The Wedding Night
Chief Dir/Scr: Zhu Shilin
Co-directors: Jiang Ming, Wen Yimin
Pho: Yu Shengsan
Edi: Xu Linsen ）
Mus/Com: Yu Lin
Prod: Han Xiongfei
Prod Co: Feng Huang
Cast: Hsia Moon, Fu Che, Shi Lei, Qiu Ping
1956 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | 100min
Courtesy of China Film Archive
Co-directors: Jiang Ming, Wen Yimin
Pho: Yu Shengsan
Edi: Xu Linsen ）
Mus/Com: Yu Lin
Prod: Han Xiongfei
Prod Co: Feng Huang
Cast: Hsia Moon, Fu Che, Shi Lei, Qiu Ping
1956 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | 100min
Courtesy of China Film Archive
Set in late Victoria-era England, Tess of the d'Urbervilles questions the concepts of religion, class, ethics and the limitations that a patriarchal society places on women, making it perfect material for a progressive film–including these two Mandarin versions.
The Wedding Night transports the story to the Warlord Era of Republican China. Before her wedding, the heroine writes a letter to her fiancé about being raped by a soldier. However, the letter ends up in the wrong hands. When the wedding is called off by the fiancé's father, the heroine and her fiancé both have an awakening and retake their marital autonomy, breaking away from the confines of Confucian ethics.
Set in contemporary Hong Kong and Macau, A Night to Remember sees Kwan Shan's character break off his marriage to Han Ying's heroine when he mistakenly thinks that his fiancée had an affair with her cousin. In the end, he begs for her forgiveness, and the two leave to start a new life in Singapore. But unlike the other two adaptations, Han's version of the heroine doesn't take fate into her own hands, and only waits for the man to save her. The film also paints Hong Kong as a city of crime, suggesting that true love can only be realised elsewhere.
The Wedding Night transports the story to the Warlord Era of Republican China. Before her wedding, the heroine writes a letter to her fiancé about being raped by a soldier. However, the letter ends up in the wrong hands. When the wedding is called off by the fiancé's father, the heroine and her fiancé both have an awakening and retake their marital autonomy, breaking away from the confines of Confucian ethics.
Set in contemporary Hong Kong and Macau, A Night to Remember sees Kwan Shan's character break off his marriage to Han Ying's heroine when he mistakenly thinks that his fiancée had an affair with her cousin. In the end, he begs for her forgiveness, and the two leave to start a new life in Singapore. But unlike the other two adaptations, Han's version of the heroine doesn't take fate into her own hands, and only waits for the man to save her. The film also paints Hong Kong as a city of crime, suggesting that true love can only be realised elsewhere.