Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm

Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm
Directed by	Xu Xingzhi
Written by	Tian Han Xia Yan
Starring	Yuan Muzhi Wang Renmei
Studio	Diantong Film Company
Release date(s)	1935
Country	China
Language	Mandarin

Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm (simplified Chinese: 风云儿女; traditional Chinese: 風雲兒女; pinyin: Fēng yǔn ér nǔ) is a 1935 Chinese film, also known as Children of Troubled Times, about an intellectual who leaves to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The movie was directed by Xu Xingzhi and the scriptwriters were Tian Han and Xia Yan. It starred actor Yuan Muzhi (Chinese: 袁牧之) and actress Wang Renmei (Chinese: 王人美).

Plot

The plot follows the young poet Xin Baihe (played by Yuan Muzhi) who flees Shanghai with his friend Liang. However, whereas Liang soon joins the resistance against the Japanese invaders, Xin chooses to pursue a relationship with a glamorous and westernized widow in Qingdao.

After hearing that Liang has been killed however, Xin has a change of heart and rushes to join the war effort.

Communist themes

The film was a strongly left-leaning production, produced by the leftist Diantong Film Company. It was based on a story by Tian Han, a card-carrying Communist party member since 1932, who was arrested shortly after it was published. In addition, it starred Yuan Muzhi, who would join the Communists in 1940 and had music by the Communist composer Nie Er.^[1]

The story itself, with its tale of a member of the literati who learns to abandon the decadence of western culture for self-sacrifice was also a common theme among many of the leftist films of the period.

Theme song ("The March of the Volunteers")

Main article: March of the Volunteers

The theme song to the movie, "The March of the Volunteers", was sung by Gu Menghe and Yuan Muzhi. The song was released as an album by the Pathé Records label (which later became part of EMI in 1935).

"The March of the Volunteers" was selected as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in 1949.^[2] This decision was formally written into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in March 2004.

See also

• Cinema of China
• March of the Volunteers
• Yuan Muzhi

Notes

1. ^ Pickowicz, 64
2. ^ Pickowicz, 65

References

• Pickowicz, Paul G. (Jan. 1991), "The Theme of Spiritual Pollution in Chinese Films of the 1930s", Modern China 17 (1) 

External links

• Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm at the Internet Movie Database
• Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm at the Chinese Movie Database (as Children of Trouble Times)
• A short clip with the early version of "March of the Volunteers" on YouTube