A Spray of Plum Blossoms
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Bu Wancang Screenplay Yicuo Huang Duration Country China | 6.4/10 IMDb Genre Drama Producer Ming-Yau Lo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Language Silent film
Written Chinese and English intertitles Writer Yicuo Huang (screenplay) Release date 1931 Cast Ruan Lingyu (Hu Zhilu), Jin Yan (Hu Luting), Cho-cho Lam (Shi Luohua), Cilong Wang (Bai Lede), Zhanfei Gao (Liao Diao)Similar movies Related Bu Wancang movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A Spray of Plum Blossoms (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a 1931 silent Chinese film directed by Bu Wancang and starring Ruan Lingyu, Wang Cilong and Jin Yan. It is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeares The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The film is one of several collaborations between Bu Wancang and two of the top Chinese movie stars of the day Ruan Lingyu and the Korean-born Jin Yan and was produced by the Lianhua Film Company.
Contents
The film is noted for its attempted "Westernized stylings" including its surreal use of decor, women-soldiers with long hair, etc. The film also had English-subtitles, but as some scholars have noted, since few foreigners watched these films, the subtitles were more to give off an air of the West rather than to serve any real purpose.
Bai Le De and Hu Lun tung are military cadets. After graduating, Hu Lin Tung is appointed captain of Guangdong headquarters and goes away. Later, Bae Le De is also appointed to a post at the same place. Hu Lun Ting falls in love with Luo Hua, daughter of the local commander.
Cast
Plot
The film tells the story of Bai Lede (Wang Chilong) and Hu Luting (Jin Yan), two military cadets who have been friends since they were children. After graduating, Hu, a playboy uninterested in love, is appointed as a captain in Guangdong and leaves his home town in Shanghai. Bai however, deeply in love with Hus sister, Hu Zhuli (Ruan Lingyu) stays behind. At Guangdong, Hu falls in love with the local generals daughter, Shi Luohua (Lin Chuchu), although the general, Shi (Wang Guilin), is unaware of the relationship, and instead wants his daughter to marry the foolish Liao Diao (Gao Zhanfei). Meanwhile, Bais father uses his influence to get Bai posted to Guangdong, and after a sorrowful farewell between himself and Zhuli, he arrives at his new post and instantly falls in love with Luohua. In an effort to have her for himself, Bai betrays his friend, by informing General Shi of his daughters plans to elope with Hu, leading to Shi dishonourably discharging Hu. Bai tries to win Luohua over, but she is uninterested, only concerned with lamenting the loss of Hu. In the meantime, Hu encounters a group of bandits who ask him to be their leader, to which he agrees, planning on returning for Luohua at some point in the future. Some time passes, and one day, as Luohua, Bai and Liao are passing through the forest, they are attacked. Luohua manages to flee, and Bai pursues her into the forest. They engage in an argument, but just as Bai seems about to lose his temper, Hu intervenes, and he and Luohua are reunited. General Shi arrives in time to see Liao flee the scene, and he now realises that he was wrong to get in the way of the relationship between Hu and his daughter. Hu then forgives Bai his betrayal, and Bai reveals that he has discovered that his only true love is in fact Zhuli back in Shanghai.
DVD release
A Spring of Plum Blossoms was released on all-region DVD by Cinema Epoch as a packaged disc (along with Shi Dongshans Two Stars in the Milky Way). The disc was released on September 11, 2007.
References
A Spray of Plum Blossoms WikipediaA Spray of Plum Blossoms IMDb A Spray of Plum Blossoms themoviedb.org