Ye Cao Xian Hua 野草闲花 (Wild Flower Among the Weeds)
alt English title: Wildflowers by the Roadside
Lianhua. B&W. Silent, with dubbed song. 11 reels. Premiered December 3, 1930 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai. Direction and Screenplay: Sun Yu. Cinematography: Huang Shaofen. Lyrics: Sun Yu. Music: Sun Chengbi. Principal cast: Ruan Lingyu (Lan Lilian), Jin Yan (Huang Yun), Liu Jiqun (Lan Mujiang).
A young man, scion of a wealthy family, is musically gifted. He diligently trains for a career as a concert violinist. But he rebels when his parents announce their intent to arrange a marriage for him. He leaves to seek his own livelihood, and his talent soon gains him employment with a marching band. One day on the street, he happens to hear singing from a lovely female voice, and discovers its source is a girl selling flowers. He falls for her immediately, and after making her acquaintance finds she is the sole support of her blind father and younger sister.
[right, a violinist's playing moves a poor flower-seller and her family. Click on images to enlarge]
The young musician uses his work connections to get her an audition which leads to her beginning her own career, and she soon becomes a famous singer. She returns his affection, but worries about his family's opposition. When he tells his parents of his intention to marry the songstress, the family does everything they can to obstruct and end the relationship.
[In love, but parental opposition gives her concern]
At a time the young musician's band is playing in another city, the father secretly visits the young woman, and tells her he is convinced his son's true calling is to be a serious concert violinist, but involvement with the singer is impeding his progress and ruining what should be a glorious future. He urges her to let his son go. Confused, and convinced by her lover's father it is the right thing to do, she breaks off with the young man, who cannot understand the change in her. After several more twists and turns in their relationship, the young musician learns the truth, convinces her that his career and his family are secondary to her, and all ends well. [right: reunited with his love, he describes to her their happy future]
The title in Chinese refers to a metaphor, meaning a man's having a casual romantic or sexual relationship with a woman other than his wife, a cousin to the old American expression "sowing wild oats." or the British "a bit on the side." Its first literary appearance was in an erotic novel Ma Ling Road 《马陵道》(anonymously written, as was most classic Chinese erotica). In the novel, a character who inquires "Where is the General?" receives the answer "He [has found] a wildflower among the weeds," meaning he was engaged in dalliance. In time, the expression came to refer more specifically to a relationship with a prostitute. In the movie, the father opposed the young couple's relationship because he believed a girl from so humble a background had to be a "wild flower," his son's casual affair of the moment, an infatuation that soon would pass.
[left, a violinist encourages a songstress]
Writer-director Sun Yu acknowledged from the outset that his film was derivative, inspired by the
classic French novel "La Dame Aux Camélias" by Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824-1895) and the American movie
"Camille". But Sun avoided the tragic ending of the novel, giving it a love-conquers-all happy ending, in order to mold its story into a reflection of his own ideals and hopes. While "Wild Flowers"
begins with a rejection of feudal tradition and ends with a celebration of love-based marriage, at its core
it expresses Sun's sympathy for the lower levels of Chinese society and his contempt for its class structure.
The timing of "Wild Flowers" was just right for its success. The second full-length feature (after
"Spring Dream in the Old Capital") from the new and progressive Lianhua (United Photoplay) studio, it was
released just as the late 1920s fervor for swordsman fantasies had fallen off sharply. In addition, it was
the first starring role for Chinese cinema's future "Emperor" Jin Yan, and his first on-screen pairing with
Ruan Lingyu, a marquee duo that would soon become box office magic.
