English name：A Chinese Odyssey
Broadcast time：January 21, 1995
Starring：周星驰（Stephen Chow）、朱茵（Athena Chu）、吴孟达（Ng Man Tat）、蓝洁瑛（Yammie Lam）、莫文蔚（Karen Mok）、罗家英（Kar-Ying Law）、刘镇伟（Jeffrey Lau）、蔡少芬（Ada Choi）、江约诚（Johnnie Kong Yeuk-Sing）、陆树铭（Suk Bung Luk）、吴珏瑾（Juejin Wu）
director:刘镇伟（Jeffrey Lau）
Introduction
Comedy film “A Chinese Odyssey,” directed by Jeffrey Lau, starring Stephen Chow, Karen Mok and Man Tat Ng, was released in two parts – “Pandora’s Box” and “Cinderella”. Jeffrey Lau and Stephen Chow use main characters from the ancient classic novel “Journey to the West,” including the Monkey King, the Pig Guy, the Monk Sha and the Master to create a far-fetched fantasy. The films are a mixture of miscellaneous elements like love affairs, kung fu and time travel.
The films are unexpected classics. When released in 1995, they were big flops. Not only were they terribly reviewed, but box office receipts fell far below expectations. But three to five years later, the films suddenly became hot among young people. Some scholars began to label them as “post-modern deconstructionist classics”. The films have generated more popular references than any other modern films – many lines and phrases from the films have become an essential part of Chinese popular culture.
Revisiting the films now, one may complain that the special effects were shabby but cannot deny that the films were still hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time. The films do not treat the love theme lightly, putting protagonists in dilemmas which provoke viewers to think. Chow demonstrates his genius for comedy with hilarious scenarios and memorable punch lines.
Plot
It is said that Sun Wukong escorted Tang Sanzang to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, but on the way he conspired with the Bull Demon King to kill Tang Sanzang and stole the Moonlight Box held by the Fairy Zixia. Guanyin arrived upon hearing the news and wanted to get rid of Sun Wukong to prevent him from endangering the people. Tang Sanzang was compassionate and was willing to pay with his life to influence his bad disciple. Guanyin then ordered Sun Wukong to reincarnate as a human being five hundred years later to atone for his sins. One day five hundred years later, the desert under the Five Mountains was full of wind and sand, and suddenly a strange female guest, Chun Sanshi Niang (played by Anita Mui), came. Led by the second in command of the Axe Gang (played by Ng Man-tat), the crowd wanted to rob, but they were restrained by her instead. Later, the bandit leader Zhizunbao (played by Stephen Chow) led the crowd to revenge on her but failed. Chun Sanshi Niang ordered the gang to help her find a person with three moles on the soles of his feet.
At night, Zhizunbao and others wanted to harm Chun Sanshi Niang with a magic incense, but it made her show her true form as a spider spirit. Zhizunbao sneaked into Chun Sanshiniang’s room alone and found a new junior sister of Chun Sanshiniang, Bai Jingjing (played by Karen Mok). Zhizunbao fell in love with her at first sight. The second in command visited the two girls at night and found out that Chun Sanshiniang was a spider spirit and Bai Jingjing was a white bone spirit. They learned from Bodhi Patriarch that Tang Sanzang would appear in Wuyue Mountain to eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh. Afterwards, the second in command was unfortunately caught, and Chun Sanshiniang used the soul transfer method to enslave him.
In order to redeem his mistakes, Bodhi Patriarch came to Wuyue Mountain and told Zhizunbao that he was the reincarnation of Sun Wukong, but Zhizunbao did not believe it. Five hundred years ago, Bai Jingjing had an entangled love affair with Sun Wukong. In order to save the reincarnation of Sun Wukong, Zhizunbao, she injured Chun Sanshiniang, but was poisoned by Chun Sanshiniang. At this time, the Bull Demon King came and the two girls were defeated. He took Zhizunbao and the second in command back to Pansi Cave.
