New Women (1935)
January 1, 1935Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Ruan Lingyu
Wei Ming
Moqiu Wang
Mrs Wang
Zheng Jun-li
Yu Haichou
Yin Xu
Li Aying
Fang Lian-Ying
Old neighbor
Tianxiu Tang
Wei Ming's sister
Zhou Qian-Yun
Old neighbor's daughter
Wang Naidong
Dr. Wang
Yiwei Qiu
Hong Jing-Ling
Manager
Tang Tian-Xiu
Wei Ming's sister
Diu Ban-Wah
Dance hostess
Chen Juan-Juan
Wei Xiaohong, young daughter
Lung Ling
Wei Ming's husband
Liu Qiong
Doctor A
Shang Guan-Wu
Doctor B
Media.
Details.
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
New Women (Chinese: 新女性; pinyin: Xīn nǚxìng) is a 1935 Chinese silent drama film produced by the United Photoplay Service. It is sometimes translated as New Woman. The film starred Ruan Lingyu (in her penultimate film) and was directed by Cai Chusheng. This film became one of Ruan Lingyu’s better known works. Her suicide on International Women’s day (8 March 1935) drew attention to the controversial status of new women and made this film a sensation in modern China.
The product of "New Women" has been the result of a social economic trend and reform social movement that has been going on for decades. It offered criticism to China's traditional ideology and offered a change in China’s “old women” to “new women” as an alternative social convention. New Women was considered to be a “problem film” in inciting “the woman question”. This question is actually a set of questions which pertain to how the ‘new women’ of China would be considered within society. Questions such as what is the current reality of women’s status in China, who are China’s new women, and what their lives should be like were part of “the woman question”.New Women was based upon the life of Chinese actress and writer, Ai Xia, who had committed suicide in 1934. Ai Xia's death following her role in A Modern Woman (1933) inspired Cai Chusheng to emulate the tragedy in this film.A print of New Women is currently maintained by the China Film Archive.