Wang Bei

The Winter of Three Hairs

San mao (3 hairs) was a very popular Chinese comic strip first published in 1935-37, continued from 1948 into the 1990s, about a young orphan boy struggling with life in Shanghai.

Crows and Sparrows

At a Shanghai apartment, Mr Hou, a Nationalist official, gets ready to move to Taiwan upon the imminent defeat of the KMT during the Civil War. Mrs Hou gives an ultimatum to the rest of the tenants to move out on behalf of her husband, who is the "owner" of the flat and who is now planning to sell it. From the conversations with the rest, we find out that Hou has been a Hanjian during the Sino-Japanese War and that he has since taken over the apartment by force from the old landlord, Mr Kong. The tenants, including Mr Kong, Mrs Xiao, Little Broadcast (alias Mr Xiao, played by Zhao Dan) and a schoolteacher, Mr Hua, and his wife, initially plan to band together, but circumstances force them to find other ways out. Mr Hua tries to find a place to stay at the KMT-sponsored school he is teaching in. Little Broadcast and Mrs Xiao invest in black market gold. As the situation escalates, Mr Hua gets arrested by KMT agents and his young daughter falls desperately ill.

The Life of Wu Xun

The life-story of Wu Xun, a beggar in the Qing dynasty who set up free schools for poor children.

The Might of the People

Before the liberation of Shanghai, Nationalist agent Zhang Rong is ordered to blend in with the captive workers of the Baotong Mill and wait for a chance to act. After the liberation, he returns to the factory, disguising himself as a far-left agitator and causing friction between the workers and management.

Nie Er

Shot in gorgeous color, this fascinating communist flipside to fifties Hollywood music biopics chronicles the life and tragic early death of Nie Er, the composer of the PRC’s national anthem.

The Knife-Thrower

馬蘭花

Two Young Soccer Teams

Ordinary Careers

A young woman named Lin Pei-min, a kindergarten teacher who underestimates her profession, considers it boring, and, most importantly, thankless. But gradually, Lin Pei-min begins to realize how responsible and important the work entrusted to her is. And her "ordinary profession" becomes her life's work.

Happiness

Wang Jiayou, a young worker at the Shanghai New Machinery Factory, is a man whose life is unorganized, does not pay attention to labor discipline, and often spends his youth in dance halls, skating rinks and cafes. When working during the day, he appears listless and often has accidents.