Wu Yonggang (November 1, 1907 – December 18, 1982) was a prominent Chinese film director during the 1930s. Today Wu is best known for his directorial debut, The Goddess (1934). Wu had a long career with the Lianhua Film Company in the 1930s, in Chongqing during the war, and in the mainland after the 1949 communist revolution.
Biography Wu Yonggang was born in Shanghai in 1907, but was considered a native of his ancestral home Wu County, Jiangsu in Chinese convention.Wu Yonggang 2005-07-02 Wu Yonggang was one of the major leftist film directors of pre-Communist China. For the early part of his career, Wu was a set designer with Dazhonghua Baihe, before transferring to the Shaw Brothers' Tianyi Film Company.Zhang Yingjin, "Prostitution and Urban Imagination" in Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922–1943, ed. Yingjin Zhang (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999), 167. He was eventually noticed by Shi Dongshan at the newly formed Lianhua Film Company. His first film from the director's chair, 1934's The Goddess (under contract with Lianhua), earned both him and the film's star, Ruan Lingyu, rave reviews. A prolific director, Wu continued to make films well into the 1970s until his retirement shortly before his death, including Evening Rain (co-directed with Wu Yigong), which won Best Picture at the first annual Golden Rooster Awards.
Acclaimed director Chen Kaige referred to Wu Yonggang as one of his most admired directors, and named The Goddess as his favorite film of the 1930s.
Selected filmography YearEnglish TitleChinese TitleNotes1934The Goddess神女1935Little Angel小天使1936The Desert Island浪淘沙1936The Pioneers壮志凌云Also known as Soaring Aspirations1938Rouge Tears胭脂泪Wu's remake of his own debut The Goddess for the Xinhua Film Company1946Loyal Family忠义之家1947Waiting for Spring迎春曲 1947Decision of a Lifetime终生大事1950The Far Away Village遥远的乡村1952Hasen and Jiamila哈森与加米拉1956Qiu Meets the Goddess of Flowers秋翁遇仙记1958Lin Chong林冲1980Evening Rain巴山夜雨Co-directed with Wu Yigong
Notes
External links A brief biography of Wu Yonggang
Wu Yonggang at the Chinese Movie Database