The Goddess

The Chinese title Shennü can mean goddess, but it was also a euphemism for a prostitute. Wu Yonggang uses that double meaning because Ruan Lingyu's character is both a stigmatized streetwalker and a devoted mother.

Ruan plays the unnamed mother with restrained gestures and facial expression, essential in a silent film with intertitles. The 1934 role became one of her defining performances before her death in 1935.

The film follows a woman in Shanghai who works at night to pay for her son's education. A thug called Boss Zhang exploits her earnings, and the school system punishes the child for his mother's social status.

The Goddess was released by the Lianhua Film Company in 1934. It is now one of the best-known surviving films from China's silent cinema golden age.