1955 | B&W | 108′ | Digital File Director: Li Pingqian Screenwriter: Chu Hak Cinematographer: Yu Shengsan Cast: Hung Sin Nui, Ping Fan, Fu Che, Josephine Siao, Michael Lai Cantonese dubbed with Chinese and English subtitles Post-screening talk in Cantonese Speaker: Dr Yau Ching (Scholar and writer) Working women striving to balance between family and career, not an uncommon problem today, was even more of a problem in the 1950s. In It so Happens to a Woman, a mother of three faces the unjust possibility of forced divorce because she wants to continue working, partly driven by a desire to contribute to society. That her unsupportive husband had written in his youth a book on gender equality is ironic but also realistic. The film offers a poignant but gentle critique of gender inequality, at the same time providing a vivid portrait of the changing times, informed by the spirit of Chinese humanism. While the wife is a woman caught between tradition and modernity, the husband is a man exemplifying the schism between belief and practice. At the end, coming to the rescue is the husband’s mother, who offers much-needed advice from a woman’s perspective, her effort espousing a balance between gender equality and family harmony. “I am a Woman” is the film’s Chinese title, exemplifying the notion of New Woman in China’s modern development. And it came almost 20 years before Helen Reddy’s influential 1970s hit I am Woman. The quality of the image and sound of the screened version is short of ideal. We appreciate your understanding.

04/10/2025(Sat) 17:00

$75