''Far Away Love'' (), also translated as ''Love of Far Away'' and ''Remote Love'', is a 1947 Chinese film directed by

Chen Liting Chen Liting (; 20 October 1910 – 27 August 2013) was a Chinese playwright, drama and film director, screenwriter, and film theorist. He was one of the most prominent film directors and screenwriters in pre-Communist China, together with Shi ...

. Made during the

Republican era Republican Era can refer to: * Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to: * Roman Re ...

, it was produced by the state-owned China Film No. 2 Studio, and stars prominent actors and actresses

Zhao Dan Zhao Dan (June 27, 1915 – October 10, 1980) was a Chinese actor popular in the golden age of Chinese Cinema. Biography Zhao first became famous working in the Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite Zhou Xuan in '' St ...

Qin Yi Qin Yi (; 4 February 1922 – 9 May 2022) was a Chinese actress. She gained fame for her stage performances in the war-time capital Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war, she became one of China's most popular film actre ...

, and Wu Yin. The film was well received, and its premiere in Shanghai is considered a landmark event in postwar

Chinese cinema The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, '' Dingjun Mountain'' ...

. The film's screenplay is officially attributed to director Chen Liting, but according to Chen himself, it was in fact written by the leftist dramatist

Xia Yan Xia Yan is the name of: *Xia Yan (Ming dynasty) (1482–1548), Ming dynasty politician *Xia Yan (playwright) Xia Yan (; 30 October 1900 – 6 February 1995) was a Chinese playwright and screenwriter, and China's Deputy Minister of Culture bet ...

, whose authorship was concealed for political consideration.

Plot

After university professor Xiao Yuanxi 萧元熙 (

) breaks up with his girlfriend, he finds his maidservant Yu Zhen 余珍 (

) an attractive, though unpolished, woman. He decides to transform Yu into his ideal woman. He teaches her modern etiquette and customs, and with his encouragement, Yu develops into an independent-minded modern woman. The two become married. After the January 28 Incident in 1932, Yu Zhen wants to volunteer to care for the Chinese soldiers and refugees wounded in battle against the Japanese invaders, but is stopped by her husband. Yu later gives birth to a son, and Xiao hopes to have an ideal family life. After the eruption of the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of th ...

in 1937, Xiao flees Shanghai for

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers wher ...

in central China, while Yu insists on staying behind to help the war refugees. Yu eventually evacuates Shanghai, but on the way to Hankou her son dies in a Japanese bombing raid. The loss further steels Yu Zhen's mind and she joins the army. When Yu finally reaches Hankou and reunites with Xiao, the couple have grown irreparably distant. Yu Zhen decides to leave Hankou for the frontline, whereas Xiao laments the transformation of his wife and turns against

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

. As the Japanese army advance toward Hankou, Professor Xiao is escorted toward the interior. He unexpectedly meets Yu Zhen again, but Yu is now a completely different person. Xiao watches as his wife heads for the distant battlefront.

Authorship

The screenplay of the film is officially attributed to the director Chen Liting, but according to Chen himself, it was actually written by the leftist playwright

. Xia and Chen were both prominent dramatists who had collaborated many times. As Xia had joined the Communist Party in 1927, whereas the China Film No. 2 Studio was owned by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

government, enemy of the Communists, Xia Yan's authorship had to be concealed. However, in Xia Yan's own autobiography, he states that he did not write any screenplay between 1937 and 1949.

Production and reception

''Far Away Love'' was the first in a series of Chen Liting's epic films on the social turmoil caused by the Sino-Japanese War. The production was supported by the Ministry of Defence of the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

government, which put uniformed soldiers at Chen Liting's disposal. The film was well received. Its premiere in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

's famous Huanghou Theatre on 18 January 1947 was considered a landmark event in postwar Chinese cinema. After ''Far Away Love'', Chen made two more films — '' Rhapsody of Happiness'' (1947) and ''

Women Side by Side ''Women Side by Side'' (), also translated as ''Three Women'' and ''Female Fighters'', is a 1949 Chinese film directed by Chen Liting, made near the end of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republican era. It is Chen's most famous directorial wo ...

'' (1949) — before the

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

won the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and took over

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

in 1949. Chen Liting's biography, written by Xia Yu and published in 2008, is entitled ''Far Away Love'' after the film ().

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1003213, Far Away Love 1947 films Films directed by Chen Liting 1940s Mandarin-language films 1947 drama films Chinese black-and-white films Films set in Shanghai Films set in Wuhan Second Sino-Japanese War films Chinese drama films

Plot

Authorship

Production and reception

See also

References

External links