A tragic silent-film romance, in which the handsome landlady's son King The-en(Raymond King / Yan Jin) falls in love with Miss Lim (Lily Yuen / Lingyu Ruan) the beautiful daughter of a brave tenant farmer. The mother spurns Lim, sending her home when she visits the town, but The-en instead takes her to his apartment, where she stays, happily, until her father comes to take her home to her mother's deathbed. Lim's father and The-en's mother quarrelthey're both proudbut it turns out badly for the girl's family. The mother dies, the family has to move, the father is blinded defending the Kings' cattle from thieves even after he's been fired. Meanwhile Mrs. King prevents Theen from going to Lim. He's more than a little pusillanimous, really, though the parent-child bond is incredibly strong in Confucian China. He fails to break free until Lim, racked by poverty, lies dying. He takes their child and swears to live for her. Throughout the story there's a regular motif of peach blossoms: Lim's parents plant a peach tree at her birth; peach petals and tears have the same consistency; the sight of a blossoming tree prevents Lim from prostituting herself. The settings are traditional, as are the costumes, but with some westernizing. The-en has a western haircut, some of the women wear wristwatches, and there's a market scene in which the crowds wear Chinese clothes and western hats. The film is wonderful as a source for pre-revolutionary China, though the pastoral scenes are mostly pretty much idealized. And Lingyu Ruan is not only very beautiful, but she has an extraordinarily expressive face, especially when she's happy, when she looks a little like 21st-century model Vivian Hsu. She's the best thing this movie has to offer.
6 Reviews
A familiar tale, but told quite beautifully
planktonrules4 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
When many first see this film, they will be surprised when they notice that it is a silent film even though made in 1931. While Hollywood had just about completely switched over to talkies by 1929, several nations still produced silents well into the 1930s--among them France, Japan and China. You really can't hold this against the film, as the studios in China simply didn't have the equipment, money or know-how to make a talking picture.
The story of the Peach Girl is rather familiar and I've seen several movies with very similar plots. A rich man falls for a poor girl but their marriage is forbidden. Despite this, the lovers consummate their love and the girl is soon pregnant. When discovered, she is cast out and the young man behaves horribly--only trying to correct his error when it is too late.
Because the story is rather familiar (I have seen several variations on this story made in both Japan and China), it is very competently and beautifully done. In addition to lovely cinematography, the recent restoration features an exceptionally nice piano score that really suits the film well. A lovely late silent film.
The story of the Peach Girl is rather familiar and I've seen several movies with very similar plots. A rich man falls for a poor girl but their marriage is forbidden. Despite this, the lovers consummate their love and the girl is soon pregnant. When discovered, she is cast out and the young man behaves horribly--only trying to correct his error when it is too late.
Because the story is rather familiar (I have seen several variations on this story made in both Japan and China), it is very competently and beautifully done. In addition to lovely cinematography, the recent restoration features an exceptionally nice piano score that really suits the film well. A lovely late silent film.
Beautiful
overseer-317 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I made the mistake of buying the film off Amazon.com. Please do NOT do so. The film is not gated correctly and 1/3rd of the image is cut off, plus there is no soundtrack. This is probably the reason this film is rated so poorly by IMDb reviewers here. I rate it 10 because it deserves a 10 artistically and creatively as a film.
The version to get of The Peach Girl is sold off the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website with the Donald Sosin soundtrack, a lovely one, though for some reason toward the end it sounds a bit warped in spots; I don't know why. This print is gated correctly, though still a bit rough going in terms of visuals; the print has a lot of wear. However if you are the kind of person who can see the diamond here hiding underneath the rough, and wish to see one of the most beautiful Chinese silent films ever made, then don't miss The Peach Girl.
Lingyu Ruan was so beautiful and evocative as the peasant girl whose life is symbolic of the peach trees in the countryside where she lives. She falls in love with the son of the rich woman who owns the property she and her father and mother toil on, but is betrayed by him when she gets pregnant out of wedlock. Yan Jin gives an incredible performance as the son; his face was expressive and emotional and brings depth to his role. You feel his agony as his mother locks him in his room for months so that he cannot go find his lost love and make it right by her.
The title cards are in Chinese and English, and many have decorative backgrounds, always a plus for me when I watch silent films. It adds visual interest to the story.
The Peach Girl (1931) and The Goddess (1934) are the easiest available silent films showcasing the loveliness of "the Chinese Garbo", Lingyu Ruan, and both are worthy of your time and interest. It is so tragic that she committed suicide so young. What wonderful performances we were deprived of!
The version to get of The Peach Girl is sold off the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website with the Donald Sosin soundtrack, a lovely one, though for some reason toward the end it sounds a bit warped in spots; I don't know why. This print is gated correctly, though still a bit rough going in terms of visuals; the print has a lot of wear. However if you are the kind of person who can see the diamond here hiding underneath the rough, and wish to see one of the most beautiful Chinese silent films ever made, then don't miss The Peach Girl.
