Waves Washing the Sand (China) 1936 Been jonesing for some vintage Chinese cinema and stumbled across this winner from writer and director Wu Yonggang. He also directed “The Goddess,” that is probably the best known of the so-called leftist films although this film – according to Laikwan Pang – was “attacked by left-wing critics as reactionary and as [a mouthpiece] of the ruling [Kuomintang] to present a harmonious and caring society.” The story is of a sailor who returns unexpectedly from a sea-faring journey to find his wife with another man. A scuffle ensues and the interloper is killed and the sailor lights out for safer climes. He gets a job as a stoker on a ship and booked as a passenger is the detective assigned to bring him in. Before he can be arrested, the ship is in a collision with another ship and both men are washed ashore on the same island with the suspect saving the life of the detective. It looks like certain death for them, marooned on a sandy desert isle with little water and even less hope of a rescue. Whatever the leftwing critics thought at the time, this is desolate and bleak stuff. Great film. Cinematography by Weilie Hung and starring Yan Jin and Zhizhi Zhang.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:12:57 +0000
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