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Drawing from Henri Lefebvre's influential theory, the triad of space production, this article analyzes three urban films released during the early years of the People's Republic of China: Husband and Wife on the March (1951), Spring is Splendid Color (1959), and Today, I Rest (1959). These films explore the daily lives of Shanghai residents in changing everyday living spaces, from single-room apartments to traditional alleyway neighbourhoods and the expansive community system of Workers' New Village. The changing spatial configurations serve as the backdrop for the unfolding cinematic narratives, fostering new forms of socialist relationships and interactions. Moreover, a new type of socialist communal life, seamlessly integrated with socialist production, emerged, catalysing the revolutionary reshaping of women's identities and roles. A socialist community founded on mutual assistance and collective cooperation emerged as a model for social development and bureaucratic governance in the 1950s. This article argues that these three films provide compelling examples of Shanghai's socialist urban transformation, exploring changes in the daily living spaces of socialist individuals in Shanghai and reflecting the dynamic shaping of socialist subjectivity in the new era.
Fanghao Chen (Mon,) studied this question.