Awful Truth

Dir: Li Pingqian
Orig Story: Wu Tieyi
Scr: Doe Ching
Prod Co: Great Wall
Cast: Li Lihua, Han Fei, Yan Jun, Wang Yuen-long, Ping Fan
1950 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | 119min

Money is an integral part of modern life. In this first Great Wall film after the studio's restructuring, the plot centres around seven gold bars and US$2,000. After the war, Shanghai is in a deep financial depression. Everyone is using every trick to get more money: from the manager to his junior employee, the courtesan to her dependent boyfriend and even the crook who partners with an itinerant sorcerer. In this film, many characters are featured and each has about the same importance in the plot. They each tell their own lies, and Li portrays each character just right to the point, perfectly ridiculing the twisted society of the day (and of today).