Mei Lanfang (Dawn) watch and download online

Film "Mei Lanfang" Plot Introduction

In 1938, Mei Lanfang's friend Qiu Rubai stood by the deathbed of the critically ill Mei Lanfang. They had shared a brotherly relationship for decades, but at times, Qiu Rubai had almost become Mei Lanfang's enemy. Suddenly, Qiu Rubai realized that it had taken him a lifetime to truly understand Mei Lanfang. He said to Mei Lanfang: "Now I understand, you want to be an ordinary person, perhaps you have always been an ordinary person..."

Mei Lanfang was born in 1894 in Beijing into a Peking Opera family. In late Qing Dynasty China, actors were considered as lowly as prostitutes. Although Mei Lanfang's grandfather, Mei Qiaoling, was favored by the imperial court, because he played female roles, he had to perform semi-naked on stage. After satisfying the audience, all Mei Qiaoling received was disdain. Mei Lanfang grew up in such a family, and like his grandfather, he also played female roles. Mei Lanfang's uncle told him that there was a punishment in the palace where actors who made mistakes would be forced to wear a paper-made collar, with their hands raised holding a bowl of water. If the paper collar broke, the punished actor would be beaten to death. This paper collar became a symbol of the fate of actors, who faced the possibility of being beaten to death by various forces at any time. Of course, Mei Lanfang was one of them.