Lingyu Ruan was so beautiful and evocative as the peasant girl whose life is symbolic of the peach trees in the countryside where she lives. She falls in love with the son of the rich woman who owns the property she and her father and mother toil on, but is betrayed by him when she gets pregnant out of wedlock. Yan Jin gives an incredible performance as the son; his face was expressive and emotional and brings depth to his role. You feel his agony as his mother locks him in his room for months so that he cannot go find his lost love and make it right by her.
The title cards are in Chinese and English, and many have decorative backgrounds, always a plus for me when I watch silent films. It adds visual interest to the story.
The Peach Girl (1931) and The Goddess (1934) are the easiest available silent films showcasing the loveliness of "the Chinese Garbo", Lingyu Ruan, and both are worthy of your time and interest. It is so tragic that she committed suicide so young. What wonderful performances we were deprived of!
DVD New of The Peach Girl made
meyerhar2 July 2006
I really believe that Ruan Ling-yu and Jin Yan are a great team. They made several films together which were very popular. Ruan committed suicide at age 24 after making 29 films (see my book "Ruan Ling-yu: The Goddess of Shanghai" for her tragic life story). I am also writing a book about Jin Yan. The Peach Girl is out on a restored version with a beautiful score by Donald Sosin and is available from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (www.silentfilm.org). The photography of the film reminds one of Chinese landscapes. Lianhua Film Company made many films in the 1930s that were critical of feudalism yet were presented in a soap opera format to fend off KMT censors.
Just Wonderful
crossbow010610 June 2008
A great, absorbing silent film about a boy and girl who meet as adults and are attracted to each other. The man (Teh-en) is of a higher station than Miss Lim, played by the beautiful, gone way too soon Lily Yuen. You see the sweetness in her eyes and fall in love with her. His mom does not approve, since she is just a country girl, so the love becomes forbidden love. To be sure, films like this have been done since film began, but this is a great one. You just want these two to be happy. It is tragic, but also sweet and so well put together that it is absorbing and eminently watchable. If you thought you couldn't watch a silent film (much less one with subtitles), try this out. I saw it on TCM, but it is available on DVD. Really, its great.
The Peach Girl
Michael_Elliott25 June 2008
Peach Girl, The (1931)
*** (out of 4)
Chinese silent film tells the story of Miss Lim (Lingyu Ruan), a poor peasant girl who grew up with the rich soon to be King (Yan Jin). The two have been friends since childhood but both of their parents try to keep them apart since the rich can't be seen with the poor. Even after the girl gets pregnant, his parents will stop at nothing to keep them apart and her parents agree since the two sides could never be happy together. Apparently China made over 140 silent films in 1931 but I'm not sure how many are out there for viewing. This film really doesn't offer anything new storywise but from a historical viewpoint there are a lot of interesting things with this film. Since American cinema usually had whites playing Asians, it's refreshing to see real Chinese actors playing the parts. Another interesting aspect is that the film is silent even though most American films at this time had already switched to sound. The technical side of this movie is very beautiful to look at with its nice cinematography and great location shots. Lingyu Ruan is terrific in her role and it's really easy to see why she became the countries number one star. The pleasantness she brings to her character makes her easy to fall in love with and she also makes it very easy for us to care what happens to her character. Sadly, Ruan would kill herself four years after making this film and to make matters worse, a lot of her fans would follow by killing themselves. Original Chinese title: Tao hua qi xue ji.
*** (out of 4)
Chinese silent film tells the story of Miss Lim (Lingyu Ruan), a poor peasant girl who grew up with the rich soon to be King (Yan Jin). The two have been friends since childhood but both of their parents try to keep them apart since the rich can't be seen with the poor. Even after the girl gets pregnant, his parents will stop at nothing to keep them apart and her parents agree since the two sides could never be happy together. Apparently China made over 140 silent films in 1931 but I'm not sure how many are out there for viewing. This film really doesn't offer anything new storywise but from a historical viewpoint there are a lot of interesting things with this film. Since American cinema usually had whites playing Asians, it's refreshing to see real Chinese actors playing the parts. Another interesting aspect is that the film is silent even though most American films at this time had already switched to sound. The technical side of this movie is very beautiful to look at with its nice cinematography and great location shots. Lingyu Ruan is terrific in her role and it's really easy to see why she became the countries number one star. The pleasantness she brings to her character makes her easy to fall in love with and she also makes it very easy for us to care what happens to her character. Sadly, Ruan would kill herself four years after making this film and to make matters worse, a lot of her fans would follow by killing themselves. Original Chinese title: Tao hua qi xue ji.
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