The Adventures of Sanmao the Waif (1949)

Original title

三毛流浪记

Directed by

Yan Gong, Zhao Ming

Genre

comedy film

Country

People's Republic of China

Runtime

1h 14m

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 13 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A homeless orphan boy with three hairs on his head navigates the streets of Shanghai. He survives through a series of adventures and encounters with strangers. The film mixes humor with the hardships of poverty.

poignantwarm-heartedhumorousbittersweethopefulearthygrittyplayful

What happens

The Adventures of Sanmao the Waif (also known as The Winter of Three Hairs, Wanderings of Three-Hairs the Orphan or An Orphan on the Streets) (三毛流浪记) is a 1949 Chinese film released by Kunlun Film Company, directed by Zhao Ming and Yan Gong, and written by Yang Hansheng, Chen Baichen, and Li Tianji. The 1949 film is based on the Sanmao comic, created by Zhang Leping in 1935 and features the well-known Chinese cultural symbol of child poverty, Sanmao (meaning "three hairs"), a homeless orphan boy. The film, which stars Wang Longji, follows Sanmao through his adventures surviving and meeting new people on the streets of Shanghai. The film notably works to counterbalance the tragic story of Sanmao with humor and comedy. Sanmao's visual image of a small boy with a big head and three hairs is well known amongst Chinese people both old and young. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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