The Young Mistress' Fan

Dir: Li Pingqian
Orig Story: Oscar Wilde (Lady Windermere's Fan)
Scr: Sun Jing
Prod Co: Huaxin
Cast: Lu Luming, Yuan Meiyun, Mei Xi, Liu Qiong, Jiang Xiu
1939 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | 102min

Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde's play on moral values, is adapted for a setting in Shanghai. Young wife Meilin mistakenly believes her husband is having an affair with a social butterfly and decides to leave for a suitor. Her reputation, about to be ruined because of a misplaced fan, is saved by the social butterfly who turns out to be …Unlike typical Chinese scripts on parental love, the understated familial love in the original play is aligned with Li's preference for the undramatic. Motherly love is portrayed indirectly while emotions run strong yet subdued in the film. Poking fun at social culture of the times, this is Li's earliest extant feature film in a modern setting and a showcase of his modernistic and crisp directorial approach.

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Courtesy of China Film Archive