Han Lan-Gen

Unfinished Comedy (1957)

Two famous comedians from pre-Revolution days perform a series of sketches in a theatre for a group of Party cadres. The stage performances blend over into absurdist, self-contained fantasy episodes where the two comics allegorically parody Party propagand ...

Signal Fires of Shanghai (1944)

During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial ...

Dream of the Red Mansions (1944)

Based on the famous 18th century Chinese novel with the same name. Set during the 1700s in China, a prominent family loses its good luck when one of the sons loses the jade chip that was embedded in his mouth. ...

Colorful (1943)

The Happy Couple (1943)

Princess Iron Fan (1941)

The story was liberally adapted from a short sequence in the popular Chinese folk tale Journey to the West. Princess Iron Fan is a main character. Specifically, the film focused on the duel between the Monkey King and a vengeful princess, whose fan is desp ...

Home (1941)

Wife and Concubine (1940)

Empress Wu Zetian (1939)

Historical film based on the life of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history ...

Mulan Joins the Army (1939)

This movie is based on the famous Chinese folklore that is more than one and a half millennium old. The same folklore was what the Disney animation Mulan is based on, and similarly, it was what many Chinese movies/operas/plays based on. ...

Lady Meng Jiang (1939)

Sable Cicada (1938)

Diaochan (aka Diau Charn and Sable Cicada), one of the Four Beauties of China, is supposed to be so stunningly lovely that the moon was shamed to hide behind clouds. Despite being the only Beauty among the four who is not a real historical figure but one c ...

Visiting Shanghai After Sixty Years (1938)

Walking Dead in Old House (1938)

A zombie appears in the Bao family in Hangzhou, claiming to be the ancestor of the Bao family and asking the family to move out immediately. The family is confused and calls their children and grandchildren to discuss the matter. After the departure of the ...

Symphony of Lianhua (1937)

"Lianhua Symphony" - a small collection, consisting of eight short films shot in 1937 by young filmmakers Shanghai Lianhua Film Company. ...

So Busy (1937)

The Wealthy Woman (1937)

Wang Laowu (1937)

Old Shanghai ...

Blood on Wolf Mountain (1936)

Blood on Wolf Mountain tells the story of a village that is beset by a pack of wolves. Made just prior to the commencement of full-scale war with the Japanese, the film itself is often considered an allegory of conflict between China and Japan. ...

A Girl in an Isolated City (1936)

Soaring Aspirations (1936)

Tomboy (1936)

A young woman must pretend to be a man to visit her grandfather, and gets into some romantic scrapes in the process. ...

The Big Road (1935)

Six young men from the city take jobs building roads for the Chinese Army ...

Song of the Fishermen (1934)

The story is about a fisherman's family living near to Shanghai. In the beginning, twin babies are born, a boy and a girl. Their growing-up is briefly sketched, and their friendship with "young master", a boy from rich family about their age. ...

Queen of Sports (1934)

Young sprinter Lin Ying enrolls in a sports college in Shanghai. As she becomes a sports celebrity, she starts to mangle with the upper class and has gradually forgotten the true essence of sports. ...

Early Morning in the Big City (1933)

The entaglement of a deserted child Qiling who start to work for his biological father Menghua's construction company 24 years later. ...

Playthings (1933)

Sister Ye lives in a rural village, where everyone makes traditional toys. When Sister Ye's husband dies of an unknown illness, and while Ye is attending to him, her son is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy lady in the city of Shanghai. Shortly after, the vi ...

Daybreak (1933)

A country girl and her boyfriend arrive in Shanghai for a better life. They soon find only desperation. She is raped and falls into prostitution as he drifts into revolutionary circles. Her access through her trade grants her greater access which she uses ...

Loving Blood of the Volcano (1932)

A warlord's nephew lusts for farmer Song Ke's sister. When Song refuses, the whole family is thrown into jail and the sister commits suicide. The father dies of grief and Song lives with his cousin abroad. The warlord's nephew loses power and also escapes ...

Wild Rose (1932)

A wild country girl moves to Shanghai with her painter boyfriend and experiences exploitation and poverty. ...

The Peach Girl (1931)

An upper-class son of urbane landowners falls in love with a peasant girl. When a pregnancy results, the couple are kept apart by strict societal morays. ...

The Souls of Freedom (1931)