Han Lan-Gen

Two famous comedians from pre-Revolution days perform a series of sketches in a theatre for a group of Party cadres. The stage performances blend over into absurdist, self-contained fantasy episodes where the two comics allegorically parody Party propaganda and ideological orthodoxy.

During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.

The story was liberally adapted from a short sequence in the popular Chinese folk tale Journey to the West. Princess Iron Fan is a main character. Specifically, the film focused on the duel between the Monkey King and a vengeful princess, whose fan is desperately needed to quench the flames that surround a peasant village.

Historical film based on the life of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history

This movie is based on the famous Chinese folklore that is more than one and a half millennium old. The same folklore was what the Disney animation Mulan is based on, and similarly, it was what many Chinese movies/operas/plays based on.

Diaochan (aka Diau Charn and Sable Cicada), one of the Four Beauties of China, is supposed to be so stunningly lovely that the moon was shamed to hide behind clouds. Despite being the only Beauty among the four who is not a real historical figure but one conjured by storytelling imagination and embellished by public fascination, her story was nonetheless incorporated by author Luo Guangzhong into his popular and influential novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Her tale is one of Machiavellian intrigue, in which she schemes with her godfather Wang Yun to restore moral order to the land, sowing discord between the corrupt Minister Dong Zhuo and his adopted son Lu Bu, a man of martial and military prowess.

"Lianhua Symphony" - a small collection, consisting of eight short films shot in 1937 by young filmmakers Shanghai Lianhua Film Company. Part 1: Two Yuans (兩毛錢) directed by Situ Huimin / Part 2: Nightmares in Spring Chamber (春閨斷夢) directed by Fei Mu / Part 3: The Stranger (陌生人) directed by Tan Youliu / Part 4: Three Friends (三人行) directed by Shen Fu / Part 5: Landscape Under the Moonlight (月下小景) directed by He Mengfu / Part 6: The Ghost (鬼) directed by Zhu Shilin / Part 7: Rhapsody of a Madman (瘋人狂想曲) directed by Sun Yu / Part 8: Five Little Brothers (小五義) directed by Cai Chusheng

Old Shanghai

A young woman must pretend to be a man to visit her grandfather, and gets into some romantic scrapes in the process.

중국의 제 2세대 감독 손유의 34년도 작품. [대로]는 도로 건설 현장에서 막일을 하는 노동자 진거와 그 친구들의 이야기를 담고 있다. 그들은 바위를 깨고 산을 뚫어 길을 닦는 혹독한 노동 현실에 놓여 있지만, 고통스러워하기 보다는 그것을 소명으로 여기고 즐겁게 받아들이는 청년들이다. 정의롭고 근면 성실한 ‘프론티어’ 정신으로 무장한 그들은 실직을 밥 먹듯 하지만 함께 있어 노래하며 일할 수 있는 건전한 정신과 육체적 활력을 가지고 있다. 이들을 주플롯으로 삼은 덕택에 계몽 영화적 성격이 지배적이지만 거기에는 청년 노동자들과 처녀들의 우정과 사랑, 연대를 강조하는 청춘 영화의 기운도 실려 있다. 그리고 후반부, 민족반역자가 내미는 돈의 유혹을 뿌리치고 기꺼이 고문을 선택하는 장면에서 민족적 항일 영화의 색채도 발견할 수 있을 것이다. 이는 윤리적, 교육적 가치전달을 우선시하는 당대 중국영화 주제 의식에 민족적, 이데올로기적 특성이 부가된 결과다. 일본의 공습으로 몰살당하는 결말도 비관적이지만은 않다. 곧바로 이어지는 진짜 결말은 ‘그들은 여전히 살아있다’는 생존자의 믿음에 따라 혼령들이 하나 둘씩 일어나 ‘투쟁하자, 건설하자’며 노래 부르며 일하는 모습이기 때문이다. 죽음조차 넘어선 그들의 소명 의식에서 당대 중국 영화의 교조적 강박과 중국 사회의 미래와 희망을 엿볼 수 있을 것이다. 시종일관 즐겁고 유머러스한 활기를 띠는 이 영화는 당대 중국이 처한 어두운 현실조차도 즐겁게 노래할 수 있는 능력을 보여준다. 그것은 무성영화의 청각적 단조로움을 몇 개의 뮤지컬 코드와 코믹한 효과음으로 대체하는 것으로 가능했다. 무엇보다 이 영화의 가장 큰 즐거움은 1930년대 상하이 영화계를 주름잡은 조선인 ‘영화황제’ 김염의 모습을 보는 일일 것이다. 내내 달콤한 미소를 짓고 있는 그의 부드러운 카리스마가 어떻게 중국 대륙을 사로잡았는지 짐작하고도 남는다. 강소원(영화평론가)

The story is about a fisherman's family living near to Shanghai. In the beginning, twin babies are born, a boy and a girl. Their growing-up is briefly sketched, and their friendship with "young master", a boy from rich family about their age.

Young sprinter Lin Ying enrolls in a sports college in Shanghai. As she becomes a sports celebrity, she starts to mangle with the upper class and has gradually forgotten the true essence of sports.

Sister Ye lives in a rural village, where everyone makes traditional toys. When Sister Ye's husband dies of an unknown illness, and while Ye is attending to him, her son is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy lady in the city of Shanghai. Shortly after, the village is destroyed during an attack between rival warlords, forcing the villagers move to the city, where they continue to make toys. Ten years pass, and Ye's daughter Zhu'er has become a toy designer. While helping the Nationalist army at the rear, Zhu'er is killed in an attack by the Japanese. On New Year's Eve, Sister Ye is dressed in rags, sitting on the curb, selling toys. A young boy buys toys from her, and it is none other than her son, whom she does not recognize.

A country girl and her boyfriend arrive in Shanghai for a better life. They soon find only desperation. She is raped and falls into prostitution as he drifts into revolutionary circles. Her access through her trade grants her greater access which she uses to aid her revolutionary lover with tragic results.

A wild country girl moves to Shanghai with her painter boyfriend and experiences exploitation and poverty.

An upper-class son of urbane landowners falls in love with a peasant girl. When a pregnancy results, the couple are kept apart by strict societal morays.

A mad scientist dresses up as a gorilla to kidnap young girls, so he can use their brains to produce the elixir of life...