The Chinese Mirror

Announcing the Chinese Mirror Film Awards (a historical conceit)

    By 1925, Chinese movie studios were turning out a full product line of motion pictures, many of them including filmmakers' social messages while entertaining the moviegoing public.  As noted earlier, in 1925 these studios completed and released 54 full-length features (usually defined as one which is 4 or more reels in length. i.e. more than 30 minutes), and only 8 shorts.  Mingxing again led the way, with 9 features, and 29 other studios churned out the rest.
    To this point, we have been listing in our archival (filmography) categories all films released in a particular year.  But the growing annual production output makes a total listing an impracticality.  So with this post we initiate a new series, The Chinese Mirror Film Awards, recognizing the most noteworthy motion pictures of China's classical era, year by year.  These awards are a total conceit, an invention of the editor's imagination, as China did not actually start bestowing awards on its motion pictures until the 1962 Hundred Flowers Awards.  There were two fan votes prior to that, the "Four Great Dan" election of 1926, and the 1934 election to determine the "Emperor and Empress" of movies, but these were votes to choose fans' favorite performers, not best pictures as judged by industry professionals.  While the Mirror awards are wholly imaginary, there is a sound basis for singling out these particular films for distinction:  these are the movies which crop up repeatedly in Chinese film histories, and are cited in such standard film references as The Chinese Cinema Encyclopaedia (Shanghai, 1995) as being among the nation's best early productions.
        The eligibility rules are as follows:

1.  In determining to which year a film belongs, "year of release" is the operative phrase.  The uniform practice among Chinese scholars is to list a film by year of production, whereas Western sources (e.g. the The Internet Movie Database) usually list a film by its initial release in country of origin, regardless of when made.  So our years may differ from those given in Chinese sources.  This practice will be followed in all subsequent Chinese Mirror posts:  if a film's actual release date can be determined with certainty, that film will be counted as being from that year, otherwise we will follow the Chinese sources.
2.  Since we have no box office or attendance figures to draw on, let alone a vote by the "members of the academy", the films are not ranked, but are listed in alphabetical order.  
3.  All of this year's nominees are lost films, so there will be no effort to avoid "spoilers," by giving away plot twists or endings.

    So without further ado, the envelopes please.  And the nominees are:

Xiang Kun,1950s-60s Movie Heavy, Dead at 94

     The Chinese entertainment media today is full of obituaries and tributes to the life and career of Xiang Kun (项堃), the principal bad guy in several major Chinese movies of the 1950s and early 60s.  Xiang died on February 15 in Beijing of a heart attack, aged 94.
    Xiang Kun was born Wang Xiangkun (王象坤) in 1915 in Wuqiao, Hebei.  He majored in physical education at Jinan Normal School, and after graduating in 1935 studied for a year at the National Dramatic Institute in Nanjing.  In 1937 he joined a traveling perfomance troupe as an actor, and later became head of its theater division, directing as well as acting.  In the late 1930s, this troupe traveled to Singapore and Malaysia giving performances advocating resistance to the Japanese.  In 1940, Xiang became one of China's actors-in-exile in Chongqing and appeared in numerous resistance and morale-building plays and two movies during the war.  It was during the making of his first film in 1940, "Qingnian Zhongguo"  青年中国 (Young China) that he met his future wife, actress Ruan Fei (阮斐) who predeceased him.  In 1947 the couple joined the Shanghai Film Studio and began what for Xiang Kun became a 40-year career.

