Ruan Lingyu

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Ruan Lingyu

Ruan Lingyu ( Chinese  阮玲玉 , Pinyin Ruǎn Língyù ; born April 26, 1910 in Shanghai ; † March 8, 1935 there ) is one of the most famous Chinese actresses of her time. She starred in 29 silent films .

Life

As Ruan Fenggeng , Ruan made her first feature film at the age of 16 for the then famous Mingxing film company .

In total, she starred in 29 silent films and made her debut in 1927, at the age of 16, without having previously had acting lessons . Her breakthrough came in 1930 with Spring Dream of an Old Capital (or Reminiscences of Beijing ), her first major role for the Lianhua film company .

After 1931 she made a number of films with directors from this film company . With her roles in the melodrama Love and Duty and in Three Modern Women (1932), both by director Bu Wancang , she began working with left-wing directors. In Xiao Wanyi ( Little Toys , 1933), a film by Sun Yu , Ruan played a toy maker. Her next film, Shennü ( The Goddess , 1934; directed by Wu Yonggang ) is often touted as the pinnacle of Chinese silent film. In it, Ruan Lingyu plays a single prostitute . Later that year she made one of her last films, New Women . In this film by director Cai Chusheng , she portrayed an educated woman who is being driven to her death by society. This case is based on the story of the actress Ai Xia , who committed suicide the year before.

Due to massive protests from tabloids responding to an unflattering portrayal of the genre in New Women , the director was forced to make extensive cuts in the film. Her personal life has been ruthlessly scrutinized and her ongoing legal battle with her first husband has been a source of the gossip columns . Confronted with this and with considerable private problems, Ruan Lingyu committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates on March 8, 1935, about a month before her 25th birthday in Shanghai. The funeral procession accompanying her funeral was reportedly three miles long and three women committed suicide in the process. Even the Chinese intellectual Lu Xun was affected by the circumstances surrounding Ruan Lingyu's death and wrote an essay condemning the behavior of the tabloids.

Many of the films with Ruan Lingyu are now missing or mutilated. A complete version of the long-lost film Love and Duty was discovered in Uruguay in the 1990s .

The director Stanley Kwan made a film about Ruan's life in 1992 under the title Ruan Lingyu . She was embodied in it by Maggie Cheung .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1927: Gua ming de fu qi
  • 1928: Bayun Ta
  • 1929: Zi sha he tong
  • 1929: Jie hou gu hong
  • 1929: Qing yu bao jian
  • 1930: Ye cao xian hua
  • 1931: Lian ai yu yi wu (Love and Duty)
  • 1931: Tao hua qi xue ji (Peach Blossom Bleeds Tears of Blood)
  • 1931: Yi jian mei
  • 1932: Xu gu du chun meng
  • 1933: San ge modeng nüxing (Three Modern Women)
  • 1933: Xiao wanyi (Little Toys)
  • 1934: Gui lai
  • 1934: Xin nü xing (New Women)
  • 1934: Shen nü (The Goddess)
  • 1935: Guo feng (Song of China)

See also

Web links

Commons : Ruan Lingyu  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Prospect Magazine
  2. ↑ www.china.org.cn - Ruan Lingyu-Tragic Goddess (English)
  3. ↑ www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de ( Memento of the original dated September 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - (Institute for Sinology) Film: Love and Duty (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de
personal data
SURNAME Ruan Lingyu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 阮玲玉 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese actress of the silent movie era
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Shanghai
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1935
Place of death Shanghai