There is something really quite poignant about this story of a young Chinese mother who finds herself trapped in a scenario that offers her little chance of liberation. She (Ruan Lingyu) is trying to bring up her baby son by working in a brothel. When the police raid that one evening, she darts down an alleyway and seeks shelter in what she doesn’t appreciate is the home of “Zhang” (Zhang Zhizhi). He’s a bully and an opportunist gambler who allows her the sanctuary of his home for a few seconds, but boy does she pay for that over the next few years as he avails himself of her body and her mone...