New Women

New Women () was a silent Chinese film released in early 1935 in Shanghai by the Lianhua Film Company.Some sources state that the film is a 1934 release. This is inaccurate, as the film was released on February 2, 1935, the first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year. It is sometimes translated as New Woman. The film starred Ruan Lingyu (in her penultimate film) and was directed by Cai Chusheng.

New Women was itself based upon the life of another Chinese actress, Ai Xia, who had committed suicide in 1934. The film remains one of Ruan Lingyu's better known works, in no small part due to her own suicide shortly after the film was released.

A print of the film is currently maintained by the China Film Archive.

Synopsis

The film deals with an educated and modern young woman, Wei Ming (Ruan Lingyu), living in 1920s Shanghai. As the film begins, Wei Ming is working as a music teacher for a school, even as she harbors dreams of becoming a writer. In the film's opening scene, Wei Ming meets a friend, Yu Haichou (Zheng Junli) and an old schoolmate, Zhang Xiuzhen (Wang Moqiu), now named Mrs. Wang, on a trolley-car.

Wei, Mrs. Wang, and Yu return to Wei's apartment, where Wei receives a phone call from the film's antagonist, the lecherous Dr. Wang (Wang Naidong), who is also Mrs. Wang's husband. He insists on picking Wei up, even as she ignores his call. As Mrs. Wang leaves, Wei is informed by Yu that one of her books has...
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