Two Stage Sisters (1964)
- Original title
- 舞台姐妹
- Directed by
- Xie Jin
- Cast
- Mei Ting, Su Yan, He Sai Fei, Shi Yi Hong, Zhu Yin, Liu Jie
- Genre
- drama film
- Country
- People's Republic of China
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Rating
- 7.2 of 10 from 18 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Two women train together as Yue opera performers in 1930s China. Their careers and personal paths diverge as one chooses comfort and the other pursues political ideals. The film follows them through wartime and revolution.
melodramatichistoricalpoignantbittersweetvisually lushearnestsocially consciousslow-burn
What happens
Two Stage Sisters is a 1964 Chinese drama film produced by Shanghai Tianma Film Studio and directed by Xie Jin, starring Xie Fang and Cao Yindi. Made just before the Cultural Revolution, it tells the story of two female Yue opera practitioners from the same troupe who end up taking very different paths in their lives: "one succumbs to bourgeois affluence and privilege, while the other finds inspiration and fulfilment in the social commitment associated with the May Fourth movement and the thought of Lu Xun." The film documents their journey through abusive feudal conditions in the countryside before achieving success and prestige on the stage, meanwhile historically following Shanghai's experience under Japanese and KMT rule. This original screenplay depicts the socio-political changes encompassing China from 1935 to 1950 (just after the founding of New China) through the theatrical world of Shaoxing, and accordingly mixes both a Chinese aesthetic with Hollywood and socialist realist forms. The main protagonist (Zhu Chunhua) is said to be based on the life of Xie Jin's friend and opera-veteran Yuan Xuefen. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
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Dream of the Red Chamber (1962)
Early Spring (1964)
Jasmine Women (2004)
A Wedding in the Dream (1948)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
Heroic Sons and Daughters (1964)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.