"These are movie stills from when she was 16." "Some of the prints are no longer available." "Most of the film genres were folklore, romances supernatural or martial arts." "They say she was mostly given casual roles or wallflowers, as we call them now." "Only after joining Lienhua in 1929 did she have a chance to be in serious films." "We share similar fates then?" "Ruan killed herself over half a century ago but people still remember her as a movie star." "Maggie, would you wish to be remembered half a century later?" "That's not so important to me." "But, if people do remember me it'll be in a different light from Ruan." "As she halted her career when she was at her most glorious at the age of 25." "She is now a legend." "Miss Ruan played bad woman to perfection." "Yet I agree with Sun Yu that she adds a fascinating flavour the roles of noble ladies." "I can't explain the fascination." "Let's try." "Min-wei, Lienhua is to start a new film "Reminiscences of Peking"." "Ruan should have no problem playing a prostitute." "Then we push her in "Wayside Flowers"" "with a complete role change." "She's a chaste songstress." "It'd be terrific if we succeed." "It means we have another superstar like Hu Tie." "She must be better than Hu Tie." "Lienhua aims to revive China's movie industry with good films." "But the box office is important." "We must have good stars and directors." "We've got good directors" " Pu and Sun." "We'll go to Peking to film snow scenes for "Reminiscences of Peking"" "plus the opening scenes of "Wayside Flowers"." "I'd like to have Ruan Ling-yu as the female lead and as her own mother in a double role." "In this scene she plays a woman fleeing the famine." "In the snow her little one has nothing to eat." "She bites her own finger and feeds him with her own blood." "Can Ruan Ling-yu make the grade?" "It's a good film I'll play it if she can't." "You'd better try your luck outside, good for you." "Director Sun." "Director, I'll go and take it up with them." ""Reminiscences of Peking", 1930 Directed by Sun Yu." "Film no longer available." "You're all ingrates." "I can be nasty too." "Chu Chia-chieh, how dare you?" "How dare you?" "How dare you?" "Yen-yen." "I'm cursing Ying, not you." "Wang Hui-lan, you have gone too far." "I'm a concubine, but I can support this family or I can ruin it single handedly." "Not good enough, once more." "OK ..." "Once more." "Chu-chu does childbirth really hurt?" "Yes." "I remember I kept screaming during my first birth." "I don't want to give birth!" "Why?" "You want to have children?" "No, I just want to know how it feels." "Did you buy this baby piano for Hsiao-yu?" "Yes." "How's it going with Ta-min?" "Nothing special." "I wrote him yesterday." "Asking him to stop dating club hostesses." "I still get jealous." "I've been trying prove something." "Something I heard." "Go on." "Did you get intimate with him when your mother was their maid?" "I met him then." "It happened later." "I was only 16." "It's been four years!" "Ever thought of getting married?" "His family objected to our marriage." "After the death of his parents we didn't raise the subject again." "What on earth does he want?" "He kept many horses when we first met." "He took me riding every morning." "One day I stared at him riding away and I realized" "he wants a free and easy life." "He won't get married and have children." "So I adopted her as a safeguard." "I'll leave the rest to fate." "Chu-chu, maybe because childbirth is painful a mother loves her children more." "You adore Hsiao-yu too." "I wonder if I'd love her even more if she were my own daughter." "I believe you would." ""Wayside Flowers", 1930 Directed by Sun Yu." "Film no longer available." "Ruan favourite expressions:" "looking up to the Heaven in forlorn wordlessness." "I didn't think much of her when I saw a few of her movies." "But after having seen all her 6 movies she struck me as outstanding and life-like." "They had silent movies then." "It all came down to expressions and motion." "I found in her something special, something sexy." "Not superficially sexy." "It exuded from within." "She could be all wrapped up up to here but you could feel her coquettish charm." "I don't know how to put it exactly." "The way she smiled was most enchanting." "Remember that village girl in." ""Weeping Peach Blossoms"?" "Yes." "It really is soul-consuming." "What was it really like between Ruan and Chang Ta-min?" "Somehow I feel Chang was immature in life and feelings." "He needed her care in this respect especially after Ruan became a movie star with Chang gambling and his family's dwindling fortune." "I mean not just financially." "Spiritually she looked after him like a child." "A woman could get tired under such circumstances" "and turn to others to care for her." "So Tang Chi-shan came along a mature man, considerate to the fair sex." "He readily won her favour." "Thank you Don't mention it." "Hsiao-yu, don't get dirty you've just taken a bath." "Mummy's peeping at us." "Hsiao-yu, are you nice?" "Yes." "Did you miss mummy?" "Mummy, come in." "It's cold outside, come in." "Isn't this scarf beautiful?" "Yes." "Louder!" "It's beautiful!" "You only speak Shanghai dialect now No Cantonese?" "You really are silly sending me a mahjong set." "I'm more than silly:" "I'm crazy." "Chicken brewed with swallow's nest Take it hot." "Thank you, mummy." "I