Dir: Evan Yang
Orig Story/Scr: Xu Xu
Prod Co.: Hsin Hwa
Co-starring: Lo Wei, Chiang Kwang-chao, Wang Yuen-lung Chung Ching, Peter Chen Ho
1956 / B&W / D Beta / Mandarin / 100min

 

After The Mortal Wind(1954), Li Lihua starred in her second film adapted from the works of Xu Xu. This time, Li played kind-hearted beauty Lu Weicui, whose blindness enables the unattractive Mon Fang (Lo Wei) to cast aside his insecurity and communicate from his heart. The two eventually marry, but things change when Wei-tsui has an operation to restore her sight. Though playing a blind woman most of the screen time, Li once again shows off the brilliance of her expressive eyes in the scene where Weicui is overcome with conflicting emotions at the first sight of her husband. Adapting his own novel to film, Xu left his elegant prose intact, using narration to guide the audience through the story's complex emotional ups and downs. In a self-reflexive twist, the film version is bookended by the real-life movie stars listening to a narrator – who happens to be played by Xu himself – telling this heartrending story.