Crossroads (1937 film)
Encyclopedia
Crossroads is a 1937
Chinese seriocomedy film directed by Shen Xiling
and starring Bai Yang and Zhao Dan
. The film exemplified the growing trend of Chinese films by the mid-1930s of incorporating references (both veiled and explicit) to the war with Japan. In this way, Crossroads joins films like Blood on Wolf Mountain
by Fei Mu
and The Big Road
by Sun Yu
.
Crossroads has its background in the Great Depression
of the 1930s. Produced by Mingxing Film Company
, the film also represented an expansion by Mingxing into the leftist film market that had been dominated by its rival Lianhua Film Company
, due to a flagging financial situation.
In 2001, a sequel was made, despite the half-century gap, entitled "New Crossroads".
, where college graduate Xu is contemplating suicide
because he cannot find a job. His friend Zhao (Zhao Dan
) stops him, and leads him back to their rented apartment. We learn that the four graduate friends are all jobless. Zhao serenades to Xu and dissuades him from thoughts of suicide, asking him to concentrate on his freelance translation job instead. Xu tells Zhao he has decided to sell his degree in order to raise funds to see his mother in the countryside. His other friend Tang comes to celebrate his own birthday with a fourth friend, Liu.
A female college graduate Yang (Bai Yang) comes to Shanghai to look for a job, and rents the room beside Zhao's. Meanwhile, Zhao finds a job at the press. Jubilant, he washes his laundry and hangs them up on a pole that extends into his neighbour's room. Yang is napping, and the wet laundry drips her pillow damp. Yang's friend comes in and bangs a few nails for her to hang her clothes, and Zhao's framed photos fall off at the opposite side of the wall.
Zhao comes home from work in the morning, while Yang goes to work as a trainer at a textile
factory. Zhao leaves a bag in the tram
he is alighting, but fortunately Yang helps retrieve it for him through the window. When Zhao gets home, he sees his scattered photos on the floor back in his apartment, and retaliates by hitting the nails through to the other side and flinging rubbish to the other room. The girls hit back in the night, when he is not around, and write him a note of warning. Hence begins a lighthearted feud that swings to and fro between the two parties.
Zhao meets Yang again in the tram and helps her retrieve something she dropped outside the window. He goes to her textile company to find materials to write his journalistic report, and helps fight a hooligan who is harassing Yang. The two arrange to meet at a park nearby a couple of days later for his interview. By then, Yang has already realized he is the tenant next door. After the interview, Zhao does a series of write-ups entitled "the sad life-story of a female worker".
One day, Yang finally knocks on Zhao's door and reveals to him who she really is. She tells him she is only disclosing this secret because she is leaving Shanghai – the factory she works in has recently closed down. Zhao stops her and tells her that he will support her in Shanghai. However, after he goes to work, Yang goes through a dilemma
, and finally decides to leave so as not to be a financial burden on him. When Yang's friend realize they are pining for each other, she decide to bring the couple together again.
By then, Zhao has received news he, too, has been dismissed from his job. He and Tang walk towards the pier, where they meet Yang and her friend, who are also out of work. They read from the newspaper that their friend Xu has committed suicide because he is unemployed. Zhao and Tang conclude that Xu is too weak, and that they must be optimistic like their other friend Liu, in facing their paths in life. The four friends then walk forward side by side with their arms entwined.
in the United States on May 8, 2007 by Cinema Epoch
. The disc features English subtitles and also includes Sun Yu
's Daybreak
.
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
Chinese seriocomedy film directed by Shen Xiling
Shen Xiling
Shen Xiling was a Chinese film director.- Partial filmography :- External links :...
and starring Bai Yang and Zhao Dan
Zhao Dan
Zhao Dan was a Chinese actor popular in the golden age of Chinese Cinema.-Biography:Zhao first became famous working in the Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite Zhou Xuan in Street Angel...
. The film exemplified the growing trend of Chinese films by the mid-1930s of incorporating references (both veiled and explicit) to the war with Japan. In this way, Crossroads joins films like Blood on Wolf Mountain
Blood on Wolf Mountain
Blood on Wolf Mountain, also known as The Wolf Hill, Bloodbath in Langshan, and Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain, is a Chinese film directed by acclaimed Shanghainese film director Fei Mu...
by Fei Mu
Fei Mu
Fei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...
and The Big Road
The Big Road
The Big Road , also known as The Highway is a 1934 Chinese silent film directed by Sun Yu and starring Jin Yan and Li Lili. The film deals with a group of workers who are constructing a highway for use in the war against the Japanese....
by Sun Yu
Sun Yu (director)
Sun Yu was a major leftist film director active in the 1930s in Shanghai. One of the core directors of the Lianhua Film Company, Sun Yu made a name for himself with a series of socially conscious dramas in the early to mid 1930s...
