The Goddess
About The Goddess
In Shanghai an unnamed woman walks the streets at night to keep her baby. A police sweep drives her to a thug called the Boss. He forces her, then tracks her down, takes her earnings for gambling, and once claims he has sold the boy. She hides money in a hole in the wall and gets the child into school. Parents demand he be expelled. The principal argues, loses, and resigns. She finds the Boss has gambled the school money. She breaks a bottle over his head and kills him. A court gives her twelve years. The principal visits the jail, says he will adopt the boy, and agrees to tell the child his mother is dead. She smiles at that future, then the smile goes.
Cast & crew
More about The Goddess
Wu Yonggang wrote and directed it for Lianhua. Lo Ming Yau produced it. Hong Weilie photographed it. Ruan Lingyu plays the woman. It opened in China on 7 December 1934 and runs 85 minutes. The Chinese title is 神女.
Themes
Background
Lianhua released it in Shanghai in December 1934, late in the silent period and near the end of Lingyu's career. She died the next year.
Making
Yonggang wrote the part for the nights on the street and the money in the wall. Lingyu plays a woman with no name. The Boss is the only man who gets one in the household.
Look
Hong Weilie photographed Lingyu on the Shanghai streets at night and in the room where the tuition is hidden in the wall.
Preservation
The China Film Archive holds 35mm prints and issued a DVD in 2003. A restored version screened in Beijing, Shanghai, France, and London in 2014. The BFI published a DVD in 2017.
Notes
- Zhang Zhizhi plays Boss Zhang. Lai Hang plays the son. Li Junpan plays the principal.
- 神女, "goddess," was Shanghai slang for the work she does at night.
- Wu remade the story four years later as Yanzhi Lei, with a different cast, setting, and some of the plot.
- The China Film Archive issued a DVD in 2003 from 35mm prints, with a piano score by Kevin Purrone. The University of Hong Kong Press repackaged it in 2005. The BFI released a Region 2 DVD in 2017 with an orchestral score by Zou Ye.
- A restored print played the Beijing International Film Festival on 22 April 2014, Shanghai on 15 June 2014, the French film archive on 24 June 2014, and the London Film Festival on 14 October 2014.
- In 2005 the Hong Kong Film Awards put it on a list of the top 100 Chinese films.
Scenes
- She hides the school money in a hole in the wall.
- The principal fails to keep the boy enrolled and resigns.
- She kills the Boss with a bottle after he gambles the savings.
- In jail she asks the principal to tell her son that his mother is dead.
Influenced
- Yanzhi Lei
Also available
- Internet Archive (thegoddess)
- BFI DVD (2017)
- China Film Archive
