Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

d’accompagnement, illustrée, fournit
des informations sur le film et sur
l’exploitation cinématographique en
Chine à l’époque du muet, alors que
Shanghaï était considérée comme le
Hollywood de l’Asie.
Le dvd existe en version chinoise et
anglaise; il est multizones et utilise
les standards PAL et NTSC.
Richard Meyer descubrió la película
china Shennü cuando en las Jornadas
de Cine Mudo de Pordenone.
Conquistado por la película y su
intérprete, la célebre Ruan Ling-yu
(fallecida a los 24 años de edad luego
de haber actuado en 29 películas
mudas), Meyer sugiere al China Film
Archive, depositario del film, de
preparar una edición en DVD.
Con el acuerdo de Chen Jingliang y un
apoyo financiero de la Ball State
University en Muncie (Indiana) donde
es catedrático, Richard Meyer encarga
la numerización de la valiosa película
a la sociedad Haghefilm de
Amsterdam y pide al compositor
Kevin Purrone que componga e
interprete una partitura original de
acompañamiento musical (piano.)
La traducción de los subtítulos del
chino al inglés fue realizada por
Mahlon Meyer, hijo del autor,
corresponsal de “Newsweek” en Hong
Kong. Y el propio Richard Meyer
publicó una reseña de la carrera de
Ruan Ling-yu y la producción del DVD.
Un folleto explicativo ilustrado
contiene datos sobre la película e
informaciones sobre la producción
cinematográfica en China durante la
época del cine mudo, cuando
Shanghai se consideraba en
Hollywood de Asia.
El DVD existe en versión china e
inglesa, es multizona y utiliza los
estándares PAL y NTSC.
A print of the 1934 Lianhua production was housed at the China Film
Archive in Beijing. After meeting with Director Chen, he agreed to
permit me to make a DVD from the print. I contacted Peter Limburg,
President of Haghefilm in Amsterdam, and asked if his lab could
digitize the film. Peter assigned all of his experts to help with the
process.
I received grants from the Center for Media Design and the Provost’s
Office at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where I was serving
as endowed professor of telecommunications. This enabled me to
commission composer and performer Kevin Purrone to write and play
the score for the film. We recorded the music on a concert grand piano
at the studios of the university’s public radio station. Professor Stan
Sollars, an award winning audio engineer, supervised the recording on
time-coded tape
to conform to
the film.
A moral prostitute with her smile of the night is immortalized
by Ruan in The Goddess (Shennü), 1934.
81 Journal of Film Preservation / 67 / 2004
My son, Mahlon,
who speaks
Mandarin
Chinese fluently,
and who had
worked as Hong
Kong
correspondent
for “Newsweek”,
translated the
Chinese intertitles
into
English. In
addition, I produced a commentary track that described the life and
times of Ruan Ling-yu and how the components of the DVD were
combined. A brochure with photos was written about the film that
described how silent cinema was presented in China.
We assembled the sound track, the new inter-titles and the print and
converted all of the elements to a digital tape at Haghefilm. The final
process involved producing the master disc and printing the brochure.
English and Chinese versions were prepared along with the
commentary track. We also ensured that the DVD would be playable in
all regions on both PAL and NTSC. After approving the timing of the
mix and its sound quality, the DVDs were duplicated and inserted with
the brochure in a beautifully designed jewel box.
I am hoping to produce more of Ruan’s films on DVD so that audiences
all over the world can see the beauty and artistry of her work. Through
her films, they will become acquainted with the golden age of
Shanghai Chinese cinema when that city in the 1930s was the
“Hollywood of Asia.”