Part of the series
Goddess: Chinese Women on Screen (November 9 - December 8, 2012)

Citi Series on Asian Arts and Culture

New Women 新女性
Dir. CAI Chusheng 蔡楚生. 1935. China. Silent (with music track). B/W. 105 min. 35mm. With English subtitles.
Featuring RUAN Lingyu 阮玲玉.

Independent and ambitious, Wei Ming (Ruan Lingyu) is a modern single mother, music teacher, and emerging writer. In a world where women are often treated as sexual preys, Wei faces publishers who are eager to sell her sexual image and a school patron who gets her fired for rejecting his advances. A sick child forces her to scramble for money but the only way to obtain quick cash is prostitution. Unable to make ends meet, Wei is driven to suicide. At her death bed, she awakes to a newly found courage to live. Actress Ruan Lingyu, who ironically took her own life soon after this film’s release, gives a powerful and courageous performance portraying a woman who struggles against sexual oppression and economic deprivation.

Check out The Goddess (1934), also featuring actress Ruan Lingyu, and Center Stage (1992), a biopic of Ruan Lingyu. Both films are part of this film series.

This series is part of Citi Series on Asian Arts and Culture. Additional support is provided by People's Republic of China's Ministry of Culture, China Film Archive, and the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York.