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The Goddess

Play trailer The Goddess 1934 1h 7m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In Shanghai, a young woman (Lingyu Ruan) can support her baby boy only by turning to prostitution. In avoiding the police, the young woman comes under the inadvertent protection of a criminal boss who assaults her, then coerces her to work for him. Brutally forced to continue street walking, the woman nevertheless begins saving money secretly in order to send her son to a good school. When the boy is of age, his mother realizes her dream, until a teacher begins an investigation into her past.

Critics Reviews

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Scott MacDonald Sight & Sound 01/29/2014
One of the most powerful silent films of all time. Go to Full Review
Time Out 01/29/2014
Free of moralism and melodrama, expressively composed and lit and very naturalistically acted, this is a film of startling modernity. Go to Full Review
Bob Graham San Francisco Chronicle 01/29/2014
This exercise in social realism can be slow and requires concentration, but The Goddess provides a first- hand look at a remarkable performance by Ruan. Go to Full Review
Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid 01/29/2014
3.5/4
Ruan's performance is so heartrendingly pure that the film is almost unbearable to watch. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 09/30/2013
B+
Tragic tale of shame and sacrifice. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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S R @ScottR 02/11/2024 1001 movies to see before you die (later list). An impressive Chinese movie showing the struggles of a prostitute trying to make life better for her child. Despite its simplicity, it was well made and effective. It was also fascinating to see pre communist Chinese 20th century culture. Saw on YouTube. See more Yellowfur D 09/12/2023 During the Republic of China, before feminism became popular, films were shot from a female perspective. There is no sound and the picture quality is not good, but you can still see some details of Ruan Lingyu's acting, such as touching the child's shoulder when talking to the principal. See more william d @acsdoug 07/21/2021 Frankly, the acting isn't very good, but I couldn't help but be taken in by this sentimental and tragic tale of a mother struggling to support and educate her son. See more William L 02/22/2021 This woman ends up with an abusive thief who constantly steals from her, and then goes and hides her life savings in the most obvious place imaginable in her apartment. A conversation on humanity and compassion in a morally conservative society, The Goddess may be thematically simple, but still has a message to tell. Ruan Lingyu is very capable in her leading performance as a single mother who resorts to prostitution to support herself and her son, who is subsequently ostracized by both the people and society for the sin of his mother's supposed indecency. Though rather late for a silent film that was not explicitly attempting to avoid sound (it seems to have remained the standard in Chinese film production for several years beyond major centers of film production) and slightly suffering as a result, The Goddess remains a well-shot, distinctive work of social criticism that calls into question the role of explicit, letter-of-the-law morality when a valid rationalization can be found, particularly in the context of Confucian values. (3.5/5) See more 10/14/2014 é?®ç?²ç??ç??女ç¥?ã?? See more 09/10/2012 One of the greatest acting performances of the silent age. See more Read all reviews
The Goddess

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Movie Info

Synopsis In Shanghai, a young woman (Lingyu Ruan) can support her baby boy only by turning to prostitution. In avoiding the police, the young woman comes under the inadvertent protection of a criminal boss who assaults her, then coerces her to work for him. Brutally forced to continue street walking, the woman nevertheless begins saving money secretly in order to send her son to a good school. When the boy is of age, his mother realizes her dream, until a teacher begins an investigation into her past.
Director
Yonggang Wu
Producer
Minwei Tian
Screenwriter
Yonggang Wu
Genre
Drama
Runtime
1h 7m