Shina no yoru (ato)

Kazuo Hasegawa is a member of the Japanese colony in Peking. His people think it's time for him to get married, and have settled on Tomiko Hattori as the bride. Hasegara, however, seems intrigued by Shirley Yamaguchi, an orphaned Chinese girl with a disreputable life.

This was a not uncommon viewpoint of Japanese culture at the time, viewing all of China in this light. By giving Miss Yamaguchi - who was born in Manchuria to Japanese parents, and thus a star in China at this time - a tragic backstory, director Osamu Fushimizu and writer Hideo Oguni soften the image, and make Miss Yamaguchi's embarrassment at her situation more apt. You can certainly view this Japanese-Chinese production shot in Shanghai as a propaganda movie, but whom is it aimed at?

As for me, I found myself rather bored with the implied Cinderella story. I've seen it too many times to be impressed unless something out of the ordinary is offered, and it isn't here.