Chapter 166 Chaplin's films are only about women's whimsy.
Films were still in their infancy at that time. The tricks of showing a short clip of the plot before revealing the movie title, which were common a century later, were nowhere to be seen. There wasn't even any sound – the first publicly released sound film appeared in the 1920s, and as for domestically produced sound films, they wouldn't be available for decades to come.
The process of showing movies now is similar to that of the rural screenings in the 1960s and 70s. It's all done with a white sheet of cloth. The price isn't expensive. Even for movies like those shown in Hongkou/Activity Cinema, which have been converted into proper buildings, the ticket price is only two cents.
However, only a few people like Yao Xiaoyu thought this way. After all, other relatively simple movie theaters were priced at one silver coin per person. Cheaper ones charged only 12 copper coins for adult seats and half price for children. If you were willing to sit behind the white cloth and watch the movie backwards, the price could be halved again.
The light shone on the screen, and the movie's title appeared and disappeared: "The Road to Survival".
Yao Xiaoyu hadn't seen the movie before and was wondering what kind of story it was when she saw that familiar figure.
Great, no need to guess anymore, it's a comedy.
As Yao Xiaoyu looked at Charlie Chaplin on the screen, she thought of how she first learned about him in her elective film appreciation course at university—the famous world-class comedian whose image on screen would inevitably bring a smile to people's faces.
She watched as Charlie picked up the reporter's bag and ran off, laughing merrily with the others. Yao Xiaoyu only had a very superficial understanding of Chaplin, and had only seen a few of his films, such as "The Gold Rush" and "Modern Life." "The Way to Make a Living" was a completely new film for her, but with this classic figure in the cast, her viewing experience should not be too different from that of modern audiences.
There are still differences.
Yao Xiaoyu looked at the scene that was being displayed and thought to herself expressionlessly.
Interludes are a unique feature of silent films, using text to display the main dialogue or other aspects that need to be understood in the film. Unlike the subtitles at the bottom of foreign films in modern times, interludes usually have their own separate display time. People in this era are used to it, but Yao Xiaoyu is not quite used to it.
In her time, short videos, like many industries, had begun a period of continuous infighting. Even silent films, when uploading resources, often added voiceovers for the sake of a quick like, comment, and share. Whether the voiceover was done manually or by AI was another matter, but it was always there. And now, the interlude...
Yao Xiaoyu regretted not buying something to snack on. Besides popcorn, there were quite a few other things she could eat on-site without getting her hands dirty, but it was too late. A movie theater isn't a train station; there were no snacks like sunflower seeds, peanuts, or bottled water available to buy on-site. Fortunately, the movie was only fifteen minutes long, so she could just bear with it and finish watching it.
The plot of "The Way to Make a Living" is simple: a conman disguises himself with a suitable identity and performs absurd farces in different situations for various reasons. But Chaplin's acting skills are there. Although the silent film viewing experience of this era is very different from that of modern times, Yao Xiaoyu still enjoyed it. After learning that the latest film to be released tomorrow, "From the Army", she even bought tickets in advance.
"Actually, I wanted to see a few other works."
While writing the complaint letter, Yao Xiaoyu told Tao Xiaoxiao that she would rather watch movies like "The Circus" than "The Soldier's Tale," which she had never seen before. Although the plot was not surprising, it would give her the joy of checking off a list of movies she had already seen.
But films like "A Woman in Paris" would take several years to be made, and it would take at least several more years for them to reach China. The wait was long, but it brought a strange and wonderful feeling to it—Yao Xiaoyu from the future was waiting in the past for the movies she would see in the future. If she hadn't forgotten the release dates of these movies, Yao Xiaoyu would have liked to go to the filming location to take a look.
The complaint letter to Antonio Remas, the founder of Hongkou/Active Cinema, didn't need to be long. It was like a handwritten note or a post. The content was the least important thing compared to what she represented. Yao Xiaoyu was insignificant in the eyes of this Spaniard, but Dr. Maria was not.
Besides, what Yao Xiaoyu is going to do isn't anything major. The most important thing in making popcorn is the machine, so changing the person won't have much of an impact. Yao Xiaoyu is more than 90% confident that she will get feedback... Even if there is no feedback, this position won't be popular for long.
Yao Xiaoyu recalled the blueprints in her mind and returned the paper and pen to the old man who wrote the letter.
"How much?"
Although she wrote the letter herself, the ink and paper were paid for by the other party, so it wouldn't be right not to pay her.
"Give me four copper coins."
The old man looked at the thin sheet of paper and gave Yao Xiaoyu a discount. Normally, he would charge five and a half copper coins to write a letter for someone. Although Yao Xiaoyu did not ask him to do it, the paper and ink were not cheap.
