Hu Shi Ri Ji (Diary of A Nurse), the story of a woman in Communist China

Picture of the movie Hu Shi Ri Ji ( Diary of a Nurse ) © DR


The first restored film to be screened internationally by China's Classic Film Restoration Program, which aims to safeguard the country's cinematographic heritage, the feature film Hu Shi Ri Ji (1957) by director and actor Jin Tao is being screened this year as part of Cannes Classics.

The first film from Jin Tao (Dou Sha (The Queen of Spades) , 1978; Yi jiang chun shui xiang dong liu (The Spring River Flows East), 1947), who began his career in front of the camera, Hu Shi Ri Ji (Diary of A Nurse) tells the tale of Suhua, a young Chinese graduate nurse from Shanghai, who accepts an out-of-town position. Suhua leaves her boyfriend behind to go and work at a site clinic in north-eastern China's border region. Committed to her work as a nurse, Suhua embraces her new life in a new era, throwing herself into this new chapter like the independent and determined young woman she is.

The nurse is played by Wang Danfeng, one of Chinese cinema's most influential actors, with over fifty roles under her belt and a career spanning more than forty years, beginning in the 1940s. Hu Shi Ri Ji (Diary of A Nurse) is a "simple story that reflects the social opportunities and lifestyle of 1950s China". Released in 1957, eight years after Mao Zedong rose to power, the film coincided with the new age ushered in by China's Communist revolution, in which economic, industrial and technological developments broadened employment opportunities for women.

Presented by IQIYI and New Ipicture Media co., ltd (NIPM). 4K scan and 3K digital restoration using original 35mm positives for a 2K master. Restoration funded by IQIYI and NIPM and carried out by Laser Digital Film SRL & L’Immagine Ritrovata (Italy).