- Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931)
Films from mainland China have arrived steadily in the U.S. since the mid-80s, when such “fifth generation” filmmakers as Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou broke onto the international scene. Yet there have been few serious attempts to introduce American audiences to the first several decades of mainland Chinese cinema, which has existed since the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to the Japanese invasion in the late 1930s, the Chinese film industry developed along similar lines as national film industries in the west. By the early 20s, Shanghai was home to multiple Chinese-owned production companies, and by the early 30s, the national cinema had developed a variety of popular genres, each with its own conventions.
