Daughter of Shanghai and Juno

Comparative Film Criticism
By Laura Vandenberg
Films: Daughter of Shanghai (1937) & Juno (2007)
Analyzing a Film
Daughters of Shanghai initially starts with flashbacks to newspaper headlines and then continues on to be told linearly. The plot moves from one obstacle to the next and does not preview events to come or show past events. Although the audience is aware almost from the beginning that Mrs. Mary Hunt is the villain, Kim Lee and Lan Ying Lan do not. Juno is told episodically with flashbacks. In the opening scene of the movie, Juno starts by telling the beginning of the story using a flashback. Although, the flashback is broken, we still are given some information about the past. Another flashback is used when Juno’s stepmom asks if she threw-up in her urn and we see Juno barfing in it. The story of Juno is episodically as the story is split by the seasons. In the first scene of the movie, the season is established by a caption of autumn. Juno’s episodes can also be considered linear because time passes by slowly showing captions of winter, spring, and then summer.

Plot
Daughter of Shanghai opens with Mr. Lang in a plane smuggling people, but when a government plane get too close they drop the six people into the ocean below. The scene shifts to Lan Ying Lin and her father, Quan Lin. Quan Lin is a merchant who sells many things, such as teas and fancy headdresses. He gets approached by Frank Barden and Andrew Sleet to “import” or smuggle people into his warehouse for them. He refuses. Quan Lin explains to his daughter and Mrs. Mary Hunt, a customer visiting, that these two men wanted him to accept misguided human beings that they wished to sell as slaves. Quan Lin plans to share the incident with his confidants, but the taxi cab, which Lan and Quan are travelling in, gets kidnapped by Frank and Andrew. They shoot and kill Quan Lin. Lan Ying Lin also has shots fired at her and the two men believe she is dead. However, Lan in fact was not shot at all. Frank and Andrew sink the taxi in the port, but Lan Ying Lin escapes before it is pushed overboard. Lan Ying Lin then goes to Mrs. Mary Hunt’s house and tells her what happened. Kim Lee, a department man from Washington, offers to drive Lan home, although Mrs. Hunt wanted to call Kelly, her butler, to do the job. Mrs. Mary Hunt then goes to her study and we realize she is in cahoots with Frank and Andrew. Frank and Andrew tell Mrs. Hunt that they stole all of the evidence Quan had collected and double checked his safe. Kim Lee asks how well Lan knows Mrs. Hunt and if she knew about Mr. Hartman, who operates a clearing house for smuggled people. Lan, then calls Mrs. Hunt and tells her the police are bringing up the taxi. Mrs. Hunt asks Lan if her father had all the evident on him that evening. Lan visit Mr. L.T. Yorkland, her father’s attorney, and reads a letter from her father instructing her to not trust anyone but Mr. Yorkland. Lan is determined to find Mr. Hartman on her own. She departs to Port O’ Juan, where Mr. Hartman owns a resort. Lan seeks out Mr. Hartman to obtain a job as a dancer in his club. In the middle of the night, Lan wanders the resort and snoops through Mr. Hartman’s room as he sleeps. He wakes up and they have a drink together. He admits that the resort is not how he makes his money, but rather he uses the resort as a way to smuggle in slaves for profit. Kim Lee is also on the island and is disguised a super cargo and the new interpreter for Lee Shumway, the ship captain. During Lan’s first dance performance she recognizes Kim Lee in the audience. After the performance, Kim Lee goes to talk to Lan about evidence they need to collect. Kim sneaks into Mr. Hartman’s room to get a book that Mr. Hartman keeps of all transactions in. Mr. Hartman returns to his room to see Kim snooping. He hits Kim Lee and a guy pokes his head around the corner and shoots Mr. Hartman. Kim covers the body with a chair and then runs to joins Lan on a boat back to the mainland. Lan had pretended to be a man to get on the boat, but is discovered. The ship captain enters the scene and finds the transaction book on Kim Lee and Lan. Frank and Andrew aboard the ship to take Lan and Kim onto their plane. They are tied up, but they escape from the ropes and are able to hold onto the walls as Frank and Andrew try to drop them into the sea. Kim and Lan escape from the plane once it lands and swim to a nearby house. They attempt to steal a car, but get caught and realize its Mrs. Hunt’s house. Kim Lee is escorted by Miles to make a call in the telephone room, but Miles attacks him and ties him up. As Mrs. Hunt and Lan talk, the transaction book is lying open on the table. Lan realizes that she is the head of the slave smugglings. Kim Lee is tied up in a backroom, but manages to contact an operator to request help. Kelly turns on Mrs. Hunt and rescues Lan Ying Lin and Kim Lee. The police show up arrest Mrs. Hunt. Kim Lee asks Lan Ying Lin to marry him.
