This dramatic movie is about three women in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, 1941, and one could call it very woman-centric (which isn't a bad thing). They "breathe the same air", but are in different walks of life: Jinzhu is a factory worker. She gets raped by Japanese soldiers in the very first seconds of the film, and much of the rest deals with the social consequences this has for her.
Ruoying is the wife of an influential manager, but her daughter is by her former husband, who went to the Communist-held areas years ago, and now comes back to meet his child. This induces deep trouble with Ruoying's husband, of course...
Finally, Li Xinqun is a school teacher, "progressive-minded", and thus not so interesting in fate and conflicts. She knows both the other women and acts as some kind of silent angel in the background.
But Jinzhu and Ruoying really go through a hell of events: sudden blindness, incarceration and torture by the Japanese (who are really evil as characterized here - except for the white-bearded "good guy" librarian), multiple family breakups, prostitution, suicide...
I had to shed more than a few tears when watching this. The drama is acted out strongly and seriously - I'm not aware of any comic moment (or, maybe Ruoying and her husband listening to radio news, where she listens to Chungking (leftist), and he wants to have Nanjing (collaboration) to reach a "neutral point of view"). And the fact that men play not much more than side-roles makes this also interesting as a feminist film.
Ruoying is the wife of an influential manager, but her daughter is by her former husband, who went to the Communist-held areas years ago, and now comes back to meet his child. This induces deep trouble with Ruoying's husband, of course...
Finally, Li Xinqun is a school teacher, "progressive-minded", and thus not so interesting in fate and conflicts. She knows both the other women and acts as some kind of silent angel in the background.
But Jinzhu and Ruoying really go through a hell of events: sudden blindness, incarceration and torture by the Japanese (who are really evil as characterized here - except for the white-bearded "good guy" librarian), multiple family breakups, prostitution, suicide...
I had to shed more than a few tears when watching this. The drama is acted out strongly and seriously - I'm not aware of any comic moment (or, maybe Ruoying and her husband listening to radio news, where she listens to Chungking (leftist), and he wants to have Nanjing (collaboration) to reach a "neutral point of view"). And the fact that men play not much more than side-roles makes this also interesting as a feminist film.
