Shén Nü

SHEN NÜ is a classic of the Chinese silent film era. The then 24-year-old lead actress Ruan Lingyu grew up in a working-class neighbourhood of Shanghai and was already in front of the camera as a teenager. She often portrayed vulnerable people who were fighting for their place in the young republic, which was characterised by political and social change. ‘Goddess’ was the term for sex workers in Shanghai in the 1920s. As such, the protagonist does everything she can to give her son a good life with an education, but in doing so falls into the clutches of power-hungry and money-hungry men and their inverted morals. The frequent use of frontal close-ups enabled the audience to immerse themselves in the emotional world of the character played by Lingyu. (Bianca Jasmina Rauch)