The plot for Juno is vastly different from Daughters of Shanghai. Daughter of Shanghai has many distinct and large plot moments, whereas Juno has minor plot points that all add to the story. Juno does not have a major plot story, it more so tells the everyday story of Juno MacGuff’s life. Juno opens with a caption that it is autumn. Juno MacGuff, a young sixteen year old girl, is standing in a field and starts to tell us a past story about a chair. The scene then jumps to a romantic moment between Juno and Paulie Bleeker. The story gets interrupted when dog barks and the opening credits start. The credits are unique as they show a cartoon character of Juno walking around town drinking Sunny D. The cartoon character then walks into a drugstore where the cartoon changes back to real life. Juno buys a pregnancy test because she does not believe the past two tests were effective. She does not want to believe she is pregnant, but she is. At home, Juno calls her friend, Leah, and confesses she is pregnant. They decide that Juno will go get an abortion. The two move the aforementioned chair that was in the field into Paulie’s front yard. We see Paulie getting ready and realize he is part of the running team. Juno tells Paulie she is pregnant and that she will be getting an abortion. Juno leaves on that note and says that she is sorry they had sex, especially considered it was not Paulie’s idea. Paulie is left confused over whose idea it was. We then join the two and friends at school. After school, Juno calls Woman Now to book an abortion appointment. We are given another flashback of the night the baby was conceived, as Juno’s memory is jogged by the question “how long have you been sexually active?” Juno tells us about her family situation, specifically that her parents are divorced and both remarried. She lives with her step-mother, Brenda and her dad in Minnesota. The next day, Juno visits the abortion clinic, but runs into her friend Sue Chin who is protesting against abortion. In a last attempt to change Juno’s mind, Sue says her baby has fingernails already. As Juno sits in the waiting room, she is tormented by the sound of fingernails all around her. She runs out of the clinic and to Leah’s house. Since adoption is not an option for Juno, they look in the PennySaver magazine to find a couple who would like to adopt her baby. They decide on Mark and Vanessa Lorring because of their gorgeous picture. Juno tells her parents that she is pregnant and her plan to have the baby adopted. After the initial shocked reactions, her parents are willing to help her. Juno and her father visit the potential adoptive parents. We learn that Vanessa cannot have children of her own and has a strong desire to be a mom. They agree on a closed adoption and for Mark and Vanessa to pay for all medical expenses.
Time passes and the season shifts to winter. Rumors circulate the school that Juno is pregnant and she starts to visibility show. During an ultrasound appointment, Juno expresses her fears that the adoptive may be a more poisonous environment than her own. Juno visits the Lorrings often as Juno and Mark share a passion for guitars, music, and horror movies. Juno shows Mark and Vanessa the ultrasound picture of their baby, where Vanessa states her fear that Juno will bail out of their agreement. Brenda lectures Juno on the boundaries of her friendship with Mark, but Juno continues to hang out with Mark. Juno then visits Bleeker, where they catch up on their lives. Bleeker eats an orange tic tac, which prompts a flashback to the night the baby was conceived and Bleeker was eating orange tic tacs. Bleeker admits that he thinks Juno is always beautiful and cute. Feeling pressured, Juno suggests that Bleeker dates another girl because they are not officially together. Mark and Vanessa paint the baby room, but Mark is not thrilled or excited about the new addition to their family. While shopping, Juno runs into Vanessa, where she has Vanessa feel the baby kick. In that moment, Vanessa bonds with the baby and Juno decides that this baby will go to Vanessa do matter what.
Time passes again and the season shifts to spring. Juno is getting bigger and everyone at school is noticing. Leah informs Juno that Bleeker is going to prom and after parties with Katrina, another girl from school. Juno is angry at Bleeker for this, but Bleeker tells Juno that he should be the one mad at her because she broke his heart. After this fight, Juno goes to Mark’s house. They listen to music and Juno and Mark slow dance together. Mark blurts out that he is leaving Vanessa. This upsets Juno because she wants the baby to be born into a perfect family. Juno tries to convince Mark to not divorce his wife, but Mark is set on it and thinks he is not ready for this baby. Juno awkwardly witnesses the couple fight and break-up. Juno storms out, but then returns to leave a note for Vanessa that she will still give her the baby. Juno discusses relationships with her father and wonders if two people can stay happily together forever. This helps Juno realize she is in love with Paulie Bleeker. She fills his mail box with 100 packs of orange tic tacs and then meets him at the track. Juno apologies for her past mistakes and professes her love to Bleeker. She knows they are meant for each other because both their hearts race when they see each other; then they passionately kiss. The next day, Juno goes into labor and the baby is born. During that time, Bleeker had a big race, but when he realized Juno was not there he ran to the hospital. Both Juno and Bleeker decide not to see the baby, as the baby was not theirs because it truly belonged to Vanessa. The story concludes with Juno telling the story of a new chair, the chair where Vanessa rocks her new baby. More time passes and the season changes to summer where we see Juno’s life go back to normal and she starts dating Bleeker.