brewed something for Ta-min a few days ago." "I threw it away after waiting for him for 2 days." "You could have taken it yourself." "I wouldn't have wasted it if it suited me." "Power failure!" "Impossible, there's light in the kitchen." "The bulb must've been out of order." "They insisted on" "Chinese goods" "Japanese goods are better." "Mummy, let me." "Mummy, let me hold you." "You hold me?" "Been back long?" "I knew you'd be back today." "I wanted to get you something to cheer you up." "You didn't buy it?" "I bought it." "Chu-chu and I talked about you." "Then I thought of buying something for you." "So I bought a ring through Mr Lo." "It cost $80 only and they said I was lucky." "Let me put it on for you." "It's too tight." "It doesn't look good." "Why is your right finger thinner?" "You like it?" "It's too dear Who says you're lucky?" "My change of role went well, they said I was a good protagonist." "I must do better than Hu Tie." "I must give you something now for the gifts you sent me." "Give me a few horses then." "I still can't afford that." "Give me money then but in several instalments." "Otherwise, I may spend it all at once." "Miss Ruan." "Miss Ruan, be ready for filming when you finish." "Okay." "Liu Chiung, shoot!" "Liu Chiung, shoot!" "Liu Chiung, pass!" "Liu Chiung." "Miss Ruan, you don't know me," "I'm Chen Yen-yen." "I played a minor role when you filmed "Reminiscences of Peking"." "I remember you've recently signed a contract with the company." "Yes, but I've had no important role." "Miss Ruan, they say it takes you one hour to paint your brow." "Where did you hear it?" "In Peking." "I took two hours to paint a brow in Harbin." "Yung-kang, Liu Chiung, come here and be introduced." "They represent Fu Tang University's student body" "Japan took Manchuria in the "Sept 18 Incident"." "Students in Shanghai are parading today to call for a city-wide strike to boycott Japanese goods." "Hope you people at Lienhua can join us" "Yung-kang, Liu Chiung let's follow Nieh Erh." "Okay." "Mr Li, you're a revolutionary, you lead." "When I followed Dr Sun in the North Expedition" "I carried a camera, instead of a gun." "But I know when the moment comes I must carry a gun." "But the time is not yet now." "Let me call the Nanking Government now." "Nanking?" "Think about it." "They won't let Japan war with us." "We can't wait, can we?" "Today we must have a chance to study it." "We can't shoot today." "Still can't shoot?" "How can we shoot for this kind of audience?" "Nieh Erh we must go on with filming today, right?" "But we must show our concern." "Min-wei, send some men to help Nieh and the students." "Okay." "Okay." "Back to work." "Let's have a discussion." "It's settled." "Back to work." ""Weeping Peach Blossoms", 1931 Directed by Pu Wan-chang From original print." "Kwan, how old is Lily Li this year?" "76." "She's 5 years younger than Ruan." "What will I look like at 76?" "I was going to ask you." "Yesterday I asked Maggie Cheung." "Do you hope to be remembered decades later?" "I absolutely do." "I hope people would talk about movie stars in the 90's with me included, whatever the number." "You hope to be remembered." "Yes." "I feel that had Ruan not killed herself and kept her most brilliant moment we wouldn't be filming "Ruan Ling-yu" now." "We may be interviewing her and filming another biography." "Should a movie star vanish at the peak of her brilliance?" "Don't waste time on such silly questions." "I decided ..." "If I were to be famous ..." "If I were to be a legend" "I had to die when I was most beautiful." "I kept that memory in mind (Lily Li, 1990." "Actress of the 30's) when Ruan died and was lying in the coffin." "I kept staring and staring at her till her hair fluttered up." "Then I gripped it with my hairpin." "Then Hsiao-yu tugged at me saying:" "Auntie, why don't you cry?" "She wanted me to cry." "I couldn't then." "The first production between Lily Li and Ruan was "Little Toys"." "In our casual chat with her she emphasized how." "Ruan taught her to act in that movie." "And they became good friends as a result." "Ruan didn't speak Mandarin well and Lily taught her." "Lily also stressed on the affair between Ruan and Tsai." "She did overhear her hum, that "Blue Angle" tune." "I think Lily Li saw many things." "That was positive." "In the course of our extensive research." "Not only did Lily Li mention the relationship between Ruan and Tsai." "A writer wrote about it after her death." "Had Ruan and Tsai broken that barrier and put away the mental burden." "Ruan wouldn't have died." "Sun Yu, 1990 Director of the 30's." "We visited him in Shanghai last year." "He suffered strokes before his death." "His speech and hearing was bad." "He retired a long time ago." "He suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution." "He made no films at all after that." "When we went to Shanghai for research this was the only book we had." "And we took it back when we left." "How many days did he have the book?" "No, we showed him the book on the day of the interview to jog his memories to tell us about affairs of the 30's." "But he could not put it in words." "After the interview, we returned to HK." "And he died in less than a month." "He was then 91." "We regret not having let him keep the album as a souvenir." "Chen Yen-yen, 1991 Actress of the 30's." "Ruan had said to me:" "Sun, you'd