Hua Mulan: a screen chronology

    The big film news in China this past week was the announcement that casting is at last set for a new treatment of the story of woman warrior Hua Mulan, and that filming will begin soon in Hubei.  It has been known for some time this was in the works, but casting of the title character was undetermined.  The rumors swirling about that casting decision at times resembled those around the casting of Scarlett O'Hara:  Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, the winner of the Chinese counterpart of "American Idol" ... these were just a few of the names rumored as possibilities.  Last week it was confirmed that the new Mulan would be Vicki Zhao Wei 赵薇.  The Chinese blogs have reacted to this news with considerable enthusiasm, which the editor shares, although tempered with caution:  while the lovely and charming Ms. Vicki is one of a handful of performers he would cheerfully pay to see even if she did nothing more than read selections from the Beijing telephone directory for 90 minutes, he has never thought of her as a wudan, especially not in the sort of gender-bending roles Brigitte Lin did so well in the 1980s and 90s.  We will see how it turns out.
    The announcement of a new recounting of the legend brings to mind the numerous past filmed versions of Hua Mulan.  While moviegoers in the West may be familiar only with the 1998 Disney animated feature "Mulan", and perhaps its 2004 straight-to-video sequel, the tale of the filial daughter disguised as a boy who goes to war in her aging and infirm but heirless father's stead has been presented countless times:  on stage as drama, ballet and opera, on large and small screen, computer games ... virtually every form of popular entertainment.  Mulan has been considered a plum role for generations of Chinese actresses, much as every actor in the West supposedly nurses a secret desire to play Hamlet.
    Since Mulan's story had been a subject of Chinese opera for many years, it makes sense that the first filmed version was a segment of classic opera.  In 1926, the Minxin studio released a two-reeler "The Stage Art of Mei Lanfang", in which the immortal Beijing opera artist  performed excerpts from a half dozen of his classic roles.  "Hua Mulan Cong Jun"  花木兰从军 (Hua Mulan Joins the Army) was the first of the scenes presented.
    The first full-length dramatic film treatment came the following year from Tianyi, the Shao (later Shaw) Brothers original Shanghai studio.  The Chinese title again was "Hua Mulan Joins the Army", but was released outside of China with the English title "Maiden in Armour".  The title role was played by Hu Shan 胡姗, younger sister of Chinese movies' "Empress" Hu Die.  While none of Hu Shan's movies seem to have survived, from all contemporary accounts she was a fine actress who was always overshadowed by her more famous sister.

[right, Hu Shan as Mulan, in a tough spot]

    Minxin brought out its own dramatized feature a year later, in 1928, this time with Li Dandan 李旦旦 in the title role.  Li Dandan was one of China's most popular young stars of the late 1920s.  She retired early from movies when she married and moved to Europe, but had a later, second career as one of the first Chinese female aviators.

[left, Li Dandan as Mulan]

    The earliest version we can see today is the 1939 Hong Kong sound version, "Lady General" starring Chen Yunchang 陈云裳 (aka Nancy Chan) as Mulan.  Two versions were filmed, in Cantonese and Mandarin, with the bilingual star acting the title role in both.  (Hu Die did this in several Hong Kong films.)  Since this version still exists, we will discuss it in a future retro review. 

                                        [right, Nancy Chan as Hua Mulan]

    There were several remakes in the 1950s and 60s from Hong Kong, both straight narrative and operatic, some in Cantonese and some in Mandarin.  The most honored was the 1964 Shaw Brothers production, in Mandarin and with Ivy Ling Po 凌波 in the lead, and released internationally as "Lady General Hua Mulan".  (Ling's performance won the Best Actress award at the 11th Asian Film Festival.)  In vivid color, with a stellar cast and direction by veteran Griffin Yueh Feng 岳枫, plus added music, it was an entertaining 106 minutes of action and story.

[left, poster for the classic 1964 Shaw Brothers version, with Ivy Ling in the title role]

    With any legendary figure, especially one from nearly two millenia ago, the question always arises as to how much of the legend is based in historical fact and how much is fabrication.  The Chinese seem to believe there is at least some truth to the story:  after she retired from military service as a general, a grateful emperor gave her a comfortable retirement home, complete with fully stocked goldfish pond (she is said to have been fond of them) and military guard to watch over and keep her company.  The home has been restored and is a popular Chinese tourist site, a beautiful place the editor visited in the 1990s.  Did Mulan really exist?  I don't know, did King Arthur really exist?  Did Robin Hood?  Hopeless romantic that he is, the editor likes to think so.  But then, he also likes to think of himself as George Clooney's identical twin ... and married to Vicki Zhao ... hey, it could happen.  Couldn't it?  Please?

[Presenting the next Hua Mulan, Vicki Zhao Wei.  In full armor, courtesy of Photoshop]

Early Chinese Cinema's Child Stars

[The following is an abridged and slightly revised translation of:  Tong, Yabian 佟娅蝙. "Zhongguo zaoqi dianying zhong de ertong mingxing" 中国早期电影中的儿童明星 (Early Chinese Cinema's Child Stars).  Popular Cinema No.12 (2004):  42-43.]

