Reviews written by Graham
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August 29, 2005 Superb rendition of Chinese Classic - with French
This is one of the oldest surviving Chinese films, and is perhaps the most 'Chinese' of them, for it is based on a traditional drama, Romance of the Western Chamber, which has been filmed many times since as well. The film is silent, though it contains intertitles in French, with a Chinese translation provided also.
There is a lot to commend this film: It is one of the more traditionally Chinese of the silent movies made in China, since it is based on a popular drama by the same name. Set during the Tang dynasty, it is a typical tale of love across class boundaries, a poor scholar and a wealthy woman.
The temple where most of the action takes place is a lovely building, and the costumes and interiors of the temple are also detailed and quite fascinating. There are also nice touches of humour, and also some impressive action sequences consisting of both duels and battles.
No time is wasted in the telling of the tale, for it flies past in less than 45 minutes, and although the film could have benefited from being presented at a slower film speed (which with silent films is quite variable), I doubt this would have lengthened it greatly (some sites list it at 49 min, which would probably be its length if played at a slower speed). The print is quite clean and clear, even in interior shots, which is another plus. I enjoyed this film immensely and heartily recommend it.
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Song Of The Fisherman (VCD) (China Version)
Song Of The Fisherman (VCD) (China Version) VCD
(1)Our Price: US$4.99List: US$5.99Save: US$1.00 (17%)Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:August 29, 2005 So-so copy of an important filmSong of the Fisherman (= Yu Guang Qu) was made in 1934. It was directed by Cai Chusheng and stars Wang Renmei, Yuan Congmei, Han Lan’gen, Tang Tianxiu.
It is basically a silent film with a synchronous soundtrack for music and sound effects only (baby’s cries, horns, crowd noise and folksongs). This disc contains Chinese intertitles only and clocks in at 56min.
My only complaint with the film is that the image does tend to jump a lot in some sections (a sprocket hole problem?).
Nevertheless, this is an important film in the history of the Chinese movie industry. It won an award from Moscow, and is a tragic tale of fishing family.
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Yin Han Shuang Xing (VCD) (China Version)
August 14, 2005 Interesting silent filmThis film contains title cards in Chinese and English. In the story, Yan, a well-known actor, meets Li, a pretty singer who is to play with him in a film adaptation of an old Chinese play. The film is a success for both actors who soon become an ideal couple in real life too. Yet, the title chosen is quite suggestive of their fates: The two stars refer to a legend about the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid:
“On the east bank of the Heavenly River [The Milky Way], lived a girl weaver, daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. She worked hard year in and out, weaving colourful clothes for gods and goddesses. Since she lived all alone, the emperor took pity on her and allowed her to marry the cowherd on the west bank of the river. However, she stopped weaving after she was married. Greatly outraged, the emperor forced the girl back across the river and allowed her to join her husband only once a year [on the seventh day of autumn when a bridge was made across by magpies].” (100 Chinese Myths and Fantasies, translated by Ding Wangdao, 1991)
This film also offers some views of movie-making in China, also treating us to a section of the play being filmed. This itself was unusual, for the portion play is presented exactly as it was being filmed, without intertitles or sound. I don’t know whether some kind of sound-on-disc recording would have been added for performance in the cinema, or a narrator (like the Japanese benshi), or if intertitles would have been added. That the actress was noticed and chosen for her voice, makes me suppose the use of some kind of sound recording, even though this film was entirely silent.
The image on these discs is trimmed a little down the left and the bottom of the screen, which can hamper the reading of some of the longer intertitles, though the lost words can be filled in fairly accurately.
Another thing: on my copy, the film ends at around the 35-minute mark on disc 2, with a man with a walking stick walking away down a path. Afterwards, 15 minutes of another, entirely unrelated film (The Peach Girl) appear for some reason. I thought I’d mention it, to save confusion.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
United States - English
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