In a fit of jealousy, Xiao Yanqiu, star of "The Moon Opera", disfigures her unde
rstudy with boiling water. Spurned by the troupe, she turns to teaching. Twenty
years later, "The Moon Opera" is restaged, under the patronage of a rich local f
actory boss who insists that Xiao Yanqiu return to the role of Chang'e.
So sh
e does, this time believing she is the immortal moon goddess. Set against the dr
amatic backdrop of the Peking Opera, this devastating portrait shows the extent
to which a desperate woman will embrace an exalted image of herself in an effort
to flee earthly concerns.
