Bible for Girls

Dirs: Li Pingqian, Zhang Shichuan, Cheng Bugao, Shen Xiling, Yao Sufeng, Wu Cun, Chen Kengran, Xu Xinfu, Zheng Zhengqiu
Scrs: Xia Yan, Zheng Zhengqiu, Hong Shen, A Ying, Zheng Boqi, Shen Xiling
Prod Co: Mingxing
Cast: Butterfly Wu, Gao Zhanfei, Yan Yuexian, Xuan Jinglin, Zheng Xiaoqiu
1934 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | 167min

An epic production directed by Li Pingqian in collaboration with eight directors from Mingxing Film Company. Butterfly Wu stars as a hostess who, after leaving Shanghai for ten years, invites her secondary schoolmates for a reunion. They each reminisce about their lives with some having difficulties in marriage or career. Some led destructive lives while others contributed to the country. The film espouses the virtue of Wu who rescued an anti-warlord revolutionary, inferring that women are deemed exemplary if their deeds benefit the country. As one of China's earlier sound movies, the film's vivid images are complemented by a deliberate use of sounds and songs exemplified by the clever juxtaposition of narration and image in two segments.

Courtesy of China Film Archive