Conflict Resolution
Daughters of Shanghai is focused around finding the leader of the people smuggling. Kim Lee and Lan Ying Lin are on a quest to discover who they are and to bring them to justice. Kim Lee is a detective and is just doing his job, whereas Lan Ying Lin is attempting to revenge her father’s death and stop the smugglings. This conflict is ultimately resolved when Kim and Lan overcome many obstacles and realize Mrs. Mary Hunt was the leader along. They barely escape when the police arrive and arrest Mrs. Hunt.
The conflict in Juno is much harder to identify. Juno has an inner conflict with herself over what her purpose is in life and how she fits into the world of Mark and Vanessa. Furthermore, Juno has an inner conflict over how she is dealing with the pregnancy and how convoluted the situation became. Juno is also conflicted over her relationship with Bleeker and doubts whether two people can stay together. Juno’s conflicts are ultimately solved when the baby is born and her life can go back to normal. Juno and Bleeker make up and start dating. Juno realizes that Paulie Bleeker is her soul mate and they will be together forever. While pregnant, Juno was forced to deal with situations that were much to mature for her. From the situation, she realizes that her purpose is to go back to being a normal teenager and leave the mature decisions to the adults.

Viewers
Daughter of Shanghai is a movie filled with suspense that has the audience gripping onto new developments in the plot. The music adds to the suspense, especially when Lan and Kim are in tricky situations. The film is edited to tell the story very linearly, such that the plot is adequately told to add to the mystery. The violence in the movie encourages the audience to feel for the other characters’ loss when a good character dies, such as when Quan was killed, and feel triumphant when an evil character is killed, such as when Mr. Hartman is killed. The camera movement when Lan discovers the black transaction book in Mrs. Hunt’s house allows the audience to grasp the connection as the character is.
Juno establishes and develops the characters to gain particular reactions from the viewers. The story is the most important aspect of Juno and the strong character development allow the audience to react to Juno’s emotions and feelings. Sympathy is felt for Juno for the hardship she is forced to endure and joy is felt when she finds her soul mate in Paulie Bleeker.

