''The Last Aristocrats'' () is a 1989 Chinese

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Xie Jin Xie Jin (; 21 November 1923 – 18 October 2008) was a Chinese film director. He rose to prominence in 1957, directing the film '' Woman Basketball Player No. 5'', and is considered one of the Third Generation directors of China. Most recently h ...

and starring

Pan Hong Pan Hong (Chinese: 潘虹, born November 4, 1954) is a Chinese film actress. She is widely regarded as one of the best film stars of her generation. Early life Born Liu Ronghua (刘蓉华) on November 4, 1954, in Shanghai. During the Cultural ...

Pu Cunxin Pu Cunxin (; born 31 July 1953), also known as Pu Quanxin, is a Chinese actor who has served as Chairman of China Theatre Association since July 2015. He is or was a member of the Beijing Experimental Theater Troupe. Biography Pu had a rough ch ...

, Li Kequn, and Xiao Xiong. It is base on the short story ''Zhexianji'' by Taiwanese novelist

Bai Xianyong Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai (; born July 11, 1937) is a Chinese writer from Taiwan who has been described as a "melancholy pioneer". He was born in Guilin, Guangxi at the cusp of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pai's father was the Kuomintang (KMT) ge ...

. The film picks up the story of the lives of four young Chinese girls, daughters of

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 elite, who went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to study in 1948 and faced difficulties trying to return home a year later. The film was released in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on 23 December 1989.

Plot

In the spring of 1947 in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, Li Tong (

) spends her twenty birthday in a happy atmosphere. Then she pursues advanced studies in the

with her friends Huang Huifen (Li Kequn), Lei Zhiling ( Xiao Xiong) and Zhang Jiaxing (Lu Ling). The four young girls are daughters of

's elite. Li Tong's father (Wang Bing) is a diplomat in the Nationalist Government. When 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 ...

take over Shanghai in 1948, Li Tong's parents dies in a storm on their way to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Li Tong's boy friend Chen Yin (

), a graduate of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, finds a job as a lawyer. They celebrate the happy event in the restaurant. After hearing the tragic news, Li Tong becomes more and more melancholy. She leaves quietly disappear without a trace. Three years later, Li Tong appears at Zhang Jiaxing's wedding, her heavy make-up makes her friends mixed feelings. Before long, Chen Yin learns by newspaper that Li Tong was arrested by the police after her drinking and rioting. Chen Yin goes to the police station to bail her out and takes her home, and persuades her to cheer up, but she has lost her soul. Another spring, after travelling around the world, Li Tong comes to her birthplace

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, throws herself into the sea.

Cast

as Li Tong () *

as Chen Yin () * Li Kequn as Huang Huifen () * Xiao Xiong as Lei Zhiling () * Lu Ling as Zhang Jiaxing () *

Lisa Lu Lisa Lu Yan (; born January 19, 1927) is a Chinese actress. She won the Golden Horse Awards three times in the 1970s. She is the only person who is a member of both the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts ...

as Li Tong's mother * Wang Bing as Li Tong's father * Li Weixin as Huang Huifen's father * Yan Meiyi as Huang Huifen's mother * Yan Bide as Zhang Jiaxing's father *

Zhu Xijuan Zhu Xijuan is a Chinese film actress. In 1960, Zhang graduated from Shanghai Drama Academy. After the audition of ''The Red Detachment of Women'', she selected as the leading role, which directed by Chinese master Xie Jin. For this breakthrough ...

as Zhang Jiaxing's mother *

Ying Da Ying Da (; born July 7, 1960) is a Chinese actor and director, best known in film for portraying Louie Wang in ''Big Shot's Funeral'' (2001), Ni Zhengyu in '' The Tokyo Trial'' (2006) and Jin Shenghuo in '' The Message'' (2009), and has received c ...

as Zhou Daqing () * Mao Yongming as Doctor Wang (), husband of Zhang Jiaxing * Ma Xiaofeng as Zhang Jiaxing's brother * Marcelline Block as Christmas caroler * Amy Yen-Lung Chen as Lily * Amy Chow as Cashier * Hong Tran as Dim Sum cook * Lynn Ann Guisti as Distressed child * Alice Liu as Wife

Production

On April 26, 1987,

and

Pai Hsien-yung Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai (; born July 11, 1937) is a Chinese writer from Taiwan who has been described as a "melancholy pioneer". He was born in Guilin, Guangxi at the cusp of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pai's father was the Kuomintang (KMT) ge ...

met at the

West Lake West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and natural/artificial islands within the lake. Gushan (孤山) is the largest natural is ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, they talked about changing the short story ''Zhexianji'' () into a movie.

Brigitte Lin Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (; born 3 November 1954) is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. Biography Lin was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. S ...

had been considered to star as Li Tong, the female lead role in the film, but at that time the relationship between the two sides of the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...

had not been thawing, she was recognized by reporters at

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is one of the two international airports of Shanghai and a significant airline hub of China. Hongqiao Airport mainly serves domestic and regional flights, although the airport also serves international fl ...

, and under the pressure of the authorities, she had to give up acting the movie. Her role was replaced by mainland actress

. Two-thirds of the film was shot on location in the

. The film wrapped in May 1989.

Release

The film was released on 23 December 1989 in

and received negative reviews.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Aristocrats 1989 films 1980s Mandarin-language films 1980s English-language films Chinese drama films Films directed by Xie Jin Films about prostitution in the United States Films based on Chinese novels Films set in Republic of China (1912–1949) Films set in Shanghai Films set in Jiangsu Films set in Venice Films set in Boston Films shot in Shanghai Films shot in the United States Films shot in Venice