's intro to each section; bracketed items like this one are the translator's notes.]

Once More a Student, Tang Wei Feels Rejuvenated

       After presenting so stunning a feminine screen image in "Lust, Caution," Tang Wei suddenly vanished – as if she had gone back in time to the film's  historical setting.  What has happened in her world during the last year?  Amid the ever-growing rumors about her in entertainment circles, how might she have changed when she came back?  And even more importantly, what does the future hold for her?
     Although she rarely accepts media interviews, Tang Wei yesterday granted an exclusive interview to a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News.

1 Studying in London
 
     Not long ago, Tang Wei spent two months in London taking advanced classes and – fitting for someone in the acting profession – she chose to take courses in stage acting.   Now, Tang says she still continues to draw inspiration from her time in London.  What did that experience mean to her, and what did she learn from it?

Zhang Huichong: the magic man

    As mentioned in an earlier post, some Chinese movie studios in the classic era hyped their most popular stars as "China's [name of Hollywood star]," reflecting both domestic audiences' interest in movies from the West, as well as the studios' readiness to capitalize on that popularity to publicize their own emerging industry.  So it was only natural that Shanghai studios would soon be seeking their own version of one of America's top matinee idols, Rudolph Valentino.  Early in his career, Zhang Huichong was the first of several Chinese actors to be billed as "China's Valentino," but when he moved to action films became known as the "Oriental Fairbanks."  While he didn't make many movies, the ones he did were very popular.  But despite his success as a silent film actor and director, he is remembered in China today for his second, post-movie career as one of the country's most famous stage magicians, the first in that country to perform Western-style magic acts.

Glossaries Updated

The Chinese-English and English-Chinese glossaries of filmmaking terminology have been updated.  Terms added since the last update are marked with a tilde ~ .