Ruan Lingyu
Ruan Lingyu, an early Chinese movie star, was originally named Ruan Fenggen and her scientific name was Ruan Yuying. A native of Zhongshan County, Guangdong, he was born in Shanghai in 1910. Because his father, who was a worker, died young, he worked with his mother as a domestic servant when he was a child. On Mother's Day, she cut down on food and clothing so that she could go to school and study at Shanghai Chongde Girls' Middle School. In 1926, in order to make a living on his own and support his mother, he was admitted to the Shanghai Star Film Company and starred in his debut film "The Famous Couple", which marked his entry into the film industry.
After that, she starred in nearly 20 films in the "Star" and "Great China Lily" companies, playing the roles of girls who have suffered misfortune in love and marriage or charming and provocative women. In 1930, she joined Lianhua Film Company and starred in the company's first film "Spring Dream in the Old Capital". She succeeded in playing the prostitute Yanyan, which established her position in the film industry.
Since then, she has appeared in "Weeds and Flowers", "Three Modern Women", "Gadgets", "City Night", "Life", "Return", "Goodbye, Shanghai", He has played the leading role in a series of films such as "Fragrant Snow Sea", "Goddess", "New Women", and "National Style". In these films that expose the darkness of society and show the lives of the working class at the lower levels, he has successfully portrayed various suffering people. image of chinese women.
Among these images, there are female workers, village women, teachers, dancers, prostitutes, entertainers, writers, etc. Most of the characters have tragic life experiences, experienced ups and downs, suffered repeated hardships, and continued to struggle. Although they ended up committing suicide, becoming a monk, going to jail, or dying tragically, they all maintained their kind and upright natures and pure and beautiful hearts. Among them, "The Goddess" is the most representative work. With her superb acting skills, she miraculously integrated a mother with a noble character and a prostitute with a humble status into one, which was so superb that it shocked people's hearts.
Ruan Lingyu is dignified and generous, elegant and refined. When it comes to performing arts, she works hard, devotes all her enthusiasm, and pursues it unremittingly. During the performance, she was able to accurately understand the characters' emotions, capture their feelings, and accurately express them with appropriate eyes, expressions, and movements. This accurate inner perception and physical expression are combined very naturally, showing her outstanding talent and extraordinary skills.
The director of "The Goddess" Wu Yonggang once used the metaphor of "the fastest sensitive film" and gave her high praise. In the Chinese film industry in the 1930s, she became an actor that directors were happy to work with because she had the fewest retakes. She also became the actor with the most box office appeal because she made the audience "must-see every film".
Her performance is talented and radiant, reaching the highest level of performing arts in China's silent film period and winning the sincere admiration of the audience.
However, this outstanding actress had a very unhappy married life. In 1935, the evil feudal forces took advantage of her marriage lawsuit to make a big fuss, spread rumors and slander, and poured buckets of dirty water on her. She couldn't bear the humiliation, leaving behind the last words "people's words are terrible", and committed suicide by taking medicine at the age of 25.
