Shanghai alleys, theatrical practice, and cinematic spectatorship: from 'Street Angel' (1937) to Fifth Generation Film

This article argues that a certain type of Shanghai film of the Republican period, exemplified by 1937's 'Street Angel' (Malu tianshi), makes use of a specific mode of spatial organization, modelled on the theatre, to represent the urban environment. In the case of Street Angel, and later on in 1964's 'Stage Sisters' (Wutai jiemei), the interaction between performers and audiences characteristic o…