Xin nuxing

(Camera)Work: This film was part of left-wing social and cultural thought and campaigns for social reform in 1930s Shanghai. It went beyond the narrative because of its various real-life connections with Chinese society and the film world of that time. On the surface, XIN NUXING is a film about a woman with intellectual and artistic talent, who is crushed by patriarchal society. The main protagonist in the film becomes so dejected fighting the colossal system that she opts to end her life. The film was based on the story of Ai Xia – an actress and a writer who had committed suicide the year before she had written and performed in the 1933 film A Woman of Today, which was savagely attacked by the tabloids for its bold views about ‘women’s questions’. Some time after Xia’s death filmmaker Cai Chusheng produced XIN NUXING with Ruan Lingyu, a celebrated member of the first generation of film stars in Chinese cinema. The film was especially critical of the tabloid press which was immensely powerful at the time, and its negative portrayal of women. After the film's release, the tabloid industry launched a violent campaign against Lingyu and dug up stories about her personal life and  multiple partners. Not long after, Ruan Lingyu also committed suicide – only a year after Xia's death. XIN NUXING and the stories around how it was made represent the early history of Chinese film industry, using a unique combination of the real-life stories of female actors. The debate that followed the death of Ruan Lingyu had a major impact on Chinese urban culture and political conservatism.