Wu Yigong
Shanghai, China, 1930. When young Shuisheng arrives from the countryside, his uncle Liushu puts him at the service of Bijou, the mistress of Laoda, supreme boss of the Tang Triad, constantly threatened by his enemies, both those he knows and those lurking in the shadows.
Tony Rayns presents the work of the 'Fifth Generation' and other innovative filmmakers who emerged during the 1980s in China.
My Memories of Old Beijing, a feature film based on Lin Haiyin’s novel of the same title and directed by Wu Yigong in 1982, is called a prose-like film for its unique artistic pursuit. The film shows the society and the miserable life of the people in the 1920s in Beijing through the eyes of a naive girl. The film is uniquely arranged. Instead of organizing the plot with a beginning, development, climax and conclusion, it features a keynote of sorrows and yearning for the past and a string-styled plot that links three separate stories. Like a multifaceted mirror, it reflects the historical scenes from different angles. The film has its content centering on the characters’ psychology and supplemented with music; an artistic form of expression featuring a gentle rhythm, symbolism, implication, comparison, and repetition; and a tranquil, concise conception similar to a Chinese wash drawing.
Evening Rain, a feature film co-directed by Wu Yigong and Wu Yonggang, is about the years of the Cultural Revolution. It won the Outstanding Film Prize issued by the Ministry of Culture in 1980 and the Best Feature Film Prize at the First Golden Rooster Awards in 1981.
While looking for his cat, a young boy meets and befriends his neighbor, who is a biology professor.
