The Goddess (1934) is a silent film made by Wu Yonggang, a well-known Chinese director in the 1930s. Hailed as “a masterpiece of ‘the first golden age of Chinese cinema’”, the film marked not only Wu’s directorial debut, but also “the pinnacle of [Ruan Lingyu’s] career” (Harris, 128). Ruan’s “mature, nuanced performance”, which was “subtle but at the same time powerful and rich”, proved to be a major factor in the movie’s success and lasting impact in Chinese cinema – even inspiring Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan to produce Centre Stage (1992), a biopic of Ruan, over fifty years later (Harris, 128; Rayns, 18). This response will examine and show how the depiction of Ruan Lingyu by male directors in both The Goddess and Centre Stage make use
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Ruan, as the “figure of a woman rendered national icon”, is symbolically sacrificed “as a discursive site for social change”; the representation of Ruan as a “modern girl” further commodifies her to “sell increasingly anti-feudal and anti-capitalist political sentiments” (Gentry, 2013). In The Goddess specifically, Wu’s focus on the plight of a prostitute in the film sought to “[speak] out about…women’s misfortune and oppression”, using the “concrete images of cinema” to “serve as a repudiation and denunciation of…society in general” (Harris, 129). Given that many of Ruan’s “screen roles represented the suffering women of China” in her time, it can even be said that the pursuit of “modernity” in that era is not only projected onto, but reliant upon Ruan, whose figure was the vehicle through which the masses understood the need for social change (Buffalo Film Seminars, 2006). Ruan’s image, fragmented by her roles in different films by different male directors, breaks the difficult and complex social problems that cause her characters’ sufferings “into digestible, conquerable bits” that are easily disseminated and ‘taught’ to the viewers (Gentry, 2013). Thus, we see how Ruan’s multi-faceted, malleable identity was crucial in “the process of ‘modernization’ in …show more content…
While classical Hollywood biopics often featured “self-made individuals” who undergo trials “that set the extraordinary individual off from his or her peers”, “contemporary bio-pics from Hong Kong portray the great and the good trying, but failing, to take hold of a situation that is beyond their control” - reflecting the general mood within the political context of that era (Stringer, 1997). Centre Stage, by focusing on Ruan Lingyu, draws a parallel between “1930s Shanghai and 1990s Hong Kong”, both of which are “clearly contrasted as modern, cosmopolitan cities that suffer invasion by an occupying force (the Japanese and Communists, respectively)” (Stringer, 1997). The “absence of the lost films” that Ruan originally performed in also “provides a space within which” Kwan’s idealized imagination of Shanghai with a “Hong Kong subjectivity can be inserted” (Stringer, 1997). This sense of identification with and nostalgia for the selectively constructed Shanghai is especially evident in the film with how “the “1930s” is filmed in color while the “1990s” is in black and white, suggesting that the past is more colorful and desirable” (Li, 2012). The choice of Ruan herself as the subject is of great significance as well – as a Cantonese speaker (like the
Ruan, as the “figure of a woman rendered national icon”, is symbolically sacrificed “as a discursive site for social change”; the representation of Ruan as a “modern girl” further commodifies her to “sell increasingly anti-feudal and anti-capitalist political sentiments” (Gentry, 2013). In The Goddess specifically, Wu’s focus on the plight of a prostitute in the film sought to “[speak] out about…women’s misfortune and oppression”, using the “concrete images of cinema” to “serve as a repudiation and denunciation of…society in general” (Harris, 129). Given that many of Ruan’s “screen roles represented the suffering women of China” in her time, it can even be said that the pursuit of “modernity” in that era is not only projected onto, but reliant upon Ruan, whose figure was the vehicle through which the masses understood the need for social change (Buffalo Film Seminars, 2006). Ruan’s image, fragmented by her roles in different films by different male directors, breaks the difficult and complex social problems that cause her characters’ sufferings “into digestible, conquerable bits” that are easily disseminated and ‘taught’ to the viewers (Gentry, 2013). Thus, we see how Ruan’s multi-faceted, malleable identity was crucial in “the process of ‘modernization’ in …show more content…
While classical Hollywood biopics often featured “self-made individuals” who undergo trials “that set the extraordinary individual off from his or her peers”, “contemporary bio-pics from Hong Kong portray the great and the good trying, but failing, to take hold of a situation that is beyond their control” - reflecting the general mood within the political context of that era (Stringer, 1997). Centre Stage, by focusing on Ruan Lingyu, draws a parallel between “1930s Shanghai and 1990s Hong Kong”, both of which are “clearly contrasted as modern, cosmopolitan cities that suffer invasion by an occupying force (the Japanese and Communists, respectively)” (Stringer, 1997). The “absence of the lost films” that Ruan originally performed in also “provides a space within which” Kwan’s idealized imagination of Shanghai with a “Hong Kong subjectivity can be inserted” (Stringer, 1997). This sense of identification with and nostalgia for the selectively constructed Shanghai is especially evident in the film with how “the “1930s” is filmed in color while the “1990s” is in black and white, suggesting that the past is more colorful and desirable” (Li, 2012). The choice of Ruan herself as the subject is of great significance as well – as a Cantonese speaker (like the