Young filmmaker Wu Yonggang was one of many thriving filmmakers working in Shanghai's movie industry during China's pre-Communist years. His first effort for Lianhua Film Company (United Photoplay), one of the city's three major movie studios, was December 1934 "The Goddess." Shanghai was China's version of Hollywood during the early 1930s. The city's Western influences in cinema were driven primarily by American film technicians who were invited to visit the city during the late 1920s to teach the Chinese how to operate the latest film equipment. As one of the world's most modern cities, Shanghai was a melting pot for wealthy capitalists, radical intellectuals and dissidents. And from that bustling region many talented filmmakers, including Wu Yonggang, were creating the country's best movies. The 1930s marked the first "Golden Period" of Chinese cinema--otherwise known as the 'left-wing' film movement--which examined class struggles, especially in the lower one, and lasted until the mid-1937 Japanese invasion of the country.
The writer/director Wu Yonggang showed enough potential from his first couple of minor films to be hired by Lianhua. His first major movie focuses on a mother (Ruan Lingyu) whose love for her baby boy is so great it shows no boundaries. There is only one glitch: she's a streetwalker. She gets in a jam when she comes across 'The Boss' (Zhang Zhizhi). Despite his controlling her life, the mother, labeled "The Goddess," is able to save enough money to send her son (La Hang) to a private school. The kid is taunted by his classmates for his mother's profession, but the principal feels sorry for him, and plays a crucial role in his life after the child's mother undergoes a series of overwhelming tragedies.
"The Goddess" has been interpreted as symbolizing the city of Shanghai itself, with an unusually high percentage of its women, estimated at over ten percent, resorting to street walking. Wu Yonggang's movie draws upon the brutalization of the women as being trampled upon by those apathetic wealthy capitalists who victimize them for their own pleasure. 'The Boss' has traits of foreign influence who take advantage of these vulnerable women. Similar to Hollywood's Hayes Office of Censorship, Shanghai's movie code forced Wu to toe the line. 'When I first set out to write about the goddesses," the director related, "I wished to show more of their real lives, but circumstances would not permit me to do so."
"The Goddess" belongs to the "fallen woman" category that was popular during Hollywood's silent film era and the early 1930s. The movie adapted elements from such movies as 1925's 'Stella Dallas" and 1929's "Madame X," with a dash of 1932's "Blonde Venus." Actress Lingyu Ruan plays the mother whose only talent is working the streets. At the time of filming, Ruan was one of China's biggest movie stars, earning the label 'China's Greta Garbo.' Just like her character in "The Goddess," Ruan fell in love with a gambler, Zhang Damin, and supported his losing habit. She broke up with him while making this movie and was dating a married tea tycoon, Tang Jishan, who bought her a mansion and made her his mistress. Former lover Zhang heard about the arrangement and filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she owned him money. The lawsuit and her dalliances made national headlines.
The 1991 movie "Center Stage" about Ruan's life, directed by Stanley Kwan, renewed interest in the actress's film career and placed a spotlight on Shanghai's burgeoning movie industry during the 1930s. "The Goddess" has been recognized as one of the greatest films in China's "Golden Age of Cinema," and is listed in the reference book as one of the '1001 Movies You Should See Before You Die.'
The writer/director Wu Yonggang showed enough potential from his first couple of minor films to be hired by Lianhua. His first major movie focuses on a mother (Ruan Lingyu) whose love for her baby boy is so great it shows no boundaries. There is only one glitch: she's a streetwalker. She gets in a jam when she comes across 'The Boss' (Zhang Zhizhi). Despite his controlling her life, the mother, labeled "The Goddess," is able to save enough money to send her son (La Hang) to a private school. The kid is taunted by his classmates for his mother's profession, but the principal feels sorry for him, and plays a crucial role in his life after the child's mother undergoes a series of overwhelming tragedies.
"The Goddess" has been interpreted as symbolizing the city of Shanghai itself, with an unusually high percentage of its women, estimated at over ten percent, resorting to street walking. Wu Yonggang's movie draws upon the brutalization of the women as being trampled upon by those apathetic wealthy capitalists who victimize them for their own pleasure. 'The Boss' has traits of foreign influence who take advantage of these vulnerable women. Similar to Hollywood's Hayes Office of Censorship, Shanghai's movie code forced Wu to toe the line. 'When I first set out to write about the goddesses," the director related, "I wished to show more of their real lives, but circumstances would not permit me to do so."
"The Goddess" belongs to the "fallen woman" category that was popular during Hollywood's silent film era and the early 1930s. The movie adapted elements from such movies as 1925's 'Stella Dallas" and 1929's "Madame X," with a dash of 1932's "Blonde Venus." Actress Lingyu Ruan plays the mother whose only talent is working the streets. At the time of filming, Ruan was one of China's biggest movie stars, earning the label 'China's Greta Garbo.' Just like her character in "The Goddess," Ruan fell in love with a gambler, Zhang Damin, and supported his losing habit. She broke up with him while making this movie and was dating a married tea tycoon, Tang Jishan, who bought her a mansion and made her his mistress. Former lover Zhang heard about the arrangement and filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she owned him money. The lawsuit and her dalliances made national headlines.
The 1991 movie "Center Stage" about Ruan's life, directed by Stanley Kwan, renewed interest in the actress's film career and placed a spotlight on Shanghai's burgeoning movie industry during the 1930s. "The Goddess" has been recognized as one of the greatest films in China's "Golden Age of Cinema," and is listed in the reference book as one of the '1001 Movies You Should See Before You Die.'