better tell ..." "Li Min-wei the then Production Manager who was in Peking too." "You'd better tell him not to take this child to Shanghai." "Sun answered:" ""What difference does it make?" "The Company needs someone anyway"." "She said "The child would take away half of my territory some day."" "At least she had a period of brilliant days." "She was most popular in the 40's." "Is Chen Yen-yen more famous than Ruan?" "They were about the same." "I heard my mummy say..." "she was very young then." "Everyone only heard of Chen Yen-yen and Ruan Ling-yu but seldom of Lily Li and Lin Chu-chu." "Try to get Chu-chu to play a Ruan Ling-yusque role." "Don't turn round Your loved one is here too." "Who have you brought along?" "A club hostess." "Never mind her." "Don't forget we're going to Hongkong tomorrow." "I must return to pack up in a minute." "Chu-chu, please take me to Hong Kong" "Chang Chih-yun is here." "Miss Ruan, I admire you" "I've seen all your pictures." "I don't like Hu Tie." "You're more sophisticated" "I like Chang Chih-yun." "She's decadent." "Who's Chang Chih-yun?" "She's a veteran." "She was a big movie star 10 years ago." "I know." "She's Tea King Tang's mistress." "They say he kept her home smoking opium while he went around womanizing." "I really can't stand that." "Is that true?" "Impossible It's true he likes womanising." "He's on good terms with us." "He has a wife in Canton but they don't get along." "He wooed Li Cho-cho too." "Take it easy it was only a power failure not air raid." "Keep cool!" "Don't panic." "Power's back." "Power failure, not air raid." "Power failure, again?" "Hong Kong, 1932." "I want an ice-cream Alaska." "Good, good." "Queen's Road is no match to 4th Street in Shanghai." "You compare the Queen with whores in a Shanghai street?" "I've been in Hong Kong for nearly 10 days." "Now Shanghai's fallen and Hong Kong's thriving." "It's the cycle." "I really can't live in such backward places." "I'm so bored in a hotel." "Ruan, are you okay?" "Chu-chu, so Sir Robert Hotung knows my dad." "He promised to make me manager of the SS Shui An." "I must really thank you and Min-wei." "The Shui An only plies between Macau and Hong Kong." "I like Macau." "I wouldn't want to go to Africa." "If the Japs keep bombing." "Lienhua has to move to Hongkong." "We should be safe in the French Concession." "Bombs have no eyes." "Don't be afraid." "Ruan, Mr Tang's here." "Miss Ruan." "Ruan, are you all right?" "Yes." "Want to go up for a rest?" "No, I was thinking of Shanghai." "Shanghai's going to be OK." "Your mom and daughter are there?" "The government dare not wage a full war against the Japs." "If the 19th Army loses talks are the only way out." "This may go down as interludes in history." "You must embark at 6 a.m. tomorrow." "Go to bed early." "Keep accounts." "Nothing to keep?" "Enter $80 for Ta-min his roulette winnings in Macau." "Pay me the sum and I'll do it." "You're greedy." "What have you done today?" "Tang Chi-shan took us yachting around HK Island." "Min-wei finally talked him into joining Lienhua as a partner." "When Shanghai calms down he'll return to sign the contract." "To revive the Chinese movie industry again?" "Did Chang Chih-yun go with you?" "He confined her home to smoke opium." "That's a rumour only." "Did the rumour say that I control you?" "I don't control you either." "Don't!" "Control me." "What are you doing?" "In fact, I'm not interested." "We must create images for the cast." "The image is important." "The moment I face the camera, I freeze." "Consider it acting." "Haven't got a way to end it." "Nieh Erh, insisted on completing it." "A good start." "I must make a film about this song." "Good." "Ruan, you're back?" "Ruan, you're back." "Director Sun." "You're a deserter." "Mind your words." "Director Pu." "Ruan, are you leaving him behind in HK?" "He's found work over there." "This means he made some contribution to the Movement." "Sorry." "I didn't take part in your movement." "Never mind, there are lots of chances in future." "These Japs won't leave." "Then it's no longer a matter of singing for the Army or nursing the wounded soldiers in hospital." "Right." "This time we've decided to fight them." "Right, we must fight." "Let's sing together." "Now cheer up." "Tien Han is Tien Han." "It's the 1st progressive movie of Lienhua." "You mustn't use the name Tien Han." "Why?" "He's a subversive." "The modern girl in this film isn't the type who's into cosmetics and cars." "She must be independent, rational and brave." "A girl of the times should be concerned about people's welfare." "Li Cho-cho, you represent romance." "Yen-yen, your role signals purity." "But you flee when hit by the revolutionary waves." "Yen-yen, you kill yourself because your boyfriend jilts you." "Director Pu." "Ruan, how are you?" "Director Pu, how do I die?" "I'll tell you in a minute." "What if she comes?" "Shall I go and find Tien Han?" "He's only a script-writer." "Director Pu, do you have a minute?" "Sure let's go out for a chat." "Ruan, what's the matter?" "They say you haven't found the girl for the Chou role." "How about letting me have a go?" "Ruan, it's unsuitable for you." "You've been playing a tragic figure or a romantic girl." "You have a noble personality." "That role is neither noble nor romantic." "She's a labourer and not suitable for you." "I can play it well." "If I fail, I'll