Spooky romance targets mainland
By Me Lee |
April 26, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A 1987 Hong Kong movie that wowed audiences with an unlikely romance between a man and a female demon has been remade with the lucrative mainland market in mind.
"A Chinese Ghost Story," starring late Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung and Taiwanese actress Joey Wang, quickly became a classic romance when it was released 24 years ago. It was followed by two sequels and an animated movie.
Now Hong Kong director Wilson Yip has re-imagined the love story for a wider audience with a new cast, a new plot twist and modern special effects.
While the original was released during the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, the remake is largely targeted at the mainland market, where censors once averse to superstition are now more open to supernatural-themed productions.
The 1987 version, directed by Tony Ching, took inspiration from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio," Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) writer Pu Songling's famed collection of ghost stories.
Cheung's scholar-turned-tax collector Ning Caichen becomes smitten with Wang's Nie Xiaoqian, a lonely demon who serves as a hunter for a tree devil who preys on humans. Ning solicits the help of demon catcher Yan Chixia to free Nie of her enslavement.
Yip, whose career has taken off with the recent success of the kung fu biopics "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2," both starring Donnie Yen, has cast two baby-faced young mainland actors as the new couple.
Yu Shaoqun, who found fame as a young Mei Lanfang in Chen Kaige's 2008 biopic of the late Peking Opera singer, plays the scholar. Liu Yifei, who made her Hollywood debut in 2008 kung fu movie "The Forbidden Kingdom" is the distraught ghost torn between love and servitude.
The director has also added a background story of Nie's earlier romance with Yan, casting Hong Kong heartthrob Louis Koo as the gruff ghost hunter.
And while the original boasted convincing special effects, Yip has the benefit of an unfettered digital canvas, backed up by a US$10 million budget - 70 percent of which was devoted to special effects.
Modern computer technology allowed him "to construct a world that is truly magical," the director said.
"A Chinese Ghost Story," starring late Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung and Taiwanese actress Joey Wang, quickly became a classic romance when it was released 24 years ago. It was followed by two sequels and an animated movie.
Now Hong Kong director Wilson Yip has re-imagined the love story for a wider audience with a new cast, a new plot twist and modern special effects.
While the original was released during the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, the remake is largely targeted at the mainland market, where censors once averse to superstition are now more open to supernatural-themed productions.
The 1987 version, directed by Tony Ching, took inspiration from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio," Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) writer Pu Songling's famed collection of ghost stories.
Cheung's scholar-turned-tax collector Ning Caichen becomes smitten with Wang's Nie Xiaoqian, a lonely demon who serves as a hunter for a tree devil who preys on humans. Ning solicits the help of demon catcher Yan Chixia to free Nie of her enslavement.
Yip, whose career has taken off with the recent success of the kung fu biopics "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2," both starring Donnie Yen, has cast two baby-faced young mainland actors as the new couple.
Yu Shaoqun, who found fame as a young Mei Lanfang in Chen Kaige's 2008 biopic of the late Peking Opera singer, plays the scholar. Liu Yifei, who made her Hollywood debut in 2008 kung fu movie "The Forbidden Kingdom" is the distraught ghost torn between love and servitude.
The director has also added a background story of Nie's earlier romance with Yan, casting Hong Kong heartthrob Louis Koo as the gruff ghost hunter.
And while the original boasted convincing special effects, Yip has the benefit of an unfettered digital canvas, backed up by a US$10 million budget - 70 percent of which was devoted to special effects.
Modern computer technology allowed him "to construct a world that is truly magical," the director said.
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