Plunder of Peach and Plum
About Plunder of Peach and Plum
Tao Jianping, condemned to death, tells his old principal how he got there. He and Li Lilian leave college, marry, and look for honest work. At a steamship company he fights the manager and quits. She is hired by a trading firm; he finds a construction job and quits again rather than cheat on materials. She leaves when that manager insults her. He takes heavy labor at a shipyard. After childbirth she falls and is badly hurt. The foreman will not lend money for a doctor. Tao steals cash from the foreman's drawer. Li dies before he returns with help.
Cast & crew
More about Plunder of Peach and Plum
Ying Yunwei directed. He and Yuan Muzhi wrote it. Yuan plays Tao. Chen Bo'er plays Li. Diantong, a left-leaning Shanghai company, produced this early sound feature. Also called The Fate of Graduates. A Chinese listing gives 121 minutes. The theme is "Graduation Song" (Biye ge).
Themes
Music
The theme sung in the film is "Graduation Song."
Notes
- Tao is a homophone for peach and Li for plum, so the title names the two graduates.
- Tang Huaiqiu and Zhou Boxun are in the cast.
- The 62nd Venice International Film Festival played it in the retrospective The Secret History of Asian Cinema.
Scenes
- Tao refuses to short the building materials and walks off the job.
- He steals from the foreman's drawer while Li is dying.