Young Mother

Mok Hong-si directed nine films in 1954, with only two written by himself (one of which as co-writer). Young Mother, released in April, and Hopes and Aspirations, released earlier in February, were both made for the short-lived Nianyi Film Company. and had an almost identical crew. Both were advertised as "social melodrama", with the story based on real-life social issues. Young Mother had a stellar cast composed mostly of top Cantonese Opera stars such as Pak Suet sin, Yam Kim-fai, Leung Sing-po, Mak Bing-wing and Cheng Bik-ying. Despite this, the film only featured three songs. One cannot help but suspect that this film was made by the "league" of opera-based stars to prove to the Union Film Enterprise, which was formed to advocate a commitment to artistic values and morals for the society, as well as to boycott the opera actors because of their slack attitude in filmmaking, that they were also capable of making the same kind of socially conscious films Union excelled in. The story traces the growth of an illegitimate daughter and how she finally reunions with her mother, at which point she has also become a young mother. The plot is a little meandering but the film has excellent production values. Ngai Hoi-fung's atmospheric cinematography and Leung Hoi-shan's elaborate set design stand out in particular, while Mok's direction is more than capable.

Date	Time	Venue
15/5/2016 (Sun)	7:30pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive
12/6/2016 (Sun)	5:15pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

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