Cinema
Crows and Sparrows
烏鴉與麻雀
Zheng Junli · 1949
Synopsis
Shanghai, winter 1948. Hou Yibo, a former collaborator with the Japanese who has become a section head at the Ministry of Defence, has seized the house of Mr Kong; he wants to sell it and flee to Taiwan, and his mistress orders the tenants to leave. Kong seeks a roof through his employer, who refuses him; the schoolteacher Hua is arrested for signing a letter of protest; the Xiaos, itinerant traders, stake their savings on black-market gold and are beaten in front of the central bank.
Context
The nationalist censorship stopped the shooting, which the crew continued in secret until the liberation of Shanghai on 27 May 1949, and then completed; a revised version was released in early 1950. The screenplay is by Chen Baichen, and Larousse counts Shen Fu among its co-authors. The title sets the sparrows, who unite, against the crow that oppresses them. The Ministry of Culture awarded it a first prize, and it was honoured at the 1957 film awards.
Who it is for
A sound film of nearly two hours, with several families that are easy to follow; it exists in a restored print.
Prizes and reception
It was shown five hundred and seventy-seven times in Shanghai in the year of its release.