胭脂淚 (1938)

This sound film remake of The Goddess (1934) was headlined by Hu Die, who found stardom at the same time as Ruan Lingyu. Henry Lai Hang and Zhang Zhizhi reprised their roles from the earlier film. The first half of the story follows The Goddness but the second half references Bu Wanchang’s Love and Duty (1931) and King Vidor’s American film Stella Dallas (1937) with additional plots of the heroine’s post-prison story. After years of separation, she hesitates whether to reunite with her son. This new version poses a bigger challenge to a mother’s love and pushes towards the completion of her fate. The characters use dialogue to express their pain and connection, which strengthens the dramatic dilemma and makes the film more straightforward than its predecessor. Hu Die possesses a sort of allure that shows the sadness, shame, and will of a common woman from middle age to old age.