A good movie

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, it is a rather obscure movie and not even a thousand of people has rated it on IMDb but it is actually considered as a classic of Chinese cinema from the 30’s. It is also a fine example of left-wing film and it did   appreciate that the Communist message delivered here was at least more subtle than what we got from the Soviet propaganda movies of the same time period. Indeed, they focused on the slums of Shanghai with great details and they certainly didn’t sugarcoat their living conditions. I also did appreciate the fact that they didn’t depict the characters as being perfect, in fact, they all seemed rather ignorant but it didn’t mean that they didn’t deserve our attention, in the contrary. Indeed, their shortcomings made them even more human and more interesting to behold. However, what I enjoyed the most was how, even though it might have been a really bleak drama, which it also was, there was also some room for some comedy and slapstick. How they managed to mix such various tones and genres was actually quite impressive. Furthermore, even though I’m not a huge fan of musicals, I have to admit that I really enjoyed the songs in this movie. And, yet, even though I admired the work done, it was still missing something to really dazzle me. Maybe it had to with the fact that, even though the characters all felt real, none of them was really fascinating after all. Or maybe it was because the copy I saw on YouTube was pretty sh*tty. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a really interesting watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

7/10