Newly restored by the China Film Archive, this iconic 1934 film also boasts a new score by renowned composer Zou Ye.

Premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2014, The Goddess now comes to DVD, released by the BFI on 24 April 2017. This long-awaited release makes one of the most important early Chinese films finally available in the UK, and will delight all fans of silent cinema.

Ruan Lingyu, one of the most famous stars of early Chinese cinema, gives a devastating performance as an unnamed ‘goddess’ – an ironic euphemism for a prostitute – in this profoundly moving but rarely seen classic of world cinema. In a tragic tale of shame and maternal sacrifice, Ruan stars as a mother desperate to provide for her young son and forced to take brutal vengeance on her pimp. It is a profoundly moving drama made all the more poignant by the fact that its star committed suicide at the age of 24, a year after the film’s release.

The film’s new score by Zou Ye, a Chinese modern classical and film music composer, is performed here by the China Philharmonic Orchestra. It was commissioned by the KT Wong Foundation which was established in 2007 and is dedicated to fostering the arts and cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world through collaborative projects.