Ruan Lingyu

XIN NUXING

NEW WOMEN
Cai Chusheng
VR, China 1934
115 min
V'05

New Women is the story of an intellectual striving for independence, only to be defeated by reality. The feudal confinement of her home and the numerous traps set for women by society, make her give up and, ultimately, choose to take her own life. The metaphorically charged images Cai Chusheng uses to express the social and financial restrictions in which Wei Ming fights for survival, convey a clear message: the tragic events increase when thunder and lightning strikes, and the newspaper luridly announcing Weis suicide seems to anticipate Ruans real-life fate. The words «I WANT TO LIVE», which Wei screams at the world from her hospital bed at the end of the film, become Ruan Lingyus own cry for help.

Credits
  • Ruan Lingyu - Wei Ming
  • Zheng Junli - Dr. Wang
  • Yin Xu
  • Wang Naidong
  • Sun Shiyi
  • Zhou Daming
Lianhua Studio
35 mm
bw
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