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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 614

The Goddess

193479 minChina
Drama

Synopsis

A mother in Shanghai works at night to pay for her young son’s future. A violent man takes control of her earnings, while prejudice threatens the boy’s place at school. She fights to preserve the ordinary life she wants for him in a city that judges her occupation more readily than it recognizes her care.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese.
This copy runs
78:30
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Wu Yonggang · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsWu Yonggang

Historical context

Wu Yonggang’s directorial debut makes the mother’s point of view central to its critique of social hypocrisy. Ruan Lingyu’s restrained gestures and the contrast between street and home give the silent drama much of its force.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Virtual Shanghai · CNRSWikipediaChinese Film ClassicsWikimedia Commons · copyright referenceChina · Copyright Law, Article 23US Copyright Office · foreign worksInternet Archive · film copy

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 11, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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