Crows and Sparrows
Feb. 16th, 2004 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ffloSaw a most engaging movie at the free Center for Chinese Studies
series Sat. night---"Wuya yu maque," or "Crows and Sparrows," 1949,
dir. Junli Zheng:
(From the Center's e-mail description)
"Shooting was completed several days before the People's Liberation
Army entered Shanghai on May 2, 1949; prior to this time, filmmakers
were harassed by censors and hid the film in a studio ceiling to avoid
confiscation. Set in a boarding house, the film portrays the tenants'
struggle to keep their homes after a greedy Nationalist official plots
to sell the building [he had commandeered] and run off to Taiwan.
Rather than uniting effectively, the tenants squabble and scatter
like sparrows that are bullied by larger crows." In the end, though,
the "Monkey" (as they all call the slum lord) is gone and the formerly
downtrodden share the building in communal bliss.
Apart from the fascinating political context (with, for instance, a
character who is a teacher and tries not to rock the boat when fellows
are being arrested, but ends up arrested himself anyway), it had some
truly fine performances and great faces and some surprisingly well-
drawn characters (considering their number and the overt political
message of the film). Plus one guy---really the spiritual hero of
the house, Old Kong---is a proofreader, and we get to see him at work
at one point.
I have to say, it's really staying with me. I find myself pondering
the characters and kinda believing they existed.
series Sat. night---"Wuya yu maque," or "Crows and Sparrows," 1949,
dir. Junli Zheng:
(From the Center's e-mail description)
"Shooting was completed several days before the People's Liberation
Army entered Shanghai on May 2, 1949; prior to this time, filmmakers
were harassed by censors and hid the film in a studio ceiling to avoid
confiscation. Set in a boarding house, the film portrays the tenants'
struggle to keep their homes after a greedy Nationalist official plots
to sell the building [he had commandeered] and run off to Taiwan.
Rather than uniting effectively, the tenants squabble and scatter
like sparrows that are bullied by larger crows." In the end, though,
the "Monkey" (as they all call the slum lord) is gone and the formerly
downtrodden share the building in communal bliss.
Apart from the fascinating political context (with, for instance, a
character who is a teacher and tries not to rock the boat when fellows
are being arrested, but ends up arrested himself anyway), it had some
truly fine performances and great faces and some surprisingly well-
drawn characters (considering their number and the overt political
message of the film). Plus one guy---really the spiritual hero of
the house, Old Kong---is a proofreader, and we get to see him at work
at one point.
I have to say, it's really staying with me. I find myself pondering
the characters and kinda believing they existed.
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Wow!
Date: Feb. 16th, 2004 05:25 pm (UTC)crows & sparrows
Date: Feb. 16th, 2004 07:08 pm (UTC)by the way, the Butch Mystique's been playing all month on showtime, but they don't list it as such. it's in a series of shorts, under Black Cinemakers or something like that. reeally good. i love this one woman they interview; she's been out since the 40's and just sits back and kicks the truth in a panama hat. she's awesome.
Re: crows & sparrows
Date: Feb. 16th, 2004 09:08 pm (UTC)Re: crows & sparrows
Date: Feb. 16th, 2004 10:24 pm (UTC)Re: crows & sparrows
Date: Feb. 16th, 2004 11:50 pm (UTC)I had E.-who's-not-you over last night to hang, and it really did me good. I've got the living room in some semblance of order, finally, if not particularly decorated.