+ pre-recorded intro by Tang Shu Shuen
How radical Tang Shu Shuen’s period melodrama must have seemed in 1970, arriving in a Hong Kong film industry dominated by kung fu and opera films, and still a decade or so away from the New Wave it anticipates. Tang, who was born in Taiwan and studied in the US, was something of an outsider in the Hong Kong industry, even before her gender is taken into account, but she was one of the most original of any filmmakers active at the time (and the bravest – her follow-up, 1974’s covertly-shot China Behind, was one of the first films to address the excesses of the Cultural Revolution).
Set during the early Qing dynasty, The Arch focuses on a respected widow whose life is disrupted when a soldier is billeted to the house she shares with her daughter. The emotional turmoil and social disapproval aroused by the ensuing love triangle is vividly suggested in an intensely subjective mode that’s been described as a mix of Mizoguchi, Alain Resnais and costume drama. The black-and-white cinematography by Subrata Mitra (DP on Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy and others) is achingly beautiful, but it’s how the measured pace is often disrupted by rapid nouvelle vague-inspired editing (by Les Blank!) – employing freeze frames, jump cuts, dissolves and montage – as well as the unusual use of traditional instrumentation, voiceover narration and sound design that really make The Arch spellbindingly unique.
James Bell, Sight and Sound, October 2015
Director’s notes
The Arch departs from the traditional ways of filmmaking in China and attempts to go back to the method by which Chinese characters (word-symbols) were originally constructed. It is not surprising that this method corresponds closely with the theories of the western concepts of cinema art. For each Chinese character is a picture in itself which conveys an idea, a feeling and a romance of its own.
The story of The Arch is subject to many interpretations. Some see in it a conflict between the force of tradition and the force of natural human feelings; some see in it a story of the irony of fate; some see in it the psychological development of a character, and some see in it another love triangle. Whatever the interpretation may be, the story is about a woman tormented and the effect of her inner conflicts upon the other characters. That to me, as the author-director, is the interesting thing.
I see in Madam Tung the helplessness of all of us. She exemplifies the ludicrousness of mankind, the futility of morality, the futility of intelligence, the futility of knowledge and of ethics – the fact that we cannot escape anguish and torment.
For it is pointless to conclude what is right or best for her to do. Her suffering comes not as the consequence of the choice she makes, for one way or the other one lives on. The ludicrousness is that we are forever forced to choose between insidious choices, significant to us because of the inherent weakness of human nature: the vulnerability of our feelings, the limitedness of our wisdom, and our inability to transcend our experiences – our lack of the cosmic sense.
Every character in The Arch has good intentions, and is without a pronounced tragic flaw. But the story does not turn out to be a happy one. And that is our lot. So what is there to offer as a comfort but tolerance of each other’s weaknesses and compassion for each other’s pain.
For a first directing project, The Arch is extremely complicated material. But because of its psychological nature, it offers a great deal of freedom for cinematic expressions and challenges creative use of the medium. I attempted to present this dramatic story in a simple detached manner, hoping only to show how similar are people, their needs, their feelings, and the predicaments they face, everywhere in the world. And how time will never change this.
Praise for ‘The Arch’
‘The Arch is one of those rare films which rekindle my hope that cinema is capable of being an art form.’ – Edward Albee
‘The Arch by Shu Shuen is one of the most charming films I have ever seen. It is a kind of morality play executed in the spirit of Old China. Its serene mood of majestic tranquillity gives us a remarkable insight into a strange ancient world. Its pictures of breathtaking beauty and the action of its leading lady is simply superb. I am eagerly looking forward to Miss Tang’s next film.’ – Fritz Lang
‘I was so deeply moved by The Arch, aesthetically and humanely. Shu Shuen has achieved a film of poetic beauty, and in this particular era of explicit and vulgarised sensuality this treatment of contained passion is more powerful, reaches an intensity quite rare in films … I admire a woman so young to have completed such a refined and enduring classique.’ – Anaïs Nin
‘One leaves the theatre feeling grateful, feelings assuaged, feeling that there truly is such a thing as human brotherhood and sisterhood, that passion stems from the soul and not the guts – in short, that there is hope for a better, brighter, cleaner world.’ – Henry Miller
‘Miss Shu Shuen reaches straight out for an enormous theme in her first work. In The Arch she gives us a film of great beauty and maturity, an astonishing debut.’ – Karel Reisz
‘A film with many magnificent scenes. Interesting direction … A promising talent.’ – Josef von Sternberg
Production notes
Suggested further reading: Ching Yau, Filming Margins: Tang Shu Shuen, A Forgotten Hong Kong Woman Director (Hong Kong University Press, 2004)
The Arch Dong fu ren
Director: Tang Shu Shuen aka Cecile Tang
Production Company: Film Dynasty Productions
Executive Producer: Paul D. Lee aka Li Chaozong
Producer: Tang Shu Shuen
Production Supervisor: Chiu Ding aka Zhao Ding
Production Assistant: Chen Zhe
Assistant Director (Interiors): Yih Chia-tai aka Ye Jiatai
Assistant Director (Exteriors): Tsao Wen aka Cao Wen
Post Production Assistant: Yu-tu Tang aka Deng Yaozu
Screenplay: Tang Shu Shuen
Director of Photography (Interiors HK): Subrata Mitra
2nd Unit Photography (Exteriors): Chi Ho-che aka Qi Hexi
Additional Photography: Hal Harrison, Les Blank
Special Assistant: Shi Meiying
Lighting: Liu Pei
Editors: Les Blank, C. C. See aka Si Shi
Decoration: Lau Wen aka Norman/Luo Wen
Set Decorator: Pau Tien-ming aka Bao Tianming
Props: Chang Yi aka Zhang Yi
Costumes: Liu Chieh-hui aka Liu Yin-fei/Liu Xianhui
Wardrobe: Wu Chiun
Make-up: Sung Hsiao-kiang aka Song Xiaojiang
Titles & Optical: Consolidated Film Industries
Music Composed and Performed by: Liu Tsun-yuen aka Lu Zhenyuan
Panegyric and wine verses composed by: H.L. Sung
Captain Yang’s poem composed by: Dr S.S. Kwong
English Titles: Xue Erwen
Sound and Mandarin Dubbing: Ryders Sound Services, Inc.
Sound Effects: Del Harris
Cast
Lisa Lu (Madam Tung)
Roy Chiao Hung (Captain Yang)
Hilda Chou Hsuan (Dong Weiling, the daughter)
Li Ying (Old Zhang)
Wen Hsiu aka Man Sau/Wen Xiu (Grandmother Dong)
Liang Jui aka Liang Yui/Liang Rui (monk)
Wan Li aka Man Lei
Wu Chiun aka Wu Cun
Tang Shu-shen aka Shu Chen
Chiu Szu-wen aka Zhao Siyun
Tang Shu-chan aka Shu Zan
Chang Yu-chuan aka Zhang Yuquan
Hung Kao
Wu Po aka Hu Bo
Jojo Cheung
Hong Kong 1968
95 mins
Digital 4K (restoration)
Restored in 4K in 2025 by M+ at Silver Salt Restoration laboratory, from a 35mm print preserved by University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and from a 35mm print preserved by BFI National Archive.
The restoration of The Arch is made possible by the support of CHANEL, M+’s Major Partner.
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email