Mu Fei
1936 - 1951Known for his artistic style and costume dramas, Fei made his first film, 1933's Night in the City (produced by the Lianhua Film Company), at the young age of 27, and he was met with both critical and popular acclaim.
Continuing to make films with Lianhua, Fei directed films throughout the 1930s and became a major talent in the industry, with films like 1936's Blood on Wolf Mountain and 1935's Song of China. Fei's legacy as one of China's greatest directors was sealed with his 1948 influential masterpiece Spring in a Small Town about a love triangle in post-war China. In 2005, Spring in a Small Town was declared the greatest Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association.Fei remained active in this so-called "Second Golden Age" and also directed China's first color film Remorse at Death (1948), which incorporated Beijing Opera and starred Mei Lanfang. Following the Communist revolution in 1949, Fei Mu, along with many other artists and intellectuals fled to Hong Kong. There he founded Longma Film Company ("Dragon-Horse Films") with Zhu Shilin and Fei Luyi and produced (under the Longma name) Zhu Shilin's The Flower Girl (1951).
Following his death in Hong Kong in 1951, Fei Mu and his work fell into obscurity, as much of his filmography was forgotten or ignored on the Mainland, rejected by leftist critics as indicative of rightist ideologies. It was not until the 1980s, when the China Film Archive re-opened after being closed down during the Cultural Revolution, did Fei Mu's work find a new audience. Most significant was a new print made by the China Film Archive from the original negative of Spring in a Small Town.
Lian hua jiao xiang qu
Youliu Tan, Situ Huimin
Qing Jiang, Xi Mei
"Lianhua Symphony" - a small collection, consisting of eight short films shot in 1937 by young filmmakers Shanghai Lianhua Film Company. Part 1: Two Yuans (兩毛錢) directed by Situ Huimin / Part 2: Nightmares in Spring Chamber (春閨斷夢) directed by Fei Mu / Part 3: The Stranger (陌生人) directed by Tan Youliu / Part 4: Three Friends (三人行) directed by Shen Fu / Part 5: Landscape Under the Moonlight (月下小景) directed by He Mengfu / Part 6: The Ghost (鬼) directed by Zhu Shilin / Part 7: Rhapsody of a Madman (瘋人狂想曲) directed by Sun Yu / Part 8: Five Little Brothers (小五義) directed by Cai Chusheng
Symphony of Lianhua
小城之春
Fei Mu
Wei Wei, Yu Shi
After eight years of marriage to Liyan - once rich but now a shadow of his former self following a long, ruinous war - Yuwen does little except grocery and medication shopping. A surprise visit from Liyan's friend Zhang re-energises the household, but also stirs up long-suppressed feelings and resentments.
Spring in a Small Town
狼山喋血记
Fei Mu
Qing Jiang, Yi Zhang
Blood on Wolf Mountain tells the story of a village that is beset by a pack of wolves. Made just prior to the commencement of full-scale war with the Japanese, the film itself is often considered an allegory of conflict between China and Japan.
Blood on Wolf Mountain
