HUA MULAN (aka MULAN JOINS THE ARMY)
(木蘭從軍)
dir. Bu Wancang, 1939
China. 90 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, JULY 13 – 7:30PM
SATURDAY JULY 22 - 3PM
MINDAY JULY 17 - 7:30PM
WEDNESDAY JULY 26 - 7:30PM

Based on the sixth century Chinese folk ballad, the film follows the story of Hua Mulan, a young warrior maiden who secretly takes her elderly father’s place in the army by disguising herself as a man. Mulan’s prowess as a soldier and strategist catches the attention of her superiors, allowing her to rise through the ranks of the Tang dynasty.

By the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, production in China’s ostensible film capital of Shanghai had become scarce. Many of the city’s biggest talents, both in front of and behind the camera, had relocated to the regional film industries of Chongqing, colonial Hong Kong, and Singapore, leaving a dearth of new script ideas and big-name stars to draw in audiences. Yet at the same time, demand for films could not have been higher. With most of the city under Japanese occupation, millions of refugees fled to Shanghai’s foreign concessions still under Western jurisdiction, leading to an anomalous economic boom in those areas that included the construction of six new cinemas.

Bringing together whatever resources they could muster— a recycled folk tale, a Hunanese playwright, a Cantonese star— director Bu Wancang and Xinhua Film Company head, Zhang Shankunto, wound up creating what would become, the most popular film in China at that time, playing to consistently packed houses, and remaining on screen in Shanghai for over 12 weeks. The film’s boldly patriotic tone— in essence, a call to arms against the oppression of invading forces— appealed enormously to wartime audiences in Shanghai, especially with women for whom its title heroine represented their own expectations, limitations, and possibilities in challenging the established social order.