Crows and Sparrows (乌鸦与麻雀 Wuya yu maque)
Film poster of Crows and Sparrows
Screenplay: conceived by Shen Fu, Lin Gu, Xu Tao, Chen Baichen, Zhao Dan, Zheng Junli; executed by Chen Baichen
Producer: Xia Yunhu, Ren Zongde
Cinematographer: Miao Zhenhua, Hu Zhenhua
Art Design: Niu Baorong, Xu Xing
Music: Wang Yunjie
Cast: Zhao Dan, Huang Zongying, Li Tianji, Wei Heling, Sun Daolin, Wu Yin
Studio: Kunlun (The Peak Film Industries Corp, LTD), 1949
Description: b/w; sound; VHS format w/ English subtitles; 111 minutes.
Synopsis:
Completed just before the communist revolution and considered by many a crucial work in the history of Chinese cinema, Zheng Junli's Crows and Sparrows portrays the struggle between the residents of a Shanghai building and their powerful, exploitative landlord during the last days of Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalist government. The landlord, Mr. Hou, had opportunistically seized the building from the elderly former owner, Mr. Kong, during the Japanese occupation. Now, however, thanks to the turbulent political situation, he and his wife must leave the city, and make plans to sell the house, evicting all other residents in the process. When the tenants discover this plot, they try to band together to keep their homes. However, some tenants disagree with the plan, and form their own schemes - from demanding that Huo pay them a "vacancy fee" to buying the house with black market gold. The increasingly difficult climate in Shanghai, including a housing shortage, heavy inflation, and politically motivated arrests, places further pressure on all parties involved. The misunderstandings that follow are often presented in a comedic light, with much attention to character and humanity, while maintaining a sense of the gravity of the surrounding political and social changes. (Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide)
Zheng Junli (1911-1969) was born into a Cantonese family in Shanghai. Starting out as a spoken drama actor, Zheng studied at the Nanguo (South China) Art School and participated in the Leftist Dramatists Association. He joined the Lianhua Film Company in 1932, and performed in Sun Yu's Dalu (Highway, 1936), Cai Chusheng's Xin nüxing (New Women, 1935), Mitu de gaoyang (Stray Lambs, 1935), and other films. He started directing film in the 1940s. Collaborating with Cai Chusheng, he wrote and directed the box-office hit Spring Water Flows East in 1947, and then independantly directed Wuya yu maque (Crows and Sparrows, 1949). In the PRC period, he directed Women fufu zhijian (Between A Couple, 1951), Kumu fengchun (Withered Trees Revive, 1961), and biopics Lin Zexu (1958) and Nie Er (1959).
About the star:
Zhao Dan (1915-1980) was one of the most acclaimed and accomplished actors in Chinese movie history. Born Zhao Feng'ao in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, he was fascinated with film and drama since childhood, which he spent in a theater that his father owned. In 1931, he went to study traditional ink painting in Shanghai Art Academy and joined the Leftist Dramatist Association. He starred in over twenty films in the Star (Mingxing) Studio since 1933, of which Shizi jiatou (Crossroad, 1936) and Malu tianshi (Street Angel, 1937) were most popular ones. During the war time, he was active in propaganda theater and was imprisoned by a warlord in Xinjiang for five years. After he returned Shanghai in 1945, he starred in Yaoyuan de ai (Remote Love, 1947), Xingfu kuangxiang qu (Rhapsoday of Happiness, 1947), Liren xing (Three Women, 1949), Wuya yu maqu (Crows and Sparrows, 1949), and many other films. In 1957, he was awarded as the Best Actor in Films Between 1949 to 1955 for his performance in Crows and Sparrows. He played a series of historical figures the 1950s, including the beggar/educator Wu Xun (Life of Wu Xun, 1950), the great Chinese herbalist Li Shizhen (Li Shizhen, 1956), the national hero in the Opium War Lin Zexu (Lin Zexu, 1958), and the talented musician Nie Er (Nie Er, 1959). In 1995's centennial commemoration of the birth of world cinema and 90 years of Chinese cinema, Zhao Dan was posthumously awarded the "Centennial Award" as one of the best actors in Chinese cinema.
Questions to ponder: These are a few questions suggested for you to think about while reading the assigned articles and watching the film. Please jot down ideas and notes on details or scenes you think are relevant for class discussion. 1. How many plot lines can you find in the film? How are they connected or constructed? 2. How would you describe the style of the film? If it is realistic, what makes it realistic? If it is symbolic, what makes it symbolic? How does this film differ from classic Hollywood style in terms of film language (mise en scene, camerawork, editing, etc.) 3. How do you read the relations between "crows" and "sparrows"? Can you read them allegorically? What are possible ideological motivations behind this film? Please take into consideration that this film was made on the eve of CCP takeover and the editing of the film was finished after Shanghai being liberated. |
  
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Relevant readings:
Wang, Yiman. "Crows and Sparrows: Allegory on a Historical Threshold." Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes. Ed. Chris Berry. London: BFI, 2003. 65-72