Cinema
Mulan Joins the Army
木蘭從軍
Bu Wancang · 1939
Synopsis
Under the Tang, Mulan has learned the handling of weapons from her father, a former soldier; she hunts and balks at weaving. When the conscription order summons the old man, she leaves in his place, disguised as a man. In the army, she wins her comrades' respect through her discipline and skill in combat, and teams up with a recruit, Liu Yuandu. When their general dies, she rallies the soldiers, leads the army to victory and is in turn given command.
Context
The film was released in February 1939, on the 16th (on the 19th according to Chinese Film Classics), produced by Zhang Shankun's Huacheng studio from a screenplay by Ouyang Yuqian. Shot in the Shanghai concessions, the lone island that the Japanese army did not yet occupy, it stayed on the bill there for more than eighty days and also did well in Nanjing and Singapore. In Chongqing, on the other hand, agitators who held its makers to be traitors burned copies of it in the street. It is the oldest surviving sound adaptation of the legend.
Who it is for
A sound film of an hour and a half, somewhere between war film, comedy and songs; a version with English subtitles is online.
Prizes and reception
Its success launched, according to the site Chinese Film Classics, the wartime costume film, and made Chen Yunshang a star.
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