Street Angel

Summary

Street Angel, written and directed by Muzhi Yuan,was produced in 1937 and tells the story of Xiao Hong and her older sister Xiao Yun who are orphans from Manchuria. They came to Shanghai after the Japanese takeover in 1931 in hopes of a better life. Unfortunately, they are adopted by a selfish and unkind couple of Shanghai’s under class. Xiao Yun is forced to work as a prostitute and Xiao Hong sings at her adopted parent’s tea house until they decide to sell her to the local gangster Gu. She escapes this bad situation and marries her trumpet playing boyfriend Chen Xiaoping. Chen loves Xiao Hong but looks down on her prostitute sister. In the end, however, Xiao Yun makes a sacrifice that allows her inner goodness to be revealed. (Berry,86).

Essay

Muzhi Yuan's film Street Angelproduced in 1937 is a classic and very interesting to watch. Through irony,Yuan gives a voice to the struggling class of Shanghai and contrasts Shanghai's abundance with the harsh reality of daily life for those who live in the city's lower class.

The film opens by depicting Shanghai as a glamorous and "glittering playground" (Palmer, 189). Fireworks and neon signs light up the night sky, fast paced music along with "a chaotic sea of rushing traffic" (Palmer,190) lend an air of excitement to the city. Elegantly dressed people strolling in parks and dancing in fancy buildings seem to suggest the possibility of a life of leisure. But, then the camera scans down a tall skyscraper, which becomes a symbol of the great "economic divide" (Palmer, 187) that exists in Shanghai. Finally, it settles on the "lower depths" (Palmer,193) of the city to focus on the world and the people who live below the glitz and glamor-- to focus on the working class-- upon whose backs the wealth of Shanghai is built but who ironically are not able to enjoy its luxuries or leisures, upon who "despite their best efforts...are unable to get ahead"(Palmer,190). Thus the viewers learn that "if the [Shanghai] of the 1920s and 1930S was paradise for some...it was hell for many"(Palmer, 191), and "exploitation...[was] at the root of all the hustle and bustle" (Palmer, 191),exploitation of the poor and the rural immigrant who came to Shanghai hoping for a better life and are barred from any upward mobility.

The skyscraper

,a dark comedy,

film features Zhou Xuan the 1930s singing sensation as Xiao Hong

Zhao Dan

The skyscraper is "a symbol for the city's economic divide."(Palmer, 187)

Link to the film online - [1]

--Hollyspendlove 03:34, 3 March 2012 (UTC)