make good your loss." "Ruan, she's a stubborn girl, rebellious." "She's the revolutionary type." "In previous interviews, you mentioned (Shen Chi, 1991." "Playwright-novelist)" "Ruan was in many progressive movies (Author of "Ruan Ling-yu, in the later stage Movie Star of the Decade")" "Did she volunteer or feel compelled to take these roles?" "Many Chinese movies projected a social background and the image of modern girls." "Having played mostly downtrodden, helpless females." "She wanted to play a modern role for a change to meet the needs of the audience." "So she offered to act in "Three Modern Women" herself." "She went after that role herself?" "She did, and pressed Director Pu for it." "Let's dance." "I can't resist people being so nice to me." "Whoever does" "I'll madly reciprocate." "Thank you." "Why?" "You've shown me your weak point." "I still have Chang Ta-min." "Do I have to be nice to Chang Ta-min too?" "You still have Chang Chih-yun and a wife." "What about Li Cho-cho?" "I broke with Chang Chih-yun in HK." "It'll be harder with my wife." "If I dump her just like that you'd be scared of me." "Give me time." ""Three Modern Women" Directed by Pu Wan-chang." "Film no longer available." "Stop!" "Is the camera moving at the right speed?" "Seems it has to be a bit slower." "It'll make the film much longer then." "Thanks for the hard work Rush for another take." "Thank you." "Chin Yen, you play a playboy in this movie." "But not a so called new youth." "Look scared when Chou takes you to see the poor" "I was scared when she took me to the slum." "This time I want to show I'm moved." "What do you think?" "You'll make it then." "Ruan, well done, carry on." "Director, Boss Tang is here." "Mr Tang, how are you?" "One more take Mr Tang's here." "Let's strive to get it right this time." "Good, ready." "Lights, props." "Ready." "Camera!" "Master Shen." "Many analysts found out that." "Ruan's later progressive roles contrasted sharply with her real life." "What do you think?" "Her union with Tang Chi-shan had everything to do with how she fared then." "The circumstances were beyond her control." "She saw through him and then it was a matter of one year from cohabitation to suicide." "There was nothing she could do when she found out he had a previous marriage." "It was never in her to fight or resist." "She considered the relationship tolerable." "That's Chang Ta-min That's Tang Chi-shan." "It was difficult getting these photos." "One of them is barely visible." "Tang later sank very low in Taiwan." "They say he was a cigarette vendor." "And he died of old age there." "After the suicide many plays and operas in Shanghai featured the triangular relationship between Ruan, Chang and Tang calling them "Death of Ruan Ling-yu" or "Fall of A Movie Star"" "Chang was invited to appear in person." "He later co-operated with a HK movie company to film "Who's to Blame"." "He played himself." "I felt then he was hopeless." "Family might partly account for it but he was himself irresponsible." "He was only 36 when he died of pneumonia in HK." "Ladies and gentlemen movie critics describe "Three Modern Women"" "as a great film heralding a bright future." "Let's take photos together for a souvenir." "Pink Director, come over quick!" "Shall I leave you behind?" "Sorry, sorry." "Who's he?" "He's Tsai Chu-sheng." "He's just directed a movie titled "A Rosy Dream"." "Then Nieh Erh called him." "Pink Director." "Now they're good friends." "Sorry." "From now on, all our productions will be blockbusters." "It features Fei Mu, Sun Yu Wu Yung-kang, Tsai Chu-sheng." "Fei Mu's films are more profound." "Like depth charges." "Miss Ruan, a photo of you two stars" "123 Thank you." "What do you mean?" "Ta-min has agreed to separate from me on an alimony of $300 each month." "That's not too much." "It represents one-third of my salary." "I'll pay him." "That's good news for me." "It means he has no more feelings for you." "Money alone makes things easier." "Shame on a man asking for separation money." "It makes talks easier." "I'm sure if I gave him $100 he'd take it." "I'll sign a contract with him through my lawyer." "Director Fei." "I'll translate all the acting theory of Stanislavski." "You should read William Archer's." ""Face and Mask."" "The Japs are the enemy and the enemy is the Japs." "Who's the Nationalist Government trying to fool?" "Ruan, the reporters outside told me that." "The Government has banned anti-Japanese movies." "In our "Little Toys" the Japs are invariably called the enemy." "Is that so?" "The enemy's coming, wake up!" "The enemy's coming, wake up!" "Well, Lily, go on." "Go now." "Miss Ruan, I'm Tsai Chu-sheng." "I'll make a new movie after finishing "The Fisherman's Song"." "In any case, I'll cast you in the female lead." "Tsai Chu-sheng, aren't you ashamed?" "No one will hire you if your present movie doesn't sell." "Don't dream of getting Ruan Ling-yu as your leading lady." "Ruan, don't commit yourself." "So you can speak Cantonese." "I'm a Cantonese too." "No." "I didn't do well, let's do it again." "Hold a moment." "Wu Yung-kang, stop the rain." "Stop the rain!" "Add water." "Hurry up!" "Ming." "How many times have we shot?" "Five times." "The last two is good." "Ruan, we got two good shots." "Don't shower anymore, it's too cold." "What's she doing?" "Her father died this way when she was six." "You deliberately