Lao gong zhi ai qing (1922) User Reviews

Not as good as the Western films of the period but very good!

[cteavin-1 · 7/10 · 2 January 2009]

It's a very short film, well worth the time it would take to watch it. It is funny and I laughed aloud during several scenes unsure exactly how each scene would play out, I was genuinely surprised and very amazed at what seems like advanced film techniques for a 1922 film. Interesting for me is that is was filmed with English and Chinese subtitles, suggesting either a large foreign audience or the potential at international distribution.

Spoilers The film is about a young fruit merchant who, to earn the hand of his love, must increase the fathers business; the father is a doctor and so the only way to bring him business is to devise a way to hurt people. That's all I'll say. Very cute movie.

Oldest surviving movie from China

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 1 November 2021]

China was one of the earliest countries to have the pleasure of viewing movies on the screen. Early film pioneer Louis Lumiere sent one of his employees to Shanghai in 1896 with an assignment to show his recently-produced short 'actualities.' The port-city Shanghai soon morphed into the capital of Chinese filmmaking, producing its first film in 1905 as well as its first feature movie in 1921. American film technicians were hired during that span to teach their Chinese counterparts on the intricacies of movie equipment and film production. All of which makes the earliest surviving movie in China, March 1922's "Laborer's Love," all the more fascinating to view.

The Shanghai film industry suffered a crippling blow during the 'January Incident of 1932' when the Japanese leveled portions of the city, including its major film studios storing a number of archival treasures of produced movies. Little of China's celluloid films survived the destruction. Zhang Shichuan and his colleague Zheng Zhenqiu, primary founders of China's largest film company, Mingxing Films in 1922, may have suffered a great loss in their studio, but their written and directed comedy "Laborer's Love" miraculously emerged from the destruction relatively unscathed.

The short 22-minute film about a lovelorn fruit seller whose booth was next to his girlfriend's doctor father, a practice in need of patients, took comedic elements from Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton to create an amusing tale of a romantic pursuit with stipulations. Much has been made about the transformative societal elements of the movie reflecting China's traditional conservatism move towards a more liberal environment. This is seen in the fruit seller's attempt to woo a prospective wife by the doctor's (played by scriptwriter Zhenqiu) requirement he must get him more patients to win her hand. The fruit seller constructs a Keaton-like staircase seen in his 1921 'The Haunted House' to try to achieve that goal. Under Shichuan's guidance, the movie displays a sophistication of special effects, continuity and editing comparable to Hollywoodian techniques.

"Laborer's Lost" served as a springboard to Mingxing Film's pioneering firsts in Chinese cinema. In 1928, Shichuan produced the first martial arts movie, the now lost 'The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple,' as well as China's first sound film, 1931's 'Sing-Song Girl Red Pony.'

Wand Erful

[tedg · 24 June 2007]

I saw this with a film about immigrants in New York. The value in that film was to show me a culture I wouldn't otherwise see. This is much more powerful.

Its the oldest known Chinese film you can see. Its obviously staged on sets for easy drama, but I imagine the street activity (100% of the film) is close to genuine. I imagine the characters, though drawn dramatically, are based on those that would be common to citydwellers.

So even though the story is daft, modeled after Mack Sennett, you can get a glimpse into a world that is completely gone today. And that's good enough for me to recommend this silly story.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Surprisingly loose and funny silent romantic comedy.

[theskulI42 · 8/10 · 8 July 2008]

Romance of a Fruit Peddler (1922, Shichuan Zhang) "What an unlucky time I am having!" Easily the oldest Asian film I have ever seen (Editor's note: And apparently the oldest Chinese film in EXISTENCE!), this half-hour short is, like a lot of silent film regardless of where it was filmed, suitable both as rollicking entertainment and as a fascinating snapshot of the times, as we get to see a China of 1922, a place and time depicted in many a film, but rarely SEEN.

"Cheng, much disappointed in love matters, is very miserable." The film is, also like many of the era, a comedic love story, where our bumbling but endearing protagonist is down on his luck, usually has a crappy job, and can't figure out how to win the heart of his dream girl, but comes up with a myriad of schemes to obtain his lovely goal, and both star Zhegu Zheng and Romance of a Fruit Peddler as a whole are up to the task.

Zheng played Cheng, a meager fruit seller who dreams of romancing the lovely Miss Zhu, but her father, Dr. Zhu, refuses to let them date unless Chang can improve the business for his practice. Cheng's idea how to fix this problem is golden: He modifies the long staircase down from the bar above his apartment, turning the stairs turn into a slide, making drunk after drunk after drunk slip down and hurt themselves (this also kills two birds with one stone, as their noise keeps him up at night), thus causing them to visit crazy old Dr. Zhu's practice (in the second-funniest scene, as Zhu proves himself a complete hack, being very rough on his patients and seemingly causing more pain than he's curing).

From the appearance, it's obvious they were having a blast filming it, as the laughs and the jokes come fast and furious, and all appear genuine (and considering the unprofessionalism of a lot of the extras, looking into the camera and whatnot, I know they couldn't ACT that amused), and it seems like a set you'd want to be on to enjoy yourself, and they know a good gag when they see one, as that staircase gag is mined for all its worth, and somehow, manages to stay funny. Schadenfreude apparently knows no boundaries.

From a historical and a comedic standpoint, under either title (A Laborer's Love or Romance of a Fruit Peddler), the film is a sheer little delight, and I just spent a worthwhile, highly enjoyable 22 minutes, {Grade: 8.25/10 (B+/B)}

1st Chinese short in early Chinese film industry

[zzmale · 15 January 2004]

This one of the earliest film made in China in the early era of Chinese film industry is also one of the earliest box office success. Although classified as comedy/short/romance, there really was not much true romance and comedy simply due to the short duration of the film.