Night in the City

Night in the City (Chinese: 城市之夜; pinyin: Chéngshì zhī yè) (also known as City Nights) was a 1933 Chinese silent film.

This article is about the 1933 film. For the song by Joni Mitchell, see Song to a Seagull. For other uses, see night in the city (disambiguation).
Night in the City
Directed byFei Mu
StarringRuan Lingyu
Jin Yan
Li Keng
Lim Cho Cho
Production
company
Release date
  • 1933 (1933)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin

Production background

Night in the City was the directorial debut of Fei Mu (who would later go on to achieve lasting fame throughout the 1930s and 1940s) and starred actress Ruan Lingyu and actor Jin Yan. It was highly acclaimed upon its release, particularly by leftist progressives for its social criticisms of city-life.[1] The film is now considered a lost film.

Plot

The film tells the story of a poor family living in China's slums. The daughter, played by Ruan Lingyu, is forced to work at the docks. When it is learned that the slum's landlord is preparing to demolish the entire tenement, the daughter is forced to give up her body to her landlord's son in exchange for a delay in construction. By the end of the film, the daughter, her family, and the landlord's son all leave the city for what they hope will be a better life in the country.

Preservation

Though lost, parts of the film were "recreated" for scenes in Stanley Kwan's 1991 biographical film on Ruan Lingyu's life and career, Center Stage.[2]

Cast

See also

References
  1. Hu, p. 107
  2. Hjort, p. 53

Bibliography
  • Hjort, Mette, Stanley Kwan's center stage, Hong Kong University Press (2007). ISBN 962-209-791-X.
  • Hu, Jubin, Projecting a nation: Chinese national cinema before 1949. Hong Kong University Press (2003). ISBN 962-209-610-7.


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