     Leafing through the pages of Chinese movie magazines from the 1920s and 30s, one often sees pictures of the child stars of that era.  These young performers played key roles in many of that era's movies, and with their simple nature, innocent vivacity and appealing appearance, they made significant contributions to China's cinema development, and to the audiences' enjoyment of their films.  Like precocious children in any field, some went on to productive careers in adulthood while others burned out at a relatively early age, and some met tragic ends.

Hou Yao (1903-1942): a martyred patriot

    Although his life was tragically short, Hou Yao 候曜 (Cantonese:  Hau Yiu) was one of China's most talented and creative screenwriters and directors of the silent era.  (We will look at some of his specific films and contributions in future posts.)  Born in Panyu, Guangdong, in 1903, Hou originally trained for a teaching career.  But after graduating from Nanjing Normal School in 1922, and completing two years of graduate school, the attention attracted by his writings on film and drama led to his hiring in 1924 by the newly-established Changcheng [Great Wall] Motion Picture Company as director and head of scriptwriting.  In 1926 he joined the Minxin studio as chief writer and director, and head of its film school.  Later, he became the head of Minxin's Beijing branch studio.  In 1933, with the coming of sound, Hou moved to Hong Kong to join the emerging Cantonese movie industry.  In addition to continuing his writing, he founded the Wenhua [Culture] Film Company, which he managed until 1938 when he moved to the Nanyang [South Seas] studio.  In his writing and his film and theater work, he was an outspoken advocate of resistance to Japanese aggression, which put him on the enemy's most-wanted list.  Learning his life was in danger from enemy agents and collaborators in Hong Kong, he fled to Singapore, but when that city fell in early 1942 he was arrested by the Japanese army and publicly beheaded in the city's downtown, one of the many thousands of Singapore Chinese civilians slaughtered at that time.
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Filmography:
1924:
The Divorcee [aka Abandoned Wife]  (co-director, writer, original play)
1925:
Cupid's Puppets  (co-director)
Woman Picking the Stars [aka Between Love and Filial Duty]  (writer)
The Person in the Boudoir Dream  (writer)
1926:
The Hypocrite  (director, writer)
The God of Peace  (director, writer)
A String of Pearls  (screen adaptation)
1927:
The Cape Poet  (director, writer)
A Reviving Rose  (co-director, co-writer, original play)
Romance of the West Chamber  (director screen adaptation)
The Old Man in the Moon Divorces  (director, co-writer)
1928:
Mulan Joins the Army  (director, writer)
Romance on the Battlefield  (director, writer)
1932:
New Grievances in the Imperial Palace  (director, writer)
1933:
The Fool Pays Respects  (director, writer)
 1937:
The Desert Flower  (director, writer)
The Forces Withing  (original work)
Romance of the Pearl River  (director, writer, original story)
1938:
Incident in the Pacific  (director, actor, writer, original story)
The Purple Cups  (director, writer)
Fortress of Flesh and Blood [aka Provoking Father]  (actor, director, writer)
The Second Marriage of Madam [aka Son vs. Mother]  (director)
The Wrong Couple  (director)
Shaking Heaven and Earth  (director, writer)
Fallen Angel  (director, writer)
1939:
The Ugly Empress  (co-director, co-writer)
Master Keung  (co-director, co-writer)
Incident on Turtle Mountain  (co-director, co-writer)
The Filial Son and the Unworthy  (co-director, co-writer)
Daughter vs. Stepmother  (co-director, co-writer)
1940:
The Chinese Tarzan  (co-director, co-writer)

Tang Tianxiu (? - ?)

    Although never a big star, Tang Tianxiu 汤天绣 was a familiar face on Chinese movie screens for a decade.  She was born Tang Tianxiu 汤天秀 (slightly different in Chinese) in Suzhou, JIangsu and raised in Hankou (now Wuhan).  She entered films in 1926 with the Da Zhonghua (Greater China) film company, and had major supporting roles in three films over the next two years.  In 1928 and 1929 she made 16 films for Da Zhonghua, most of them of the martial arts/swordsman genre, and in 12 of which she acted the lead.  She joined the new Lianhua studio in 1930, and appeared in 16 more films, including such classics as "Dawn in the Metropolis," "Little Toys," "Song of the Fishermen," and "New Women."  She retired from the screen in 1935.