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September 19, 2008Shadows and SwordplayDavid JeffersRed Knight-Errant: Red Heroine (1929) The origins of Chinese theatrical film parallel other World markets beyond Europe and North America, where production and distribution began. Soon after their introduction, Edison and Lumiere "actualities" circled the globe, including Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1896. As the business grew, these same companies, and later Hollywood, used their dominance of foreign markets to hinder the distribution of locally produced films. In China, this entrepreneurial stranglehold delayed the development of a national cinema. One significant difference in early Chinese presentations was the choice of venue. While film slowly crept into Variety-Vaudeville as part of a mixed program in the West, Chinese public screenings began in the Teahouse. The first Chinese production, predictably featuring the Beijing Opera, took place in 1905. Access to technology and the lack of a dominant language prolonged the production of silent film in China. The "golden age" of Chinese silent film actually coincided with the lifeless, dreary "all talking, all singing, all dancing" era of Hollywood, and ended with Japanese bombs in the late 1930’s. In a puff of smoke... The Swordswoman of Youlian... 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
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I'd love to see this. Isn't this print being toured?
Sorry to say you just missed this one. Red Heroine screened in San Francisco at Four Star Cinema last Friday, in Portland on Saturday and Seattle on Sunday. There are several more dates in California this week. I’ve linked the Devil Music web site to their name at the end of my preview. This program was a digital projection. SIFF Cinema has the best projection setup in the Northwest, so it looked as good as the transfer, which was very acceptable. Density was excellent, there was some warping, which causes image problems, but considering references to print damage I read before Sunday’s show, I thought it looked great. Sounds like there’s not much chance of a dvd release unfortunately.
Red Heroine begins with a shot of terrified villagers that zooms to the face of a screaming man, "The soldiers are coming!"
Transformed from a helpless victim to a fearsome warrior, Fan Xuepeng’s character the "maiden of the clouds," flies through the air, comes and goes in a puff of smoke and teams with a comical hermit named White Monkey.
In his monograph "Douglas Fairbanks: The Making of A Screen Character," Alistair Cooke describes the moment in his films when "Doug" is cornered by the bad guys and pauses to consider his options. It’s what action-adventure is all about. During the climactic battle at the end of Red Heroine, as the star fights off a dozen sword wielding henchmen, she stops for a breath on the fortress staircase. In a wonderful instant she looks down, surveys the scene, then rolls up her sleeves before diving in. Ninja girls kick ass!