Crossroads (1937 film)

Last updated
Crossroads
Poster of the film Cross Roads 1937 China.jpg
Traditional Chinese 十字街頭
Simplified Chinese 十字街头
Hanyu Pinyin Shízì jiētóu
Directed by Shen Xiling
Written byShen Xiling
Starring Zhao Dan
Bai Yang
CinematographyZhou Shimu
Wang Yuru
Edited byXiaozhang Qian
Music byLuting He
Production
company
Release date
15 April 1937
Running time
110 minutes
Country China
Language Mandarin Chinese

Crossroads is a 1937 Chinese seriocomedy film directed by Shen Xiling, starring Bai Yang and Zhao Dan. The film exemplified the growing trend of Chinese films by the mid-1930s of incorporating references (both veiled and explicit) to the war with Japan. In this way, Crossroads joins films like Blood on Wolf Mountain by Fei Mu and The Big Road by Sun Yu.

Contents

Crossroads has its background in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Produced by Mingxing Film Company, the film also represented an expansion by Mingxing into the leftist film market that had been dominated by its rival Lianhua Film Company, due to a flagging financial situation. [1]

In 2001, a sequel was made, despite the half-century gap, entitled New Crossroads.

Plot

Crossroads begins at a dock at Shanghai, where college graduate Xu is contemplating suicide because he cannot find a job. His friend Zhao (Zhao Dan) stops him and leads him back to their rented apartment. We learn that the four graduate friends are all jobless. Zhao serenades to Xu and dissuades him from thoughts of suicide, asking him to concentrate on his freelance translation job instead. Xu tells Zhao he has decided to sell his degree in order to raise funds to see his mother in the countryside. His other friend Tang comes to celebrate his own birthday with a fourth friend, Liu.

A female college graduate Yang (Bai Yang) comes to Shanghai to look for a job, and rents the room beside Zhao's. Meanwhile, Zhao finds a job in the press. Jubilant, he washes his laundry and hangs them up on a pole that extends into his neighbour's room. Yang is napping, and the wet laundry drips her pillow wet. Yang's friend comes in and bangs a few nails for her to hang her clothes, and Zhao's framed photos fall off at the opposite side of the wall.

Zhao comes home from work in the morning, while Yang goes to work as a trainer at a textile factory. Zhao leaves a bag in the tram he has just alighted, but fortunately, Yang helps retrieve it for him through the window. When Zhao gets home, he sees his scattered photos on the floor back in his apartment and retaliates by hitting the nails through to the other side and flinging rubbish to the other room. The girls hit back in the night, when he is not around, and write him a note of warning. Hence begins a lighthearted feud that swings backward and forth between the two parties.

Zhao meets Yang again in the tram and helps her retrieve something she dropped outside the window. He goes to her textile company to find materials to write his journalistic report and helps fight a hooligan who is harassing Yang. The two arrange to meet at a park nearby a couple of days later for his interview. By then, Yang has already realized he is the tenant next door. After the interview, Zhao does a series of write-ups entitled "the sad life-story of a female worker".

One day, Yang finally knocks on Zhao's door and reveals to him who she really is. She tells him she is only disclosing this secret because she is leaving Shanghai – the factory she works in has recently closed down. Zhao stops her and tells her that he will support her in Shanghai. However, after he goes to work, Yang goes through a dilemma, and finally decides to leave so as not to be a financial burden on him. When Yang's friend realizes they are pining for each other, she decides to bring the couple together again.

By then, Zhao has received news that he, too, has been dismissed from his job. He and Tang walk towards the pier, where they meet Yang and her friend, who are also out of work. They read in the newspaper that their friend Xu has committed suicide because he is unemployed. Zhao and Tang conclude that Xu is too weak and that they must be optimistic like their other friend Liu in facing their paths in life. As the film comes to an end, the four friends walk forward side by side with their arms entwined.

Cast

DVD release

Crossroads was released on Region 0 DVD in the United States on May 8, 2007, by Cinema Epoch. The disc features English subtitles and also includes Sun Yu's Daybreak .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yang Guifei</span> Tang dynasty imperial consort

Yang Yuhuan, often known as Yang Guifei, and known briefly by the Taoist nun name Taizhen (太真) was the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang during his later years. She is known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruan Lingyu</span> Chinese silent film actress

Ruan Lingyu, also known by her English name Lily Yuen, was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her exceptional acting ability and suicide at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.

<i>Fortress Besieged</i> Novel by Qian Zhongshu

Fortress Besieged is a Chinese satirical novel written by Qian Zhongshu, first published in 1947, and widely considered one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Chinese literature. The novel is a humorous tale about middle-class Chinese society in the late 1930s. It gained worldwide popularity after it was reprinted in the 1980s and made into a television series in 1990.

<i>Women Side by Side</i> 1949 film

Women Side by Side, also translated as Three Women and Female Fighters, is a 1949 Chinese film directed by Chen Liting, made near the end of the Republican era. It is Chen's most famous directorial work. Denounced as a "poisonous weed" during the Cultural Revolution, the film is now considered a Chinese classic.

<i>Chinese Paladin 3</i> (TV series) Chinese TV series or program

Chinese Paladin 3 is a 2009 Chinese television series adapted from the video game of the same title, and, because of an added time travel concept allowing the protagonist from Chinese Paladin (2005) to appear in the setting decades before the events of the first. It was first aired on Taizhou Broadcasting Station in June 2009. Chinese Paladin 2 was not filmed because the producers felt that the third game had a much stronger story than the second.