Chronology of works:
Guofeng (1935)
Xiang Xuehai (1934)
Goddess (1934)
New Women (1934)
Life (1934) (1934)
Return (1934)
Goodbye, Shanghai (1934)
Night in the City (1933)
Gadgets (1933)
Continuation of Spring Dream in the Old City (1932)
Three Modern Women (1932)
Love and Obligation (1931)
A Cut of Plum Blossoms (1931)
Peach Blossoms Weeping Blood (1931)
Yu Tangchun (1931)
A Spring Dream in the Old Capital (1930)
Weeds and Flowers (1930)
Burning Jiulong Mountain (1930)
Suicide Contract (1930) )
The Crown of Pearls (1929)
The Treasure of Desire (1929)
The Tribulation of Guhong (1929)
The Great Destruction of Jiulong Mountain (1929)
Flowers of the Screen (1929)
Cai Zhuangyuan built Luoyang Bridge (1928)
White Cloud Tower (Part 1) (1928)
Baiyun Tower (Part 2) (1928)
The Named Couple (1927)
The Monument of Blood and Tears (1927)
Yang Xiaozhen (1927)
Beijing Yang Guifei (1927)
Ruan Lingyu’s suicide note:
I can’t understand my injustice until I die. Now that I’m dead, I can always fulfill his wish. Although you don’t Kill Boren, Boren will die by you, Zhang Damin, I see how you can escape this public opinion, you can always stop falsely accusing Tang Jishan now, because you have already killed me! When I die now, people will think that I am afraid of sin. In fact, what sin should I be afraid of? Because I don’t have anything against Zhang Damin. Putting aside everything else, just take the fact that when he and I were about to break up and live together, I still gave him one hundred yuan a month. This is not just an empty talk, it has evidence and Receipt. However, he repays kindness with hatred, repays kindness with injustice, and even more so because the outside world doesn't know anything about it, he thinks that I can't help him. well! So what can you think of? I thought about it again and again, but I just wanted to die. well! It would be no regret for me to die, but I am still afraid of what others say and what others say.
The Last Works of King Ruan Ling
The evening of March 7, 2024
Open categories:
Actors, Characters
Reference materials:
1. Ruan Lingyu, born in Shanghai in 1910, is an early Chinese movie star. Her original name is Ruan Fenggen, and her scientific name is Ruan Yuying. She was born in a worker's family. Due to the premature death of her father, in order to make ends meet, she worked with her mother as a maid at a very young age. Later, she entered a school and became obsessed with the performing arts. She performed on stage at school events and showed her acting talents for the first time.
2. As she grew older, Ruan Lingyu became so beautiful that she was attracted by Zhang Damin, the youngest son of her employer. However, because Zhang Damin's mother thought that it was inappropriate for her to belong to an inappropriate family, the wedding was not held. In 1926, they began living together. Ruan Lingyu adopted an abandoned girl, named Zhang Miaorong, nicknamed Xiaoyu. Later, Zhang Damin became addicted to gambling, which made Ruan Lingyu very distressed.
3. In 1926, Ruan Lingyu was selected by director Bu Wancang to shoot her first film "The Couple in Name". The film was well received after it was released. Since then, she has filmed several low-quality films, and her talent has been difficult to reveal.
4. In 1929, she left Star Film Company and was admitted to Greater China Lily Film Company, where she filmed 3 films. Later, Greater China Lily Film Company merged with three other companies to form Lianhua Film Company, and Ruan Lingyu became a basic actor in "Lianhua". She starred in "Spring Dreams in the Old Capital", the first film of "Lianhua". The film was released in 1930 and was welcomed by the audience.
In the same year, she also served as the heroine of "Weeds and Flowers". This film made Ruan Lingyu famous in one fell swoop. Subsequently, she starred in "Three Modern Women", "City Night", "Gadgets", "Goddess", "New Woman" and many other films. Her acting skills are superb, and in the era of silent films, she accurately uses expressions and movements to express the character's character and language. Entering the sound film era, she could quickly understand the director's intention and get into the role. She plays various types of characters, including innocent girls, prostitutes who are forced to sell their bodies, and intellectual women pursuing a new life. She portrays the characters vividly and makes the audience emotional. Her The charm conquered the audience. Success in career did not bring happiness in family life. When her relationship with Zhang Damin broke down, a businessman who was accustomed to playing with women tricked her into taking the bait. After she divorced Zhang Damin, she lived with the businessman. Later, the two men started a lawsuit, which caused a storm in the city. In addition, Ruan Lingyu was slandered and attacked by newspapers at the time, which made her unable to bear it. She was forced to commit suicide by taking poison on March 8, 1935. She was only 25 years old.
5. Ruan Lingyu left 29 films for future generations in her short life. She is an outstanding performing artist in the history of Chinese film.