Setting
The setting in the Daughter of Shanghai is definitely realistic because it depicts the real everyday life of San Francisco. There is no fantasy or unrealistic scenes in this movie that would make the setting stylistic. The setting of Juno is also realistic as it depicts the real everyday life of a teenager in Minnesota. The settings are different in that the two movies take place in very different times.
In both movies, the atmosphere suggests that the story takes place in a standard and normal life, such that everyone can relate to the characters. Daughter of Shanghai’s atmosphere has a sense of mystery and suspense about it, whereas Juno’s atmosphere is more about showing the hardship and real life of a pregnant teenager.
In Daughter of Shanghai, the black book of transactions serves as a symbol for freedom and justice for Lan Ying Lin. The book is the hard evidence that can stop the gruesome people smuggling. Near the end of the movie, the book reemerges in Mrs. Hunt’s house and is the turning point in the story when Lan realizes the mastermind behind the smugglings is Mrs. Hunt herself. In Juno, the group of runners from Juno’s high school is a symbol of the seasons. Their running outfits change with the weather and give the audience another representation of passing time. Paulie Bleeker is part of the runner team, so the runners practicing also shows that Bleeker just runs by Juno in more ways than the physical sense. Juno’s house and the Lorrings’ house act as a symbol of the different worlds Juno finds herself trapped between. Juno’s house is a warm, safe, and homely environment, whereas the Lorrings’ is clean, organized, and not very homely. Juno feels like she is caught up in the Lorrings’ world, but really just wants to go back home, a place where everything can be normal.

Characters
Quan Lin, of Daughters of Shanghai, is always costumed in a black suit. He is a serious business man and this shows in the way he dresses. Mrs. Mary Hunt is always dressed in fine clothing, which shows her importance and wealth. Kim Lee is usually dressed in a suit, but changes his costume when he is in disguised as a super cargo. Lan Ying Lin’s costumes are constantly changing to her surroundings. She wears a costume piece to show off an outfit for her father’s business, a silk dress when visiting company, plainer clothes when asking for a job from Mr. Hartman, and short, sexy dress when performing as a dancer. The plain clothes are important for Lan to wear while on Port O’ Juan to add to the disguise of a struggling dancer who is in need of a job. All of Mrs. Hunt’s men are dressed in suits to show their professionalism while on the job. Lan and Mrs. Hunt mostly wear minimal make-up. The dancer in Port O’ Juan, and Lan at the time, wear costume make-up during their performance. The costumes in the Daughter of Shanghai are appropriate to the time period of the 1930s. The costumes in Juno are also appropriate to the time period, but are drastically different compared to the costumes in the Daughter of Shanghai because Juno takes place in 2007.
Vanessa dresses immaculately, which shows her obsession with order and cleanliness. Mark, on the other hand, dresses very casually and non-age appropriate. Mark’s costume shows that he is not ready to grow up and start a family. Juno is costumed in very casual attire, which shows her free-spirited personality and “don’t care” attitude. Bleeker is usually dressed in running clothes as he is a competitive runner. In the movie, Juno mentions that Bleeker dresses really cool without looking like he tries hard. Bleeker’s response to this is that he does try really hard to look cool. Therefore, Bleeker’s costume represents his desire to be welcome and accepted by all. This is the opposite of the statement Juno’s clothing is making. The rest of the characters are dressed in casual clothing and do not stand out or make any statements about their clothing. Clothing in the Daughter of Shanghai is used to establish social standing. This is not the case in Juno as most characters are dressed similarly. The only exception to this is how Vanessa and her lawyer are professionally dressed. In Juno, costumes are not meant to stand out because the story is about regular life, and Juno is not concerned with what people are wearing.

