Street Angel (1937)

Original title

馬路天使

Directed by

Yuan Muzhi

Genre

drama film

Country

Republic of China

Runtime

1h 31m

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 29 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A band of struggling outcasts in 1930s Shanghai includes a tea house singer, a trumpet player, a newspaper hawker, and a prostitute. They try to get by and support each other through poverty and hardship in the city's slums.

poignantgrittybittersweetearthymelodramaticcomedictenderhumanisticlively

What happens

Street Angel (Chinese: 馬路天使; pinyin: Mǎlù tiānshǐ), also known as Street Angels, is a 1937 left-wing Chinese film directed by Yuan Muzhi (袁牧之) and released by Mingxing Film Company. Starring popular Chinese actor Zhao Dan (赵丹) and iconic Chinese singer Zhou Xuan (周璇), the story is set in the slums of Shanghai, chronicling the lives of a band of downtrodden underclass outcasts: a tea house singer, a trumpet player, a newspaper hawker, and a prostitute. By blending elements of romance, comedy and melodrama into the storyline, the characters find themselves in a variety of difficult situations as they try to navigate the hardships of the city during the 1930s. Released towards the end of the golden age of Shanghai cinema, the film is regarded as a masterpiece of the Chinese left-wing movement. Taking place during a time of national tension within the country, issues such as economic policy and military conflict are explored to raise awareness about some of China's most pressing concerns. Additionally, the depiction of an impoverished neighborhood in the midst of a contemporary city is a compelling examination of how modernization had affected China during this era. This fusion between the two also provides a commentary on the combined effects that modernization and colonialism had on Shanghai specifically. As one of China's earliest sound films, Street Angel also made a name for itself by popularizing two timeless ballads: “Song of the Seasons” (四季歌) and “The Wandering Songstress” (天涯歌女), both of which are still celebrated as classics of Chinese modern song evolution. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Crossroads (1937)
• Song at Midnight (1937)
• Rhapsody of Happiness (1947)
• Night in the City (1933)
• The Goddess (1934)
• Plunder of Peach and Plum (1934)
• New Women (1935)
• 800 Heroes (1938)