<i>The Legend of Yang Guifei</i> Chinese TV series or program

The Legend of Yang Guifei, also known as The Secret History of Concubine Yang, is a Chinese television series loosely based on the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his consort Yang Yuhuan. The series was directed by You Xiaogang and starred Yin Tao and Anthony Wong as the couple. It was first broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV from April to May 2010.

<i>Da Tang Fu Rong Yuan</i> Chinese TV series or program

Da Tang Fu Rong Yuan is a Chinese television series based on a novel by Nangong Bo (南宫博) about the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his consort Yang Yuhuan. The series was directed by Zhou Xiaowen and starred Fan Bingbing and Winston Chao. It was first broadcast on CCTV-8 in mainland China in 2007.

<i>High Flying Songs of Tang Dynasty</i> Chinese TV series or program

High Flying Songs of Tang Dynasty, also known as Da Tang Ge Fei, is a Chinese television series based on the romance between the Tang dynasty singer-dancer Xu Hezi (许合子) and her lover Yin Menghe (尹梦荷), as well as a fictitious account of their involvement in the events in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Starring Ma Su and Jia Nailiang as the couple, the series was first aired on CCTV-8 in mainland China on 20 September 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xu Lai (actress)</span> 20th-century Chinese actress and secret agent

Xu Lai was a Chinese film actress, socialite, and World War II secret agent. Known as the "Standard Beauty", she was active in the film industry for only three years, and quit acting after the suicide of the great star Ruan Lingyu in 1935. Her first husband was Li Jinhui, the "Father of Chinese pop music".

<i>The Journey of Flower</i> Chinese TV series or program

The Journey of Flower is a 2015 Chinese television series starring Wallace Huo and Zhao Liying. It is based on the fictional novel of the same name written by Fresh Guoguo, which is inspired from Daoist legends regarding the path to immortality. The series was broadcast on Hunan TV every Wednesdays and Thursdays for two episodes per day, from 9 June to 7 September 2015.

<i>One Night in Supermarket</i> 2009 Chinese film

One Night in Supermarket is a 2009 Chinese comedy film directed and written by Yang Qing, starring Xu Zheng, Li Xiaolu, Qiao Renliang, Yang Qing, Zhang Jiayi, Zhao Yingjun and Wang Dongfang. The low-budget movie, Yang's directorial debut, was filmed over 29 days in basically one location.

<i>Love Yunge from the Desert</i> Chinese TV series or program

Love Yunge from the Desert is a 2015 Chinese television series based on Tong Hua's novel Song in the Clouds. It is a sequel to Sound of the Desert (2014), also based on a novel by Tong Hua. The series was produced by Yu Zheng and stars Angelababy, Du Chun, Lu Yi, Chen Xiao and Yang Rong. It aired on Hunan Television from 13 September to 23 November 2015.

<i>The Legend of Mi Yue</i> Chinese TV series or program

The Legend of Mi Yue (Chinese: 羋月傳; pinyin: Mǐ Yuè Zhuàn; Wade–Giles: Mi3 Yüeh4 Chuan4) is a 2015 Chinese television series directed by Zheng Xiaolong and based on Jiang Shengnan's eponymous historical novel. It stars Sun Li in the title role of Mi Yue. The series aired 2 episodes daily on Beijing TV and Dragon TV from 30 November 2015 to 9 January 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bai Yang (actress)</span> Chinese actress (1920–1996)

Bai Yang was a Chinese film and drama actress mainly active from the 1930s to the 1950s, during which she was one of the country's most popular movie stars. She was considered the foremost of China's "Four Great Actresses," ahead of Qin Yi, Shu Xiuwen, and Zhang Ruifang. Her most famous films include Crossroads (1937), The Spring River Flows East (1947), Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon (1947), and New Year's Sacrifice (1955).

<i>The Whirlwind Girl</i> Chinese TV series or program

The Whirlwind Girl is a 2015 Chinese television series based on the novel of the same name written by Ming Xiaoxi. It aired on Hunan TV from 7 July to 26 August 2015.

<i>This Is Not What I Expected</i> 2017 Chinese romantic comedy film

This Is Not What I Expected is a 2017 romantic comedy film directed by Derek Hui and produced by Peter Chan, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu. It is adapted from the novel Finally I Get You written by Lan Bai Se. The film was released on April 27, 2017.

<i>The Invincible Constable</i> 1993 film

The Invincible Constable is a 1993 Chinese-Taiwanese martial arts comedy film directed by Hong Kong director Chan Muk-chuen, based on the 19th-century novel The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants. The film was shot in Dajinhu National Geopark (大金湖国家地质公园) in Taining County, Fujian, a protected area of China.

Court Lady is a 2021 Chinese television series produced by Yu Zheng, starring Xu Kai and Li Yitong.

Love and Redemption is a 2020 Chinese television series based on the novel Liu Li Mei Ren Sha (琉璃美人煞) by Shi Si Lang (十四郎). It premiered on Youku and Mango TV on August 6, 2020. It stars actors Cheng Yi as Yu Sifeng and Yuan Bingyan as Chu Xuanji.

General's Lady is a 2020 Chinese television series that based on the novel with the same title by Yanbo Jiangnan. It stars Tang Min and Caesar Wu in the title role along with Lu Jia, Liu Yinjun and Cao Junxiang. It firstly aired in Youku on 9 October 2021 every Wednesdays until Saturdays. This series also aired in Taiwan.

References

  1. ↑ "APT5: Political Landscapes". The 5th Annual Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Archived from the original on 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.