Shots
Most shot distances used in Daughters of Shanghai are medium shots, showing one or two characters from the torso up. In the first scene, the plane is shown from a long shot, then moves to a medium shot, and finally to close-up shots of each person in the plane. As the plane flies toward San Francisco, an establish shot is shown of the city. When two characters are having a conversation, the camera shifts between the two characters using a close-up shot, with a mix of medium shots that show both characters. When the car, with a dead Quan Lin inside, is pushed into the water a long shot is used to get the full effect of what is happening. When Lan goes to Port O’ Juan, many establish shots and a caption reading “Port O’ Juan” are used to show that Lan has made the journey from San Francisco to Port O’ Juan. When Lan enters the dancers’ backroom, the camera movies between a long shot of the room, to a medium shot of most of the dancers, to a close shot of two characters. The next day for Lan on the island is marked by a long shot of the sun rising over the ocean. The varying shot distances are used to add excitement and movement to the story.
The opening scene of Juno is a long establish shot which shows Juno standing in a field. The shots move closer, from long-medium then to a close-up shot. Similarly to the Daughter of Shanghai, Juno uses mostly medium shots. The majority of the plot is told through conversations, which uses medium shots to show facial emotions and a small bit of setting. The long shots of the running team are used to establish the season and divide up the different ‘episodes’. The final scene of the movie is of Bleeker and Juno sitting outside his house playing guitar and singing. The shot starts as a medium shot and then slowly moves outward to a long shot. This movement in shot distance is much more fluid as compared to the encroaching shot distance at the beginning of the movie, which is choppy.

Camera Angles
Unlike previous movies where Anna May Wong has danced, the camera does not tilt or sweep up her body in a revealing manner because the focus is not on her dancing. This scene is supposed to add chemistry to Kim and Lan’s relationship and further the plot. When Lan is dancing for the first time, the camera is tilted down towards the crowd to show Lan’s perspective. While the floor is dropped in the plane, with Kim and Lan hanging on, the camera is pointed down at the characters. This establishes the distance and dangers below them and how they need to hang on to save themselves. The angles in Daughter of Shanghai usually quite straight, as in they do not screw to confuse or disorient the audience.
Camera angles are used more frequently in Juno, especially in the flashback sequences. In the first flashback shot we see the ground and the couple’s feet, and then the angle moves to a close-up of their faces. While Juno is driving back and forth between her house and the Lorrings’ house, the camera is angled downward from a long shot to show the long drive that Juno has to make. While we watch Bleeker getting ready near the beginning of the movie, we are not shown his face, but rather the camera angle is of his body.

Camera Movements
Camera movements in Daughters of Shanghai are very smooth and usually sweeping. As Lan moves from one dancer to the Olga, the camera follows her movement. During Lan’s first dance, the camera sweeps the crowd and then falls on Kim Lee, this is used to show the point of view of Lan. When Lan discovers the black transaction book in Mrs. Hunt’s house, the camera follows Lan’s gaze to the book and back to Mrs. Hunt. This movement established the realization Lan has in that Mrs. Hunt is the mastermind. The camera movements in the resort Port O’ Juan shows the interconnected room and how Lan is able to freely move about the resort. This is useful to show how easily it is for Kim Lee and Lan to find the evidence, and also for Mr. Hartman to discover Kim stealing his black transaction book. The camera movements add flow and fluidity to the story.
The camera movements during the opening credits of Juno follow Juno walking all around the town. Many sweeping shots are used in Juno. A sweeping shot is frequently used on Juno to show her pregnant body, from her feet up to her head. This shot guide’s the viewer to notice the changes happening to Juno’s body. Considering the story is about Juno, the camera often moves with Juno to follow her every move. For example, when Mark and Juno are discussing their favourite bands, anything that Juno picks up the camera followers her hand and then sweeps back to Juno’s face. Another example of this is when Juno is leaving for the hospital. The camera follows Juno from running downstairs and getting into the car. The camera movements guide the view to watch Juno’s every move rather than focus on other characters.

