Cinema
Woman, Demon, Human
人·鬼·情
Huang Shuqin · 1987
Synopsis
In the fifties, little Qiu Yun grows up in the opera troupe where her parents perform and learns singing in secret. When her mother leaves the family for another man, she becomes attached to her father, who ends up teaching her, reluctantly, the male roles. Through hard work, she becomes a star; but the profession hardly admits a woman in these roles, and her private life remains unhappy. In her moments of crisis, Zhong Kui, the demon hunter she plays on stage, appears to her.
Context
The film is inspired by the life of Pei Yanling, an opera actress famous for her male roles, who herself plays Zhong Kui in the sung scenes, breathing fire and performing acrobatics according to the University of Chicago. Before shooting, Huang Shuqin followed her troupe to observe her life. The film is often regarded as the first Chinese feminist film; the critic Dai Jinhua sees in it the country's first “woman's film”, but the director said she had not sought to make a feminist work.
Who it is for
A film of one hour forty-eight minutes, in which the opera scenes take up a large part; no French release is established.
Prizes and reception
It won Huang Shuqin the Golden Rooster for best screenplay, then the prize for best film at the Santa Barbara festival in 1992.
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