Little Toys

Cast

Plot

Sister Ye lives in a rural village, where everyone makes traditional toys. She is considered the creative mind behind inventing new toys, and all the villagers look up to her. Tragedy strikes, however, when Sister Ye's husband dies of an unknown illness, and while Ye is attending to him, her son is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy lady in the city of Shanghai. Shortly after, the village is destroyed during an attack between rival warlords, forcing the villagers move to the city, where they continue to make toys.

Ten years pass, and Ye's daughter Zhu'er is now 17. She has become a toy designer like her mother. War has befallen the nation, and the villagers' attempts at patriotism bring them to early deaths. While helping the Nationalist army at the rear, Zhu'er is killed in an attack by the Japanese.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, Sister Ye is dressed in rags, sitting on the curb, selling toys. A young boy buys toys from her, and he is none other than her son, whom she does not recognize. Ye then goes into a rambling rant, scaring the people around her, causing them to disregard this crazy woman. She begs the citizens on Nanjing Road to fight against the Japanese. Slowly, they begin to listen to her and realize she is right.

Music

In 2003, Singaporean composer Mark Chan, in a co-commissioned project by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Singapore Arts Festival, did the score for the silent film and productions were staged in each country, featuring live music accompanying the screening of Little Toys. The production was again restaged in Copenhagen in 2005 and in the Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2007. The score by Chan combines both Western instruments, like the piano or cello, and traditional Chinese instruments like the erhu and the gaohu. The production in 2007 was staged in the Shanghai Concert Hall on November 2, 2007.