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Movie Info & Details
Release Year1936
Runtime1h 30m
LanguageMandarin
CertificationNR
GenresDrama
Votes1
DirectorYunwei Ying
WritersHansheng Yang
TypeFeature Film
Rating9.0 out of 10
Cast5 credited
Also Known AsUnchanged Heart in Life and Death
About Unchanged Heart in Life and Death
Probably the most sheerly entertaining of all the films made in 1930s Shanghai by 'underground' leftists, this riff on The Prisoner of Zenda is funny and engaging from first to last. The irresistible Yuan Muzhi (director of Street Angel the following year) plays both Li Tao, a revolutionary on the run, and Liu Yuanjie, an American-Chinese teacher visiting China with his fiancée. Liu is mistaken for Li and thrown into jail; Li teams up with the fiancée (Chen Bo'er, Yuan's real life wife) to get him out of prison and into the spirit of revolution. Ying Yunwei (who started out playing female roles in Chinese opera) uses chiaroscuro lighting, highly mobile camerawork and zippy pacing to give it maximum impact, but it's Yuan who really keeps you watching.
Directed by Yunwei Ying, Unchanged Heart in Life and Death leans on a strong ensemble — Muzhi Yuan, Bo'er Chen, Yiu Kwang-Chao — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1936.
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