Yao Xiaoyu nodded, laid out the four copper coins in a row on the table, and left with the paper.
The fifteen-minute movie didn't take much time, and the sun was still high in the sky. Yao Xiaoyu's appetite seemed to have been sealed off after leaving the movie theater, and she didn't want to go home. Just then, some passersby were talking about children's games, and Yao Xiaoyu listened for a while before excitedly following them.
"Mao'erxi" refers to plays performed entirely by female actors. Yao Xiaoyu had heard of it before, but like in the movies, she had never seen it. Today, they were singing "Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall," so she had to go and see it for herself.
Like any other proper opera troupe, the Mao'er Opera has its own dedicated theater, except that everyone from the actors on stage to the receptionists is a woman. If there's any difference, it's probably in age and physique—
When Yao Xiaoyu and her companion arrived, they saw some thugs trying to force their way in, relying on their status as men. However, they were held down by several strong and sturdy older women, who stripped them of their clothes before they ran away. The women even looked down on the two men, calling them poor bastards whose clothes were even more tattered than those of the people at the sand shipyard, saying they wouldn't even get a penny from pawning.
"What I get isn't even enough to buy meat to make up for the effort I put in."
An older woman said with a hint of disdain, and the people around her agreed, but they all knew that it was just talk. What do you mean by replenishing strength? You don't need to replenish this stuff. You can get it back after a good night's sleep. It's the cheapest thing. It's not as practical as gold, silver, or copper coins.
"Next time we come back, we'll cut off their braids and sell them for money."
Although Shanghai no longer has the saying "no hair, no head," the half-bald rat-tail braid hairstyle is still stubbornly rooted in most men's bodies. The braid is quite long, and cutting it off can earn them a few more dollars.
"Great idea!"
The people next to her lit up. Although Yao Xiaoyu hadn't seen the consequences for the next group of people, she already felt sorry for them. But it only lasted for three seconds at most—the show inside was about to begin, and she couldn't miss it!
The price at the children's theater is not expensive. An adult can enter for ten copper coins, while children are free. However, each adult can only have one free child. Children cannot enter alone. If an adult brings multiple children, one child will be free, and the rest will be charged five copper coins per child. An adult can bring a maximum of five children, and the children must be able to understand human language.
Why is it so complicated?
Yao Xiaoyu and Tao Xiaoxiao both bought full-price tickets and paid twenty copper coins. After that, these rules were no longer relevant to them, but they still found it quite troublesome to listen to the waiter explaining such a long string of rules to the people behind them.
"These are all lessons learned."
Xiao Er sighed, and seeing the others looking over curiously, he simply explained the story behind these regulations.
The Mao'er Theater was initially opened with the financial support of the young lady. Even the actors inside were raised by the young lady's family. Because they had lived in the mansion since childhood, although they occasionally suffered some grievances, their lives were generally not bad. As a result, they all developed an innocent and simple nature, and were more cunning than college students.
These naive and innocent people entered this cannibalistic society with good intentions, thinking that everyone was a good person and that their kindness would be rewarded. So they set only one rule: adults have to buy tickets and children can get free tickets. Then they were slapped repeatedly in the face by people who nitpick over the wording.
At first, it was fine; one adult would bring at most two or three children. But later, seeing that the parents didn't object, more and more children came in, until finally, the place was a sea of children. It was one thing for them to be noisy and not watch the show, and it was another for them to eat the free snacks without buying anything. The worst part was that quite a few children couldn't stand it anymore...
The theater was at its busiest when there were eighty-nine children inside, not a single adult, ranging from nine years old to nine months old. The oldest child took care of the younger ones, blatantly treating the place as a babysitter... From then on, the rules were completely changed.
This courtyard has been relocated; the previous one was sold at a low price. Otherwise, not only would guests find it disgusting, but even the locals would find it repulsive.
“We said children could come for free, and back then only children came, no adults came; we said we wanted adults, and back then there was only one adult with a whole yard of children… there was really no other way.”
The waiter wanted to sigh as he spoke. At least the customers found it troublesome because they could listen, but it was really troublesome for them to explain things over and over again. However, they couldn't not explain, because there were always illiterate people, and even with such a rule, there were still frequent problems...
As Yao Xiaoyu listened to Xiao Er's tragic past, only one sentence came to mind—behind every bizarre school rule lies an even more bizarre story. She could even hear the classic line from the short video platform, "It all started with that senior, Alyosha..."
She sympathized with the waiter for thirty seconds, then silently turned and went into the theater, ignoring the waiter's desperate explanation that there were no free snacks for children.
The bustling scene at the entrance happens every few days. She can choose to watch it at her leisure time, but if she misses the Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall, she will have to pay to come in again if she wants to hear it again.
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