Written & Directed by YUEN Yang-An
Produced by George C. Shen
“GONE WITH THE TIDE"
SYNOPSIS
Young Third Officer Shu Nian-hsuan (Kwan Shan) meets an old seaman on board a freighter and learns his tragic past:
The old seaman was known as Ah Sheng (Kwan Shan) and used to live in a fishing village, with Ah Mei (Mao Mei) as his lover. Being a young man of ambition, he decided to leave his home village and become a seaman, with the hope that he might save some money and marry Ah Mei. Before his departure, the two lovers passed some tender moments together and Ah Mei sent him away with tears.
Ah Sheng returned after a year, only to find Ah Mei married to Liu Fu-yu (Wu Ching-ping), big-shot of the village. He was filled with anger and went to see Ah Mei, who changed his anguish into love by assuring him of her fidelity and revealing to him that she had born him a son. They decided to fled the village the next morning.
The next day came, but Ah Mei did not show up. Ah Sheng went to look for her, met her in the street with Liu Fu-yu and the baby and was shocked to hear Ah Mei denounce her love and declare that the baby belonged to Liu. Humiliated and deeply hurt, Ah Sheng left the village immediately, lamenting his misfortune and cursing Ah Mei’s unfaithfulness.
Nian-hsuan discovers that Ah Sheng is his father and shows him his mother's diary, from which Ah Sheng learns the other side of the story:
After Ah Sheng's departure, Ah Mei was forced to marry Liu Fu- yu, but Liu was never able to touch her as she threatened suicide. When Liu learned about the coming baby, he decided to make it the heir to his brother's wIdow, with himself as the actual owner of her property. When Ah Sheng returned, Ah Mei did try to keep her word and run away with him, but her plans were foiled by Liu, who subsequently intended to silence Ah Sheng lest he should reveal the truth about the baby. There- fore she was forced to send Ah Sheng away in order to save his life and while Ah Sheng left her in anger, Ah Mei was really heart-broken.
With Ah Sheng out of the way, Liu intended to force Ah Mei to fulfill her marital obligation. However, Ah Mei's friends came to her rescue in the last minute. In trying to keep Ah Mei, Liu overthrew a kerosene
lamp and was burnt to death. Ah Mei waited and waited for Ah Sheng with the baby, but he never returned.
Ah Sheng is filled with grief when Nien-hsuan tells him that Ah Mei died of poverty. Ah Sheng finds his only consolation in his son, with his past gone with the tide.