A Pearl Necklace
| A Pearl Necklace | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
An advertisement for the film | |||||||
| Chinese | 一串珍珠 | ||||||
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| Directed by | Li Zeyuan | ||||||
| Screenplay by | Hou Yao | ||||||
| Based on | "The Necklace"
by Guy de Maupassant | ||||||
Production company | |||||||
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes | ||||||
| Country | Republic of China | ||||||
| Language | Silent | ||||||
A Pearl Necklace[1] (Chinese: 一串珍珠; pinyin: Yichuan zhenzhu), also translated as A String of Pearls, is a Chinese silent film shot in 1925 and released in 1926. It is adapted from Guy de Maupassant’s short story "The Necklace". The screenplay was written by Hou Yao and directed by Li Zeyuan[2] (referred to as Lee C. Y. in the film), produced by Great Wall Film Company.
Synopsis
The movie begins with an introduction to a white collar Chinese family. They are living in a modern style house, and the husband, Yusheng, is sitting in his living room reading a newspaper. He is accompanied by his wife, Xiuzhen, and their infant son. Yusheng is an accountant and Xiuzhen does not work.[3]
To celebrate a holiday with their friends, Yusheng and Xiuzhen borrowed a pearl necklace as an accessory, which drew great admiration from their friends. Xiuzhen lies to another guest at a party she is attending and states that her husband gave her the necklace. After hearing this, the guest has a thief to break into their home and steal the necklace. The next morning, Yusheng and Xiuzhen woke up to find the necklace had disappeared. With no other options, Yusheng embezzled company funds to buy an identical necklace to return. Unexpectedly, he was caught and imprisoned for embezzlement, and what had once been a happy little family was ruined by a moment of vanity.[4]
One day after his release, Wang found a note at his doorstep that read: “Bring 1,000 yuan to Little Stone Bridge at 4 o’clock tomorrow, or your secret will be revealed.” Driven by curiosity, Wang went to the bridge at the appointed time and saw the husband of his wife’s friend arguing with a scoundrel and getting injured. It turns out that the man at the party was another accountant from the factory where Yusheng used to work. He was being blackmailed by the thief. To his shock, that man turned out to be the true culprit who had stolen the necklace.[5]
After all is revealed, the man uses his connections to get Yusheng an accounting job and they live happily ever after.
Cast
- Lei Xiadian (雷夏電)
- Liu Hanjun (劉漢鈞)
- Zhai Qiqi (翟綺綺)
- Xing Shaomei (邢少梅)
- Liu Jiqun (劉繼群)[6]
Ideology
Screenwriter Hou Yao stated: the theme of this film is to criticize vanity and promote repentance. He said:
What is noble thought? What is base thought? There is no absolute standard. Thought is a product of its time. Each era has its own set of thoughts. A thought that suits the needs of a certain era and offers the greatest practical benefit to its society is good; otherwise, it is evil.[7]
The film is set in Shanghai, an incredibly prosperous city full of inequity. In 1925, the illusion of a modern, wealthy, and idealistic city was disrupted by the May 30th Movement protestors. It was a site where Chinese nationalism and traditions were suppressed by a push for modernization.[8] One such aspect of modernization was the modern couple, and the new bourgeoise woman. The film points out the dangers of temptation that come with newfound freedom that the modern woman has.[4] This is shown in the Palace Theatre's (中央大戲院) statement about the film:
Shanghai is China’s most prosperous area—and also a place where all vices gather. Residents indulge in luxury and decadence. In such a dizzying world, those without strong resolve—especially the youth—are easily swayed by vanity. Women, in particular, are vulnerable. How many modest young women have lost themselves under the impulse of vanity? Seeing this, the Great Wall Film Company has specially produced a film to warn women against vanity, titled A Pearl Necklace. The necklace symbolizes both the dangers of romantic entanglements and the deep love between husband and wife. Ultimately, it is used to reveal the vanity that lies within women’s hearts.[9]
This ideology is repeated by the movie's opening title card:
Don't you know? Don't you know?
A string of pearls is equal to a million rings of sorrow
If a woman drags herself down the road of vanity,
Her husband will be her victim surely.[10]
References
- ^ Yichuan zhenzhu (1926) - Plot - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-04-07 – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ Ye & Zhu 2012, p. 76.
- ^ Chang, Jing Jing (2012). "China on Film: A Century of Exploration, Confrontation, and Controversy by Paul G. Pickowicz (review)". China Review International. 19 (1): 109–111. ISSN 2996-8593.
- ^ a b Chang, Jing Jing (2012). "China on Film: A Century of Exploration, Confrontation, and Controversy by Paul G. Pickowicz (review)". China Review International. 19 (1): 109–111. ISSN 2996-8593.
- ^ "一串珍珠". China Film Archive (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ^ Rea, Christopher (1926-01-21). "The Pearl Necklace 一串珍珠 (1926)". Chinese Film Classics. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ 中国电影资料馆编,中国无声电影,中国电影出版社,1996.9,第300页（原载长城画片公司《一串珍珠》特刊，1926年）
- ^ Revealing/Reveiling Shanghai: Cultural Representations from the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. State University of New York Press. 2020. doi:10.2307/jj.18253218. ISBN 978-1-4384-7924-8.
- ^ "警惕婦女虚榮心之唯一電影". 申報. 上海. 1926-01-20. p. 1.
- ^ Zhen, Zhang (2005). An Amorous History of the Silver Screen: Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-98237-3.
Sources
- Ye, Tan; Zhu, Yun (2012). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-6779-6.