Playthings

Sister Ye lives in a country village. Everyone in the village makes traditional toys. One day her husband dies of an unknown illness. While Ye is at his side her son is kidnapped. The child is sold to a wealthy woman in Shanghai. Not long after, the village is destroyed in fighting between warlords. The villagers are forced to move to the city. There they carry on making toys. Ten years pass. Ye’s daughter Zhu’er has become a toy designer. Zhu’er is killed in an attack while helping behind the lines. On New Year’s Eve Ye sits on the kerb selling toys. A boy buys toys from her, and that boy is her own son, whom she does not recognise. Ruan Lingyu and Li Lili take the leads in Sun Yu’s Chinese silent film of 1933.