arranged this shot" "Yung-kang, again." "Ready." "Rain." "Costume, go away." "Ruan, back to position." "Ready." "Shoot." "Camera!" "Dad." ""Night in the City", 1933." "Directed by Fei Mu." "Film no longer available." "Cut!" "Prepare smoke." "OK, take a breather." ""Little Toys", 1933 Directed by Sun Yu." "Lily, again." "Director, what's wrong with me?" "Try one more time." "More smoke." "Ready." "Camera." "Action!" "Cut!" "How's it, director?" "Something seems wrong but I can't put my finger on it." "Lily, this show is coming to the end." "Chu wipes off her mummy's tears with her hand." "Then flicks the teardrops away with her little finger." "You can't do this well with your pain." "I'm dying after being bombed by the Japs." "I should feel great pain." "Right, but not completely." "Let me think." "Make up these two wounded women." "Get the costumes changed." "Theirs is next on the program Get ready." "I don't get him." "Imagine." "Chu plays a nice, clever girl considerate to her mummy" "so it's best for her to mask her pain now." "You may try smiling at mummy to comfort her and lighten her sorrow." "Lily, I know how you should act." "Me, too." "You shouldn't just show your own anguish." "I know what I should do now and what you want." ""Mummy, only foolish people cry!"" ""Little Toys", 1933 From original print." ""Oh, war is here!" "The enemy comes!" "...Cannons!" "..." "Bombs!" "..." "Landmines!"" ""The enemy comes!" "..." "Cannons!" "Bombs!" "Planes!"" "Miss Ruan." "I feel you're the best actress in China." "Miss Ruan, you're Party A." "Mr Chang is Party B." "In clause 3, if Party A can't maintain her livelihood." "Party B shouldn't..." "Don't worry." "Ruan will get on better and better." "There won't be one cent less for you on the $100 monthly for 2 years." "Mr Wu the Ceylon Studio has asked if you want to change your seal ink." "Stop bothering us!" "If you've no more questions please affix your chop." "You really have a way to extort money out of Yuan." "What are you doing?" "You're the hostess here Please rehearse how to open it." "Mummy." "When we're really married." "Don't dance, your clothes are creased and you're sweaty." "Hsiao-yu, let me take you to see your room." "Let's have a family session to see how to put the furniture." "Mummy, come on, go upstairs for a look." "Are there many rumours about Ai Hsia's suicide?" "It was not suicide." "She was killed." "She was killed by the society not 1 or 2 persons." "The obscene tabloid reporters." "I feel Wei Ming's role is a mirror of her life." "I have seen her several times in Star Studio." "I have seen her "Spring Silkworm" and "Bumper Crop"." "And "A Modern Woman"." "She wrote the script herself." "Tsai calls his film "New Women"" "because of her death." "Were you on good terms with her?" "You were on good terms with her?" "Yes." "She was independent a good actress and script-writer." "She was a modern female." "People considered her a bad woman and criticized her over minor affairs." "They wouldn't let her go even at death." "This show is designed to expose the true colours of these people." "Wei Ming in the script ended up being a whore." "Was Ai Hsia..." "People can sometimes be very weak." "But we hope to see strong people." "Did I bother you?" "I think so." "Do you enjoy squatting?" "Two-thirds of people in China are used to that." "They can't help doing it." "They squat to wait for the mandarins and landlords to slap them from behind." "They squat to get insulted or for help." "They squat for a rest too." "I remember when mummy was tired of work she squatted too and I squatted beside her." "How long have you not squat?" "After becoming a movie star" "I used to squat the whole day waiting for shooting." "Don't sit on high squat and show me." "May I use your toilet?" "It's behind the sitting room." "I stood long outside and saw Hsiao-yu going to school, mummy going to the market and him going to work." "That's meaningful." "Anything else?" "Your house is beautifully decorated." "Show me around." "The kitchen's there You've already seen the toilet." "Mummy and Hsiao-yu in a room." "This room is mine and Chu-shan's." "All your furniture have been newly bought, right?" "Yes." "What about those at the old house?" "All sold for a total of $93 and donated to the Bubbling Well Buddhist Society." "None left that belonged to us?" "No." "These were gifts from you but there's no more." "Am I no longer in your heart?" "Sometimes." "But it's not longer vital." "Ruan, I'm thinking of doing some business." "Could you advance the remaining few months' allowances to me?" "Copying Marlene Dietrich again?" "Does it look like her?" "Marlene Dietrich" "she's a born decadent star." "You look healthier than her." "I can't imagine how she'd look as a housewife, a factory worker or a woman in distress." "But why's everybody saying you look like her?" "Let me tell you why." "Because I'm sexy playing a woman in distress." "Don't be too sexy playing my "New Women"." "Fei Mu doesn't mind my playing a sexy nun for him." "Fei Mu is too capitalist." "Don't compare me with him." "You were a village woman." "You made wishes to Buddha that you'd become a nun for the safety of your sick son" "and husband at war." "Now your son's recovered and your husband's safety back and they're begging you to return." "Are you going back or not?" "You worried only about your family husband