“I did it” – that was the only confession made by the prostitute Meiying accused of murder in order to receive the death penalty. One of the judges Daosheng (Yan Jun) visits her. They were childhood sweethearts torn apart by class difference and the events of the times. Meiying tells her story of what happened in the time after their separation. The Great Wall Pictures Corporation adapted Tolstoy’s Resurrection into the tragedy of a rural Chinese woman. Screenwriter Doe Ching suggested that he was not so much writing about a loose woman, but about a “heart”, which represents the hearts of thousands of those who are exploited. Using the flashback technique, Yueh traces history and shows an unknown path that has to be taken. A cross between a melodrama and a crime film, A Forgotten Woman is noted for its varied mise-en-scene, oppressive compositions with upward views, and a precise editing style. Yueh oversaw all this, and created a perfect post-war comeback work.

Screening Courtesy of the Taipei Film Archive

* Post-screening talk with Joyce Yang