.
Crossroads has its background in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s. Produced by Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company was one of the largest Chinese production companies during the 1920s, and 1930s in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company lasted from 1922 until 1937 when it was closed permanently by the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:...
, the film also represented an expansion by Mingxing into the leftist film market that had been dominated by its rival Lianhua Film Company
Lianhua Film Company
The Lianhua Film Company was one of two major production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other being the Mingxing Film Company.-Names:...
, due to a flagging financial situation.
In 2001, a sequel was made, despite the half-century gap, entitled "New Crossroads".
Plot
The film begins at a dock at ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, where college graduate Xu is contemplating suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
because he cannot find a job. His friend Zhao (Zhao Dan
Zhao Dan
Zhao Dan was a Chinese actor popular in the golden age of Chinese Cinema.-Biography:Zhao first became famous working in the Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite Zhou Xuan in Street Angel...
) stops him, and leads him back to their rented apartment. We learn that the four graduate friends are all jobless. Zhao serenades to Xu and dissuades him from thoughts of suicide, asking him to concentrate on his freelance translation job instead. Xu tells Zhao he has decided to sell his degree in order to raise funds to see his mother in the countryside. His other friend Tang comes to celebrate his own birthday with a fourth friend, Liu.
A female college graduate Yang (Bai Yang) comes to Shanghai to look for a job, and rents the room beside Zhao's. Meanwhile, Zhao finds a job at the press. Jubilant, he washes his laundry and hangs them up on a pole that extends into his neighbour's room. Yang is napping, and the wet laundry drips her pillow damp. Yang's friend comes in and bangs a few nails for her to hang her clothes, and Zhao's framed photos fall off at the opposite side of the wall.
Zhao comes home from work in the morning, while Yang goes to work as a trainer at a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factory. Zhao leaves a bag in the tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
he is alighting, but fortunately Yang helps retrieve it for him through the window. When Zhao gets home, he sees his scattered photos on the floor back in his apartment, and retaliates by hitting the nails through to the other side and flinging rubbish to the other room. The girls hit back in the night, when he is not around, and write him a note of warning. Hence begins a lighthearted feud that swings to and fro between the two parties.
Zhao meets Yang again in the tram and helps her retrieve something she dropped outside the window. He goes to her textile company to find materials to write his journalistic report, and helps fight a hooligan who is harassing Yang. The two arrange to meet at a park nearby a couple of days later for his interview. By then, Yang has already realized he is the tenant next door. After the interview, Zhao does a series of write-ups entitled "the sad life-story of a female worker".
One day, Yang finally knocks on Zhao's door and reveals to him who she really is. She tells him she is only disclosing this secret because she is leaving Shanghai – the factory she works in has recently closed down. Zhao stops her and tells her that he will support her in Shanghai. However, after he goes to work, Yang goes through a dilemma
Dilemma
A dilemma |proposition]]") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable...
, and finally decides to leave so as not to be a financial burden on him. When Yang's friend realize they are pining for each other, she decide to bring the couple together again.
By then, Zhao has received news he, too, has been dismissed from his job. He and Tang walk towards the pier, where they meet Yang and her friend, who are also out of work. They read from the newspaper that their friend Xu has committed suicide because he is unemployed. Zhao and Tang conclude that Xu is too weak, and that they must be optimistic like their other friend Liu, in facing their paths in life. The four friends then walk forward side by side with their arms entwined.
DVD release
Crossroads was released on Region 0 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the United States on May 8, 2007 by Cinema Epoch
Cinema Epoch
Cinema Epoch is an independent film distribution & production company based in the U.S. It was founded by distribution veteran and filmmaker Gregory Hatanaka. The company specializes in foreign, independent and cult cinema. The company's first release was the martial arts classic Master of the...
. The disc features English subtitles and also includes Sun Yu
Sun Yu (director)
Sun Yu was a major leftist film director active in the 1930s in Shanghai. One of the core directors of the Lianhua Film Company, Sun Yu made a name for himself with a series of socially conscious dramas in the early to mid 1930s...
's Daybreak
Daybreak (1933 film)
Daybreak is a 1933 Chinese silent film directed by Sun Yu for the Lianhua Film Company. It follows a young girl from a rural fishing village, Ling Ling as she moves to the glittering city of Shanghai...
.
External links
- Crossroads summary at the University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoThe University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
- Crossroads at the Hawaii International Film FestivalHawaii International Film FestivalThe Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...