SHANGHAI is a very photogenic city and has been shot in numerous movies produced by Chinese and foreign filmmakers.

A popular light-hearted remark goes: "If Shanghai was impersonated, it would have to be by a 30 something woman, mature, intelligent and full of capricious charisma - cameras always seek beauty, so they come here".

Another aphorism says that an excellent woman can be compared to a diamond, with multiple facets. Her complicated personality is enticing, yet each facet is perfectly cut so that it sparkles with glory. Just like the city of Shanghai.

The evolution of Chinese film history took place largely in Shanghai.

When thinking to Shanghai, words such as "mysterious, fashionable, elegant, intellectual, practical, money-conscious and optimistic" will typically pop up in people's minds.

Yes, they are all true descriptions. Even if some of these words contradict each other, they still describe the complex personality of the city.

While Chinese film-makers strive to capture the unforgettable moments of the city, foreign directors take great interest in associating their films with Shanghai, even if some only have "Shanghai" in their titles, such as "Lady from Shanghai" or "Shanghai Noon".

The 1920s: First peak

In the 1920s, the Shanghai film industry reached its first peak. Different genres of movies were shot here and thrived in the market.

Comedies like "Labour's Love", ethical movies like "Gu'er Jiu Zhu Ji" (translated as "Kid") and romantic movies like "Orchid in the Valley" won applause and high box office returns.

At this year's Shanghai International Film Festival "Labour's Love" was screened at the opening ceremony and again received loud laughter after 83 years.

The 1930s: Optimism

Nevertheless, "Optimism" was the highlight of the period (from 1930-1939) in spite of the stark reality after the Japanese invasion.

The two most widely discussed films which subtly reflect this optimistic spirit of the city are "Street Angel" featuring "Golden Voice" Zhou Xuan and renowned actor Zhao Dan and "Crossroads" featuring Zhao and noted actress Bai Yang.

The story of "Street Angel" shed light on the miserable life of the deprived lower classes in society, focusing on the love between a wedding instrumentalist Chen Shaoping (Zhao) and Xiao Hong, his songstress neighbour.

Renowned Hong Kong director Ng See Yuen thought the most touching aspect of the film was that even in the darkest situation, the director and actors let the audience see light and hope in the future as the couple fall in love.

"The two theme songs, 'Seasons Song' and 'The Songstress', won Zhou Xuan the title 'Golden Voice' and even today they still enjoy long-lasting popularity," Ng added.

Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, regarded "Crossroads" as one of the greatest Shanghai films, due to its genuine ebullience.

Although censors cut explicit references to the menacing Japanese invaders, the movie's barely employed college men and feisty working women are full of the spirit of resistance, Boller quoted the San Francisco Weekly as saying.

Zhao Dan stars as a reporter and Bai Yang as his new love interest, an out-of-towner who briefly works at a textile mill. Few performers could navigate this film's constant shifting between romantic farce and social drama; Zhao and Bai thrived on it.

The 1940s: Struggle against injustice

In the next decade two films "Crow and Sparrow" and "Sweet Dream in Heaven", which coincidentally focused on housing problems, successfully insinuated ordinary people's struggles against the corrupt Kuomintang regime.

"Crow and Sparrow" tells how a group of tenants living in a building successfully fight with a corrupt Kuomintang official who attempts to take the house into his own possession and drive all the tenants out. Eventually the united and wise tenants defeat the official's scheme.

As for "Sweet Dream in Heaven" - a rather sad movie when compared with the humorous "Crow and Sparrow" - the film, directed by Tang Xiaodan showed deep compassion for poor intellectuals. The hero in the film is an excellent architect surnamed Ding who returns to Shanghai with his family, only to realize that he cannot find shelter for them. He is forced to rent a room from his former colleague - a subcontractor. However, the greedy subcontractor and his wife mistreat the Dings. Ding finally plunges to his death from the extravagant building he himself designed and built.

The 1950s: Elegance and fashion

After Liberation in 1949, although the overall living standard had been lowered by the civil war, Shanghai in film still retained its elegant beauty.

Cheng Naishan considers internationally noted director Xie Jin's film "Nulan Wu Hao" ("Player No.5") the one which fully displays the beauty and trend-conscious spirit of the city, despite the material scarcity of the period.

Leading actress Qin Yi's elegant Qipao was copied by many Shanghai girls of the time.

The heroine, played by Qin Yi, is a retired basketball player whose daughter enters the national team. The daughter's coach is the mother's old flame. The couple was separated by a wicked sports agent before liberation but the two re-unite and the daughter becomes the key player on the team.

Due to the disastrous "cultural revolution" (1966-77), the film industry in the city plummeted to its nadir and many directors, actors and actresses experienced the most painful years of their lives.

The 1980s: Thirst for learning

Immediately after the "cultural revolution", retrospective films on the miserable experience of the time suddenly took the lead in cinemas. A little later, however, several light films reflecting young people's undying enthusiasm for learning took centre stage.

"You Yuan" ("Romantic Encounter via Stamps") is one such film, employing the craze for collecting stamps as its intriguing backdrop. The film's stars were male idol Guo Kaimin and local TV anchor Chen Yanhua. Guo was cast as a clever young stamp collector who has not received higher education but shows a strong desire for learning. He meets a postwoman (Chen) and falls in love with her. The courting process becomes a pursuit of knowledge.

The 1990s: Money-consciousness

Shanghainese are considered especially shrewd when compared with people from other places. Shanghai people are even associated with penny-wise-and-pound-foolish behaviour.

"Gu Feng" ("The Craze for Stocks") probed the citizen's money consciousness in the face of the first stock issue in Shanghai during the transformation from the planned to the market economy.

"Film Tragedy Queen" Pan Hong throws off her elegant and intelligent image on the screen and becomes a vulgar albeit kind-hearted bus conductor. The conductor becomes rich overnight thanks to the stocks she has bought but again descends from riches to rags with the market fluctuations. At the end, she finds harmony between stock acquisition and her family life. Nevertheless, in her, the Shanghai audience saw their own image - loving money but law-abiding at the same time.