Music
Trumpets are played during the opening sequence when the newspapers are shown to highlight their importance. By reading the headlines, the audience will be much more informed about the current situation of alien smuggling. Quiet soft music is played when Lan Ying Lin first enters the scene and acts like a model. When Quan and Lan are in the taxi and awaiting their death there is a lack of music and dialect so that the audience can complete focus on the action that is happening. When Lan is realizing her father is dead and trying to escape, suspenseful music is played to add to the suspense of the story. While Lan is returning from the scene of her father’s death and talking to Mrs. Hunt, she is shocked and sad. The music matches the tone of Lan’s voice and her mood. As Lan is making her journey to Port O’ Juan, the music escalates in volume to mimic the trip and excitement that Lan is feeling. When Lan is dancing for the first time, she dances in time with the music, which puts the focus on her. Even though Lan is in a crowded room, the music directs the audience’s attention to her.
The music in Juno serves an entirely different purpose as compared to the music in the Daughter of Shanghai. The music, as we learn later in the movie, it the kind of music Juno listens to. The story of Juno focuses on Juno’s everyday life, so it makes sense that we would hear the music that she would listen to. The music played during the tender moments, such as when Juno decides to give Vanessa and Mark her baby, when Bleeker is looking at Juno’s picture in his yearbook, and during the flashbacks when the baby was conceived, are soft and sweet. The song at the end of the movie is a love duet between Juno and Bleeker, where we understand how much the two care for each other. Music plays a central role in this movie, as it is a common interest between Juno and Mark. Their friendship first begins when the two play guitar together during their first meeting. Also, Mark is a musician who threw his rock star dreams away to write jingles for commercials. All of the music played during the movie could arguably be said that Juno is hearing the song in her head.

External Conditions
During the time when the Daughter of Shanghai was popular, slavery and smuggling was still a major problem in the United States and therefore, this movie outlined important corporate greed by exploiting other human beings. Slavery was a major social condition that affected the movie. Slavery in the United States would have been a touchy subject, but the filmmakers for this must have tried to support the government and not to buttheads with too many activists. The economy of the United States was going just emerging from a recession, and such money was hard to come by. This is essentially why slavery smuggling existed.
Juno is a much more contemporary movie that has our current social and economic conditions affecting the film. Although teen pregnancy is embarrassing, the current social conditions do not make it impossible for Juno to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Economic conditions influence Juno in that financial situation plays a major role in Juno’s decision to give the baby away. The social and economic standards make it acceptable for Juno to go through with an adoption, event to a single mother. The filmmakers for Juno needed to be careful not to show teen pregnancy in a light that would encourage the activity.

Ideology/Cultural Tensions
Daughter of Shanghai follows the dominant ideology that alien smuggling is wrong. This movie stands to aid in the rebellion against flying in slaves to be sold in the United Sates market. Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, and therefore, this movie supported the government’s legislation to not allow slavery to exist. It is likely that this movie brought the issue of alien smuggling into the public eye to make people aware of the secret operations. I believe that Daughter of Shanghai helps ease cultural tensions as it supports the ideology that slavery is wrong.
Juno’s storyline tries hard not to pass judgment on teen sex, abortion, and adoption. They show teen pregnancy for what it really is and show that abortion may not be the option for everyone, but it is an option. The film follows the current ideology that teens have sex, but they need to be careful or bad things can happen. The film also shows the struggles a married couple has. Furthermore, the film shows that divorce and separation exists and are acceptable. Juno reflects cultural tensions, but does not add to them. The movie outlines current issues, such as abortion, and tries to find a middle group between the two radical sides. Juno aims to ease cultural tensions if anything.

Reflections
In this comparative assignment, I discover that there many differences between a movie made in the 1930s as compared to a current movie. The social and economic conditions really affect the plot line and how the characters responded to their situation. I did not expect to watch two movies that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the enjoyment factor has drastically decreased now that I have seen each movie a few things and analyzed every detail.
I was surprised by how both movies discussed real and controversial issues. Juno dealt with teen pregnancy, divorce, and abortion, while the Daughter of Shanghai discussed issues of slavery and smuggling. I was intrigued by how both filmmakers were able to delicately approach controversial topics.
While watching Juno, I did not like how Juno was so unemotional about the situation. She was quite expressionless when it came to dealing with a teen pregnancy. Furthermore, I understand where Mark is coming from, but it was really unfair of him to walk out on his wife so close to when the baby was to be born. I admire both Juno and Vanessa for going through with the adoption despite the fact that Vanessa would be a single mother.