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Special Admission

General: $20

BAMPFA members, SFFILM members, UC Berkeley students: $16

Non-UC Berkeley students, 65+, disabled persons: $19


BAMPFA’s second-feature discount does not apply to SFFILM programs. Tickets are nonrefundable and may not be exchanged.


The Arch

T’ang Shushuen
Hong Kong, 1968

4K Digital Restoration

featuring

Lisa Lu, Roy Chiao, Hilda Chou,

The Arch is reminiscent of a classical story in the Ibsen or Jamesian mode—in an eighteenth-century village, a proud widow, Madam Tung, has allowed herself to be treated almost as a deity because of her virtuous behavior. When a troop of soldiers arrive to protect the farmers from bandits, the villagers believe this is a reward from the Emperor for having requested that an arch be constructed in honor of Madam Tung and her saintliness. Exactly how Madam Tung manages to control her emotions when the troop captain attracts her (and her daughter also responds to the same man) is the crisis of this romantic tale. The visual aspects of The Arch are delicately beautiful (one notices that the cameraman is Satyajit Ray’s famous technician) and the acting is profoundly moving and romantic. There is an indescribably, haunting quality about this film—the sort that lingers in the mind when one has seen something rare, exotic, and new.

Albert Johnson
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • T’ang Shushuen
Cinematographer
  • Subrata Mitra
  • Chi Ho-Che
Language
  • Mandarin
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • DCP
  • 87 mins
Source
  • SFFILM
Additional Info
  • The original black-and-white 35mm negatives of the film have been lost. The restoration was made using extant materials from 1968, including a 35mm release print preserved at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and a 35mm release print preserved and scanned at the BFI National Archive. The digital restoration was undertaken at Silver Salt Restoration. Special thanks to the descendants of Paul Lee; Les Blank Films; and the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Arch is one of the films under M+ Restored, an initiative supported by CHANEL. The Arch is presented in support by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office of San Francisco.

Event Accessibility

If you have any questions about accessibility or need accommodations to attend this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-1412 (Wed–Sun, 11 AM–7 PM) as soon as you can. Advance notice helps us fulfill your request.

Learn more about accessibility services at BAMPFA.