Little Toys is a 1933

1933 in film

-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....

 silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

  directed by filmmaker 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...

. It is one of two films Sun Yu directed in 1933 (the other being 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...

). The film stars popular Chinese actress Ruan Lingyu

Ruan Lingyu

Ruan Lingyu , born Ruan Fenggen , was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her death at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.- Career :...

 and was produced by the leftist film production company 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:...

.

Today the film enjoys a positive reputation and was named one of the hundred best Chinese films by the Hong Kong Film Awards

Hong Kong Film Awards

The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...

 in 2005.

Cast

• Ruan Lingyu
  Ruan Lingyu
  Ruan Lingyu , born Ruan Fenggen , was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her death at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.- Career :...
  
   as Sister Ye, a maker of traditional toys.
• Li Lili as Zhu'er
• Yuan Congmei

Plot

Sister Ye lives in a rural village, where everyone makes traditional toys. She is considered the creative mind behind inventing new toys, and all the villagers look up to her. Tragedy strikes, however, when Sister Ye's husband dies of an unknown illness, and while Ye is attending to him, her son is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy lady in the city of Shanghai

Shanghai

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...

. Shortly after, the village is destroyed during an attack between rival warlords, forcing the villagers move to the city, where they continue to make toys.

Ten years pass, and Ye's daughter Zhu'er is now 17. She has become a toy designer like her mother. War has befallen the nation, and the villagers' attempts at patriotism

Patriotism

Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...

 bring them to early deaths. While helping the Nationalist

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 army at the rear, Zhu'er is killed in an attack by the Japanese.

On New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

's Eve, Sister Ye is dressed in rags, sitting on the curb, selling toys. A young boy buys toys from her, and it is none other than her son, whom she does not recognize. Ye then goes into a rambling rant, scaring the people around her, causing them to disregard this crazy woman. She begs the citizens on Nanjing Road to fight against the Japanese. Slowly, they begin to listen to her and realize she is right.

Music

In 2003, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

an composer Mark Chan

Mark Chan

Mark Chan is a Singaporean composer, recording artist, singer, instrumentalist, poet and painter. He is recognised as one of Singapore's premier composers, particularly for his unique blend of Eastern and Western styles of music...

, in a co-commissioned project by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Singapore Arts Festival

Singapore Arts Festival

The Singapore Arts Festival is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. Organised by the National Arts Council, it is one of the most significant events in the regional arts scene. The festival, usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month, incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and...

, did the score for the silent film and productions were staged in each country, featuring live music accompanying the screening of Little Toys.
The production was again restaged in Copenhagen in 2005 and in the Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2007. The score by Chan combines both Western instruments, like the piano or cello, and traditional Chinese instruments like the erhu

Erhu

The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...

 and the gaohu

Gaohu

The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera...

. The production in 2007 was staged in the Shanghai Concert Hall

Shanghai Concert Hall

Shanghai Concert Hall is located on the intersection of Yan'an Rd and South Tibet Rd of Huangpu District, Shanghai. It was founded in 1930, originally named Nanjing Drama Hall. In 1949, it adopted the name Beijing Cinema. In 1959, it was named Shanghai Concert Hall till today.The hall can...

on November 2, 2007.

External links

• Little Toys at the Chinese Movie Database
• Hear an excerpt of Mark Chan's new score for the silent film at http://www.markchan.com/home/song%20files/Internet%20Little%20Toys.mp3