and son." "But now in this ethereal world you experience peace and quiet you never had before." "Are you going back or not?" "All that I need is your peaceful expression." ""The Sea of Fragrant Snow", 1934 Directed by Fei Mu." "Film no longer available." "Cut." "OK." "I'm crying!" "OK?" "You weep peacefully without emotion Great" "360, make up quickly." "Okay." "Lily." "You should said Lily Li." "If you're keen to learn Mandarin speak it from now on." "Okay, Lily Li." "Right." "Everybody at Lienhua said during yesterday's shoot you really broke down in tears." "They nearly cried with you in sympathy, did they?" "Were you preoccupied?" "Never." "Acting is like madness." "Actors are madmen." "I'm one of them." "I'm not a madman." "Director Tsai." "Where's Ruan?" "Inside." "My script's ready." "Ruan, hold back your tears." "Keep some for me." "What for?" "Tsai, when will "New Women" be shot?" "Soon." "Splendid." "Hurry up!" "I win!" "Now don't keep me company." "Go up to accompany my daughter." "Mummy, I promised to take your loss." "And the losses of Sai-chen." "Sai-san and Mrs Chou too" "I've one principle." "I won't let girls suffer." "You're a good fellow." "What are you doing?" "That's your true face, isn't it?" "If both Sai-chen and I were courtesans which one would you take?" "Say it." "What did you say?" "You saved this prostitute from the police and are threatening her now." "Smiling obscenely you say." ""How are you going to repay me?" "Don't go away."" "How are you going to repay me?" "Don't go away." "Ruan, you know you can't get out of this rascal's clutches." "Sad in heart, you put on an icy face." "You walk from here to the table" "and sit on it." "You tell Chang Chih-chih to pass you a cigarette." "You flick it once with a finger and Chang lights it for you" "Chang you light it for her insinuatingly." "A minor favour." "It is a man's common trick to seduce a girl." "Director, one more time." "I can't do it." ""The Goddess" 1934 Directed by Wu Yung-kang." "Ruan" "sitting on the table means resistance and so does smoking." "The whole posture is resistance." "But you're too weak-willed and you know it." "This should be visible from your eyes." "How's it?" "Got any cigarettes?" ""How are you going to repay me?" "Don't go away."" ""I want to retaliate." "Help me!"" "Cut!" "Ruan, not good enough Listen to me once more." "You were forced into prostitution to save your own daughter but those tabloid reporters didn't pity you." "They even scandalized you." "You thought of killing yourself but you want to live now." "You want to accuse, to hit back." "Show all this in your face, understand?" "Just do as you've just done." "Again." "Ready." "Camera." "Action!" "I want to live, I want to retaliate." "Cut!" "Not enough, not enough." "I want you to get stronger." "Remember what you said to me." "You have much in common with this role of Wei Ming." "Imagine the unfairness surrounding your livelihood." "Vent all your sad feelings like volcanic eruptions." "I'll run the subtitles in your face: "I want to live..."" "One word bigger than the other." "I want to see your expressions, one stronger than the other." "There should be no reservations." "Can you do it?" "Just do as you've just done." "One more time." "Back to position." ""New Women" 1935 Directed by Tsai Chu-sheng." "Ready." "Ready, shoot." "Ready." "Ready, shoot." "Camera." "Action!" "I want revenge!" "Help me!" "I want to live!" "I want to live!" "Sister." "Sister." "Cut!" "OK, pack up." "Pack up." "Ruan." "Cut!" "Keep this" "Tony, you forgot to lift up the bed sheet to see Maggie." ""Help me!"" ""I want to live!"" ""I want to live!"" "Did reporters drive her to her death?" "What is this?" "That's too much." "That's an insult to us." "Let's go." "That's unacceptable!" "The Shanghai Press Union is making a final plea or the ultimatum, to your studio." "Your studio's "New Women"" "is libelling our reporters." "You must issue a notice in newspapers to apologize to all the press and ensure it won't happen again." "Some shots insulting reporters should be deleted." "Cut, cut, cut the whole part of it!" "After the cut, no one will see them sponging in ballrooms." "History will give an account of it." "Miss Ruan." "Do you really want to cut it?" "The show will be banned if we don't." "Don't cut it!" "About that segment." "Miss Ruan, we must lobby through various channels." "The film can't be released without cuts." "But the cuts may arouse public opinion which would surely be on our side." "The final victory belongs to us." "I heard the Kuomintang was behind the whole thing, behind Reporters' Union as well as Chang." "The Kuomintang didn't come out into the open." "It was handled through the Association through its Kuomintang members." "The movie "New Women"" "was not complimentary to the press." "The press wanted to attack the movie." "But it could not find a good excuse." "They turned to Ruan Ling-yu who was notorious for her private life." "They said Ruan was unsuitable to play the role of a new woman." "Did the Association urge Chang to sue Ruan?" "The two events proceeded at the same time." "Eat bread, be nice." "What's up?" "See for yourself." ""Chang Ta-min sues Ruan  Tang For."" ""Love and Cohabitation."" ""Crime of Adultery."" "You're late." "Speak now." "This is a matter of life and death." "You won't die betting on one race less." "Why do I mean