SIFF 2005 Quick Hits: Ruan Ling-yu, the Minutemen, and Don Letts

For those of who can't get enough of Chinese actress Ruan Ling-yu--or those who would like to get caught up on her work--The Goddess (1934) airs tonight on KCTS 9 (Channel 9) at 10pm. I'll be setting the VCR for sure. Meanwhile, The Peach Girl (1931), starring Ruan and featuring live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin, screens at the Egyptian on Sat, May 28, at 3:45pm. This is a one-time only screening.  

Also, it isn't a SIFF film, but the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo opens at the Northwest Film Forum this evening at 7pm. Producer Keith Schieron is scheduled to attend both the Friday and Saturday screenings. Seems like it would make a particularly nice teaser for Don Letts's Punk: Attitude, which screens tonight at 9pm at the Broadway Performance Hall.

Update: For Video Librarian in 2021, I reviewed Stanley Kwan's 1991 film about Ruan Ling-yu, Center Stage, about which I wrote, "Fortunately for audiences, her performance easily measures up to her heartfelt turn in Wong Kar-wai's acclaimed In the Mood for Love. If Center Stage represents the more difficult proposition, it confirms her status as one of Hong Kong's brightest and most beautiful stars. As Kwan asks in the film, 'Is it advantageous for a movie star to vanish at the peak of her brilliance?'"

Image from Silent London (Ruan Ling-yu).