Feature film
Love and Liquor
မေတ္တာနှင့်သူရာ
U Ohn Maung · 1920
Synopsis
A man sees his life ruined by gambling and drink. The film, a love story, sets out to warn the public against these two vices, and mixes comedy and fight scenes into its narrative. Maung Nyi Pu, regarded as the first Burmese actor, and the actress Ma Yi play the leading roles, alongside Maung Maung Chit, U Pa Gyi and U Pu.
Context
Filming lasted nearly fourteen months around the Shwedagon Pagoda, Inya Lake and the Bahan district, in Rangoon; cameras and supplies were carried from one site to another by ox-cart, and the crew, who knew nothing of lighting, left the actors too dark on screen. The camera stayed fixed. The novelist whose story supplied the plot also wrote the intertitles, in English and Burmese. A Burmese notable presented the director with a gold medal for the service rendered to public morals.
Who it is for
A silent film in black and white, with English and Burmese intertitles; its value lies first of all in its place in history.
Prizes and reception
Released on 13 October 1920 to a packed house, it was a great success; that day is celebrated every year in Burma as cinema day.
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