Long Live the Missis

107 minutes | 1947 | Fiction | Mandarin | English Subtitles
2K Restoration

Content Advisory: This film contains scenes of tobacco use.

CHEN Sizhen (JIANG Tianliu) skillfully navigates the intricacies of relationships both within and outside her family. Her overambitious husband TANG Zhiyuan (ZHANG Fa) seeks financial support from her father (SHI Hui), who later decides to back him and even cover up his love affair. All lies inevitably come to light, sparking a rift between the Chens and the Tangs. The lovebird, Sizhen’s younger brother (HAN Fei) and Zhiyuan’s younger sister (WANG Yi), find their romance thwarted. For Sizhen, a divorce is both easy and hard.

A native of Ningbo, Chinese director and screenwriter SANG Hu was born in Shanghai in 1916. In the early 1940s, under the guidance of veteran film director ZHU Shilin, he launched his career in film. Over his lifetime, he wrote and/or directed more than thirty films, including three showcased at MulanIFF2024: Evermore Sorrow (1947), Long Live the Missis (1947), and The Joys and Sorrows of the Middle Age (1949). He was also known for Liang Shangbo and Zhu Yingtai (1954), China’s first colour opera film; New Year Sacrifice (1956), China’s first colour narrative film, the 4K restored version of which was selected for the 2020 Cannes Classics; the ink-wash animation film The Deer’s Bell (1982), for which he was the screenwriter; Twins Come in Pairs (1979); and Romance in Philately (1984). He passed away in Shanghai in 2004 at the age of 88.