Spring Silkworms (Chuncan) dir. Cheng Bugao sc. Cai Chusheng, Xia Yan With Xiao Ying, Gong Jianong, Zheng Xiaoqiu, Gao Qianping, Ai Xia Shanghai: Mingxing Film, 1933.

An adaptation of Mao Dun's story, *Spring Silkworms* depicts poor silkworm farmers unwittingly caught up in competition with foreign industries during the early 1930s. In a village in Zhejiang province, Tongbao's family would do anything to make their silkworms healthier and more marketable. While taking care of their silkworms they fight against nature and their own superstitions. Yet, against Tongbao's wishes, his youngest son likes to play with Hehua, a woman believed to bring bad luck. In revenge for Tongbao's hostility towards her, Hehua throws a handful of silkworms into the river. Tongbao's family get into debt and try out many different methods in their attempt to produce high quality cocoons. When he travels to a nearby town to sell his produce, Tongbao finds all the shops are closed because of a local battle between warlords. This forces him to travel further afield and, due to the fierce competition, to sell his cocoons at lower prices. Tongbao gets depressed because his family's hard work is not paying off. The film, praised as one of the first successful leftist films, was shot in a documentary style (it records the growth of silkworms in real time, for example).While commenting on the consequences of superstition and the lack of solidarity among farmers, *Spring Silkworms* also dramatizes the impact political and economic change exerts on the lives of poor people.

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