Produced as a “problem drama” by production company Great Wall, this drama penned by Hou Yao loosely based his heartrending drama on Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace (1884). In addition to changing the central object from a diamond necklace to a pearl necklace, Hou also added a significant amount of plot details not in the original short story: The husband’s character has been greatly expanded, and we even get to discover who stole the necklace. Director C.Y. Lee makes impressive use of parallel editing, moving between multiple perspectives to show the tense pursuit of the missing necklace. Some may find the ending – a cautionary lesson about materialism and the illusion of pride it brings – too didactic for a contemporary audience, but it is an important lesson that is still very relevant to urbanites in modern
China.

Screening Courtesy of the China Film Archive