so much to you now?" "Ta-min, why are you doing that?" "I'll sleep over here." "I now sleep alone, now bring a hostess back." "They bothered me with questions about you and about things between you and me." "Aren't things good for us now?" "When everything is known I can save my breath." "I never do anything bad behind you." "When you were in Foochow" "I only danced and ate with Tang Chi-shan." "Enough." "Ta-min, have I done anything unfair to you?" "We made everything clear in the solicitor's office." "I even advanced all the money you asked." "Did someone instigate you to hurt me?" "Who could've done that?" "Money could!" "Look, I'm still in love with you." "I don't love you." "Who knows I'd have come here?" "Who did you tell this to?" "Who did you conspire with to hurt me?" "I'll take you out through the back door." "Coming." "What do you think of this court case?" "They say her mummy was a maid at the Changs." "Before she was a maid?" ""The Goddess" is all about her mother." "I see." "Miss Ruan." "Hello, Miss Ruan, what would you have?" "Wait." "Okay." "You made it too loose." "I only want to ask you one thing." "Would you take me away?" "Let's go together to Hong Kong." "We still have to come back." "Yes." "We'll return only after getting married." "If only you don't mind leaving your wife and mistress." "You said you'd ask me one thing only." "I still have something to do here." "This is OK." "Let's watch the next reel." "Okay." "Get the next one." "Do you think Tsai Chu-sheng had to stay in Shanghai because he was timid or because he was a Communist?" "Personally, I think he had no courage or guts." "He dared not love or hate." "Was it true love between him and Ruan?" "I'd like to ask her about it." "In fact, many have raised this question." "When researching, Lily Li told us she often saw Ruan in the makeup room when filming "New Women" and heard her hum that "Blue Angel" tune." "But she realized the delicate affair between Tsai and Ruan only after her death." "I feel Ruan Ling-yu's death was linked with romantic news about Chang Ta-min and Tang Chi-shan." "If she and Tsai dared to go on with their affair, would she have taken another course?" "I think not." "Why didn't they have the courage to?" "Because of their romantic news." "They were having enough bad press." "Right, if another rumour spread." "So the problem is she was a movie star." "To an ordinary girl a love triangle was common place." "Even a quadrangular one wouldn't have raised a ripple." "You keep your tears and joy private and to the extent of suicide." "But she was a movie star and a public figure." "The pressure in that era was especially heavy." "Yes." "As an artist, I hate to be maligned." "Rumours are as horrible in any age." "It's still just as scary now." "A movie star doesn't need to make her private life public." "What an ordeal if the public twists the facts and turn black into white." "When your private life spills into public domain you feel you're being stripped of everything bit by bit that's the most traumatic experience." "So I fully understand how Ruan felt then." "I'm very happy." "She killed herself under such circumstances." "Would you do the same if you experienced it today?" "I think my first reaction..." "People may think I try to play it cool." "I may be sad but it's my business." "But I won't let them know it." "I wouldn't take my own life." "If I died, it would be for myself, not because of other people." "What would you wear day after tomorrow?" "Day after tomorrow?" "It's the hearing." "I won't attend it." "I'll wear a black coat and a dark green necktie to match your new gown." "Damn, I mean to show to the Shanghai people that we're a pair of noble adulterers." "We're adulterers." "You've a wife and have an affair with Chang Chih-yun and me." "You're an adulterer." "I'm an adulteress, because" "I followed you knowing you're married." "To get dressed beautifully makes no difference." "We must part if we don't get married." "If we don't part you're still an adulterer even though we win over Ta-min." "Shut up!" "Mummy, what's the matter?" "A young lady claiming to be your ex-classmate wants to see you." "Did he hit you?" "No." "Did he hit you?" "No." "Jui-chen, why stand outside?" "Come in quick!" "Sorry, I'm already late for an appointment." "Tomorrow's Women's Day." "You promised to lecture in my school." "Don't back out anymore." "I know you must be in court day after tomorrow." "You can stand out and pour out all your grievances as a warning to young female students." "I'm also to blame." "Pour it all out, our weak points and pride and desire to eke out an existence." "I'll pick you up with a car at 10 a.m. tomorrow." "That won't be necessary I'll go by myself." "Good, be sure to attend, don't let the youth down." "I'm also a youth." "But you're Ruan Ling-yu." "See you tomorrow." "Goodbye." "Auntie, goodbye." "Hello, who's it?" "Chu-chu, hang on please." "It's Chu-chu." "Hello, Chu-chu." "A party?" "I would never forget that." "Chi-shan's beside me." "Let me tell him." "Chu-chu wants us to attend her farewell party for Skiner." "Chu-chu, we won't fail." "Will they all attend?" "I must look as beautiful as possible then." "Only then can I bewitch them." "Is that so?" "Good." "Just as the microphone is adjusted perfectly." "Her boss walks in he sees her cord pulls it and she falls off her chair." "Just as