Shanghai Dreams

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Shanghai Dreams
Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai
Produced by Pi Li
Li Wei (E.P.)
Li Huatong (E.P.)
Isabella Glachant (Co-E.P.)
Written by Wang Xiaoshuai
Lao Ni
Starring Gao Yuanyuan
Yao Anlian
Li Bin
Tang Yang
Music by Zhang Wu
Cinematography Wu Di
Editing by Yang Hongyu
Distributed by Fortissimo Films (Worldwide)
Release date(s) Cannes:
May 17, 2005
China:
June 3, 2005
Running time 121 min.
Country China
Language Mandarin
Shanghainese
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Shanghai Dreams (simplified Chinese: 青红; traditional Chinese: 青紅; pinyin: qīng hóng) is a 2005 Chinese film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai and starring Gao Yuanyuan, Li Bin, Tang Yang, Wang Xiaoyang, and Yao Anlian. The film was produced by Stellar Megamedia, Debo Films Ltd. and Kingwood Ltd.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The film is set in the early 1980s and follows a Shanghainese family sent to work in a factory in Guizhou during heightened tensions with the Soviet Union as part of an industrial "third line of defense". The father, obsessed with returning to Shanghai for a better life for his family, attempts to prevent a romance between his daughter and a local worker. The film is partly autobiographical in nature, as Wang's family was also sent to Guizhou as a child.

[edit] Background

Shanghai Dreams represents the first time a director has approached the subject of the "Third Line of Defense" and its consequences.[1] This is in no small part due to the director, Wang Xiaoshuai's own upbringing. Like the Wu family, the Wang family was also originally from Shanghai and who moved to Guiyang due to the need to create an industrial third line of defense.[1][2] This third line of defense was set away from cities and the seacoast, in order to protect China's industrial capability in case of a war against the Soviet Union. With the opening up of China in the 1980s, however, many of these urban exiles were given the opportunity to return home to the cities, even as their families had already laid down roots in their new homes. Wang has stated that he set the story in the '80s in that it represented an era of transition, wherein the Cultural Revolution had ended, but much of the old ways were still in ingrained in society.[3]

[edit] Release in China

Shanghai Dreams marks the first time Wang was given a wide degree of freedom by the Film Bureau in comparison to his previous films, notably Beijing Bicycle, which suffered from censorship woes.[2] Wang has noted that authorities approached him after realizing that foreign blockbusters were slowly taking over the Chinese market.[3] Wang was then asked to send in a 1000 word summary of the film, after which they asked to see the entire script; both requests were honored and neither was "softened" in Wang's words, as a means to test the openness of the "new" bureau.[3] Wang noteed that the film does not represent a "typical" Chinese film; as stated in an interview, Want states:

“ It's a very individual story. It's half about my background. It isn't about the larger community, and so it's the complete opposite of what the government traditionally said a film should be.[3] ”

Nevertheless the film was released in China theaters shortly after its premier at Cannes.

[edit] Awards

The film premiered in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival as an official selection in competition for the Palme d'Or, and received the Jury Prize.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Cast

  • Gao Yuanyuan as Wu Qinghong, the daughter of a family sent to the Guizhou Province in the 1960s. Her name is the original Chinese title of the film.
  • Yao Anlian as Wu Zemin, Qinghong's father, obsessed with a return to Shanghai after years in Guizhou.
  • Li Bin as Fan Honggen, a local boy whom Qinghong falls in love with.
  • Tang Yang as Meifen, Qinghong's mother, and Zemin's wife.
  • Wang Xueyang as Xiaozhen, Qinghong's friend, a local Guizhou girl.
  • Qin Hao as Lu Jun, a local boy, Xueyang's object of desire.
  • Wang Xiaofen as Qinghong's brother
  • Dai Wenyan as Xiaozhen's mother
  • Lin Yuan as Xiaozhen's father
  • You Fangming as Lu Jun's father
  • Sun Qinchang as Wang Erhua

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Dupont, Joan (2005-05-18). Uncensored: Wang's 'Shanghai Dreams'. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
  2. ^ a b Anderson, Jason (Vol. 23). Shanghai Dreams. Cinema Scope.
  3. ^ a b c d Roberts, Dexter (2005-07-11). Wang Xiaoshuai's Shanghai Dreams. Business Week. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Tropical Malady		 Jury Prize, Cannes
2005		 Succeeded by
Red Road
v • d • e
Films directed by Wang Xiaoshuai

The Days (1993) • Frozen (1997) • So Close to Paradise (1998) • The House (1999) • Beijing Bicycle (2001) • Drifters (2003) • Shanghai Dreams (2005) • In Love We Trust (2008)
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Cinema of China
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