Runtime: 138 minutes
Directed by: Sidney Franklin
Starring: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connolly, Tilly Losch, Charley Grapewin
From: MGM
When the yellowface isn't the aspect I object to the most... this was a random watch for me, viewing via a DVR recording a drama based off of a Pearl S. Buck novel about dirt-poor Chinese farmers. But, it won two Academy Awards and I've seen some contemporary praise so why not? Of course this has most of the actors as white people doing a yellowface routine but that's how things were then. Now, seeing obviously Caucasians trying to act/appear Chinese when they are sharing scenes w/ actual Chinese people like Keye Luke—it is laughable now. Of course I am white myself instead of Pacific Rim Asian... the author being Caucasian isn't as bad; Ms. Buck spent most of the first four decades of her life in China as the daughter of missionaries. The fact that she advocated for such things as womens' & Asian rights, and her humanitarian causes will likely be seen as appealing to many.
Personally, the story she wrote was not something I loved due to my early 2022 tastes. After all, it has Muni as poor farmer Wang Lung (everybody Wang Lung tonight!) who via arranged marriage has the greatly named O-Lan as a spouse. Unfortunately for me, not only are there some wet blanket supporting characters, eventually even Lung starts acting poorly to his subservient wife. That wasn't great when this was a downer story anyhow and the lead family experiences plenty of strife. As the past two years have been a real downer for me, my desire to see depressing tales full of misery has lessened-one day that'll change but that has not occurred yet.
That said, this wasn't a movie I hated and fairly, it can't receive a poor or even mediocre score. I can't fault the performers, especially leads Muni and Luise Rainer. In fact, Rainer won an Oscar for her performance, the second in a row she won. The reason why she did not have a long career? Problems with the company she was under contract to, MGM. She left Hollywood and her subsequent performances were mainly in the pioneer days of television back in the 50's. It also won an Academy Award for Karl Freund's cinematography-it does look rather pleasant. In addition, the natural disasters (a flood early, a swarm of locusts late) look rather swell for the mid-30's time period those effects were done in. Thus, a movie you might enjoy more than me as long as the yellowface thing isn't a deal-breaker for you.
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