Synopsis
If, after hearing the title Susanna, you think of ‘One Summer Night’ by Chelsia Chan, then I’m sorry to say that you cannot proclaim yourself to be a fan of Shaw Brothers. Because Chelsia My Love is an imposter that angered many teenage Shaw Brothers fan-girls. Did I just write fan-girls? Yes I did. Because, if you think that Shaw Brothers had only male fans, then you’re dead wrong. The fact is, Shaw Brothers made films in many different genres. Susanna is a re-mix pop version of the 1950s Hong Kong melodramas and 1960s urban youth lifestyle. LI Ching became a superstar with this film from 1967. Many teenage girls followed her every move, just like many teenage boys followed WANG Yu. And this film opened the age of Shaw Brothers teenage melodramas, if only for a brief time. (LI Ching even starred in Korean director Shin Sang-ok’s film, in a Korea-China joint production) Two sisters in a middle class family. They have different mothers, and have strikingly different personalities. The older sister has a heart of gold, and the younger is a girl filled with jealousy. Anything her older sister has, she must have, too. The two sisters get involved in a love triangle, and the younger sister steals the elder’s lover. However, the name of the film comes from the younger, not the older. And this is where the film truly begins. Susanna finds out that she has brain tumor and that she only has 6 more months to live. She does not tell anyone about this, and tries to make up for all the harm she caused. But she is already a ‘girl who cried wolf,’ and no one takes her seriously. Director Ho Meng-hwa tries everything in his hat to make the ultimate tearjerker, and when LI Ching starts to sing the theme song, even though you know that it’s puerile, you can’t help but cry. The terminally ill character became an important device in the Korean teenage melodramas of the 1960s, and Susanna was the ultimate model. Susanna belongs to the pantheon of Shaw Brothers film along with The One-Armed Swordsman Returns. It truly is one of the classics from Shaw Brothers. (CHUNG Sung-ill)