The Goddess (1934 film)

The Goddess
Film poster
Traditional Chinese神女
Simplified Chinese神女
Literal meaninggoddess (also a euphemism for a beautiful or educated female prostitute)[1]
Hanyu Pinyinshénnǚ
Directed byWu Yonggang
Written byWu Yonggang
Produced byLuo Mingyou
StarringRuan Lingyu
Zhang Zhizhi
CinematographyHong Weilie
Production
company
Release date
  • 1934 (1934)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryChina
LanguagesSilent
Written Chinese intertitles
The Goddess

The Goddess (Chinese: 神女) is a 1934 Chinese silent film released by the Lianhua Film Company (United Photoplay). The film tells the story of an unnamed woman, who lives as a streetwalker by night and devoted mother by day in order to get her young son an education amid social injustice in the streets of Shanghai, China. It stars Ruan Lingyu in one of her final roles, and was directed by Wu Yonggang.[2] Lo Ming Yau produced the film and Hong Weilie was the cinematographer.[3]

The public responded with enthusiasm, largely due to Ruan Lingyu's popularity in Shanghai in the early 1930s.[4][5] Four years after the original release of Goddess, Yonggang Wu remade the film as Yanzhi Lei) with changes made to the cast, the setting, and parts of the storyline. After Stanley Kwan's revival of Ruan Lingyu's story through the biopic Center Stage (1991) starring Maggie Cheung as Ruan, widespread public interest in the Chinese classic cinema was reinvigorated .[5]

Today, Goddess is one of the best-known films of China's cinematic golden age, and has been named as one of China's top 100 films by the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005.[6]

  1. ^ "Choice Chengyu: The Oldest Profession". The World of Chinese.
  2. ^ "The Goddess | Silent Film Festival". www.silentfilm.org. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  3. ^ Wood, Bret. "The Goddess (1934)." Turner Classic Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2017.
  4. ^ Baskett, Michael (2007). "Ruan Ling-Yu: The Goddess of Shanghai (2005)". The Moving Image. 7 (2): 109–12. JSTOR 41167384.
  5. ^ a b Hildreth, Richard. "The Goddess." The Goddess | Silent Film Festival. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2017.
  6. ^ "香港电影金像奖：最佳华语电影100部 - 百度文库". wenku.baidu.com.