Love and Duty 戀愛與義務

Directed by Bu Wancang 卜萬蒼, Love and Duty stars the legendary Ruan Lingyu 阮玲玉 in dual roles as mother and daughter - a virtuoso performance that cemented her status as China’s greatest silent-era actress. Following Yang Nai-Fan from youth to maturity, the film charts her inner conflict between love and duty, individual desire and familial obligation. Blending Hollywood-style melodrama with distinctly Chinese moral and cultural values, Love and Duty exemplifies 1930s Shanghai filmmaking. Its chiaroscuro lighting, expressive close-ups, and emotional precision showcase Bu Wancang’s mastery of silent cinema, while its rediscovery in Uruguay decades later marked a triumph of world film preservation - restoring one of cinema’s earliest and most poignant explorations of female agency and sacrifice.