the microphone is adjusted perfectly." "Her boss walks in he sees her cord pulls it and she falls off her chair." "I'm going to the USA to see them shoot talkies." "They started with that not long ago." "So they often make slips." "Thank you, Mr Skiner." "Let's all thank Mr Skiner for installing this microphone for us." "Next time I can talk on the screen" "I can speak Mandarin." "Miss Ruan thanks you on our behalf for establishing the sound synchronizing department." "She should be the first star to speak on screen in Mandarin in the next movie." "She just studied Mandarin for more than 8 months." "But please keep it to yourself It's a secret." "Tomorrow is Women's Day." "My ex-classmate is now the headmistress of a girls' school." "She's invited me to lecture." "I have the lecture ready." "I'll speak in Mandarin." "Lily, listen." "Okay." "Classmates let's celebrate Women's Day today." "What's the idea of this Festival?" "To celebrate us girls for rising up from a centuries-old men-dominated history." "No, no, we'd better speak Shanghaiese." "You women are standing up and we men are falling down." "When women stand up it doesn't necessarily mean men are falling down." "We can stand up together in this large world." "You're right, Director Fei." "Fei Mu, you really are a nice guy." "What about me?" "Can I be called good?" "She asked me if she's good." "I told her, "all your friends believe you're good regardless of what others say"." "I'm mainly of the opinion you're too nice." "He's the director who taught me how to resist." "Drinking means resistance." "Resist!" "Resist!" "Come up for a smoke and drink." "I forgive you for not casting me in "The Road"." "Ten days ago I wanted her to inscribe something on a friend's souvenir album and she promised to come up with something good." "It's now too late." "She only embroidered "sun" on my hat when she was filming "Little Toys"." "Ruan, you've kissed every one of them?" "Not with the girls though." "Director Pu." "You transformed me twice making me a movie star and making me a female revolutionary." "If I could change you once more..." "I kissed him the longest because he's the most shy." "I was too excited when filming the last scene in "New Women"." "I broke up sobbing." "He was so shy that he dared not take off my blanket to see me." "They're all looking at us" "I've learnt one thing since coming to society." "If you're rich and powerful none dare say anything bad about you in your presence." "When not in your presence?" "You can't hear it." "People will say I committed suicide out of guilt." "But I was guilty of nothing." "This is my woman." "Death means nothing to me." "Still I'm afraid of malicious gossip." "Chi-shan, without me you can do anything you like." "I'm very happy." "Chi-shan, I'm sorry to have made you suffer." "May my spirit, if any bless you forever." "Chi-shan, after my death people may say you were a devil toying with females" "and I was a girl without a soul." "But I wouldn't be around then." "You have to bear the burden." "Mummy." "After taking the congee go to bed." "It's late." "Please take care of mummy and darling." "Please use the $2,050 Lienhua owed me as living expense for them." "Please take good care of them." "Go to bed early." "I love you more than my own child." "It's all right." "Mummy, sleep." "If I died now people would think I was dreading punishment." "What guilt do I have?" "I didn't do anything wrong to Chang Ta-min" "but he returned evil for good." "People might even think I did him a wrong turn." "What else can I do except to die?" "I'm not afraid of death." "My only fear is the malicious gossip." "Ruan Ling-yu March 7, 1935, midnight." "Chi-shan." "I never thought we'd part so soon but please don't be sad." "I am sorry to make you suffer." "May my spirit, if any, bless you forever." "Lienhua owes $2050 in wages" "Chang Ta-min, you've forced me to death." "Don't try to cry or repent" "now that things have reached such a stage." "Yet I do regret having become the prize sought by both of you." "But it's too late now." "Chi-shan, I'm your second Chang Chih-yun." "Only you can tell who'll be me tomorrow." "Without me, you can do anything you like." "I'm at peace." "Ling-yu." "Chi-shan." "Do you love me?" "What's the time?" "Sleeping like a dog." "What did you ask me?" "Cut." "OK." "Now, in this shot of Fei Mu's." "Director, I don't seem to have said to Ruan." ""Get up and smoke, get up and drink."" "It's for the show at Li Min-wei's party not this." "We don't know if Wu Yung-kang had said this." "We wrote this." "This is our only photo." "Her private life and hardship are hardly known." "None of her colleagues helped her in her lawsuit." "A sentimental girl like her must've taken a pessimistic view of life." "She never turned herself into a cold and shrewd woman." "She took a serious view of life." "When she got half-drunk she'd ask her friends:" ""Can I be considered good?"" "Come on, everybody, ready." "Ready." "Be serious." "Ready." "Take 3." "Action." "Auntie Li, why don't you cry?" "Site of Lienhua Studio, 1991 (United Chinese Photoplay Ltd.)" "Cut." "Maggie's breathing, breathing" "Maggie, one more time Take a breath first." "Again." "Ready." "Roll." "Action." "Cut." "OK" "Ruan Ling-yu (1910 - 1935) Original name:" "Yu-ying; pet name:" "Feng-keng." "Family from Chunshan prefecture, Kwangtung Born in Shanghai; age 25"