Bugao Cheng

This early classic of Golden Age Shanghai cinema echoes Visconti's classic La Terra Trema in its beautifully rendered story of a humble silk-farming family struggling to be free of debt to exploitative middlemen.

The daily life of ordinary people of a Shanghai apartment building: an unemployed person, a singer without an audience, a driver, a teacher, but also the owner of the building and his prodigal son.

Approximately 52 minutes survive this meta cinematic, two-part silent film. Through the story of a former movie actress returning to her old studio, "An Amorous History of the Silver Screen" narrates a tale of love, filmmaking, and love of filmmaking. Set partly in the studio of Shanghai’s Star Motion Picture Company, the film represents real-life filmmakers at their craft, including director Zhang Shichuan and cinematographer Dong Keyi. The film also mentions several actual Star Co. productions