Crows and Sparrows” - Connection to philosophy - Crows and Sparrows” is a famous 1949 film directed

Crows and Sparrows” is a famous 1949 film directed by Zheng Junli. This film takes

place in shanghai on the Eve of the Communist Revolution. It follows the tenants of a

Shanghai path house and a corrupt, powerful official named Huo Yibo. Tenants of this

building all fight different battles with Huo Yibo. The story is riddled with corruption, as

Huo uses his power of the then current Republican Government to take control of the

unit. He then moves the former building owner Mr. Kong into a corner room at the

bottom of the property, and moves his mistress into Mr. Kong’s former space. Two other

families inhabit the other two rooms of the building. Soon after this, the Republican

Army is defeated by the Communists and Huo attempts to sell the property and force

the families to vacate . After a series of events the Republican government collapses,

and the building residents prepare to overtake him. He flee’s to Taiwan, and the original

tenants remain in their home. To provide critical analysis for this movie, it wasn’t filmed

until after the second world war. It depicted the final days of unrest between the

Nationalist Government and the Communists, and it reflects the shifting power

dynamics the world was facing at the time. The overall setting and plot of the movie

reflects the levels of corruption within the standing government at the time, but also that

the Nationalist party wasn’t as liberating as their original message given to the people of

China when the last Dynasty ended. Upon my research of this film, I learned that its

initial production was often riddled with problems and difficulties. Although the film itself

is considered a “Chinese Classic” film, it has a certain leftist bias in my opinion. It

succeeds in showing certain flaws of the Nationalist Movement, although the contents

and central messages of the film (particularly its depiction of corruption in Government)

are still relevant today. The film also noticeably pays particular detail to location and

summary to depict the clear and dividing lines within post-revolutionary China. Overall,

Crows and Sparrows was probably my favorite film that we watched as a class this

semester. The producer and director of this film successfully depict life as well as

important social and political changes in China during this time. I understand why this

movie is considered a Chinese classic, as it’s overall execution can still be called upon

for discussion today.

Crows and Sparrows” - Connection to philosophy