Chun Sanshi Niang forced Bai Jingjing to kill Zhizunbao, but was locked up in a trap by the two. Chun Sanshi Niang wanted to use the magic of love to deal with Zhizunbao, but she used it on Erdangjia by mistake. After Bai Jingjing and Zhizunbao escaped, Bai Jingjing’s poison took effect and she began to transform into a corpse. Zhizunbao returned to Pansi Cave for Bai Jingjing. He threatened Chun Sanshi Niang to go with him to rescue Bai Jingjing on the grounds that he knew the whereabouts of Tang Monk. Bai Jingjing woke up in the morning and didn’t see Zhizunbao. She mistakenly thought that Zhizunbao left her alone, so she jumped off the cliff in grief and killed Bodhi Patriarch. She was later rescued by Bull Demon King.
Zhizunbao found the Moonlight Box left by Pansi Daxian in Pansi Cave. At this time, Bull Demon King brought Bai Jingjing to Pansi Cave. Bai Jingjing thought that the child born by Chun Sanshi Niang and Erdangjia was born by her and Zhizunbao, and she committed suicide in anger. In order to save Bai Jingjing, Zhizunbao used the Moonlight Box to turn back time. After several times of turning back time, he finally saved Bai Jingjing and told her that he had not abandoned her, but asked Chun Sanshi Niang for the antidote. Bai Jingjing understood the truth. When the two passed by the Silk Cave, they saw Chun Sanshi Niang fighting with the Bull Demon King. Bai Jingjing and Chun Sanshi Niang wanted to defeat the Bull Demon King together, but the door of the Silk Cave was about to close forever. In order to save Zhizunbao, the second master and the child, Bai Jingjing and Chun Sanshi Niang locked themselves and the Bull Demon King in the Silk Cave. Zhizunbao used the Moonlight Box to travel through time again, but this time he brought it back to five hundred years ago. At this time, Chun Sanshi Niang and Bai Jingjing’s master, Fairy Zixia, came to him [2]. The Monkey King Marries Zixia and Qingxia were originally the wicks of the Sun and Moon Lamp in front of the Buddha’s seat. During the day, she was Zixia, and at night, she was Qingxia. Although they were in the same body, they had a deep hatred for each other. Zixia made a vow that whoever could pull out the purple and green sword in her hand would be her lover. This move was regarded as a shame to the fairy world and she was hunted down.
One day, Zixia defeated Erlang Shen and the four great generals of Nantianmen and came to the Water Curtain Cave, where she happened to see Zhizunbao, who looked confused. Zhizunbao kindly told her that this was the Silk Cave and she should not trespass. Zixia changed the Water Curtain Cave to the Silk Cave and named herself the Silk Immortal. Zhizunbao then realized that he had returned to five hundred years ago and that the Zixia in front of him was the master of Chun Sanshi Niang and Bai Jingjing. Zixia announced that everything on the mountain belonged to her, including Zhizunbao, and marked him with three moles. Zhizunbao found out that he was really the reincarnation of Sun Wukong. In order to escape Qingxia, Zixia gave the Purple and Green Sword to Zhizunbao and asked him to lie that she had been killed. Unexpectedly, Zhizunbao pulled out the sword, and Zixia found out that Zhizunbao was her lover.
When the two of them were walking in the market, Zixia expressed her feelings to Zhizunbao, but Zhizunbao felt that he missed Bai Jingjing and rejected her. Zixia left unhappily. At night, Zhizunbao happened to see Guanyin punishing Sun Wukong and found that the Moonlight Box had been snatched from Zixia by Sun Wukong. Zhizunbao finally got the box again, but disappeared at the same time as he transformed Tang Sanzang away, and the Moonlight Box was taken away by Tang Sanzang again. Zhizunbao stayed in a wild inn and happened to meet Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng with the Moonlight Box. At this time, the Bull Demon King appeared and thought that Zhizunbao was using Tang Seng as a betrothal gift to marry his sister, so he took the four people back to the demon cave. The Bull Demon King announced the marriage of his sister and Zhizunbao, and also announced that he would take a concubine. The bride was Zixia, whom he rescued from the desert, and the betrothal gift was the Moonlight Box obtained from Tang Sanzang. At this time, Princess Iron Fan arrived, and the Bull Demon King was shocked. Zhizunbao took the opportunity to find Zixia, lied that he loved her, and tricked her into stealing the Moonlight Box. The two agreed to meet at the second watch. At night, Zhizunbao wanted to go to the appointment to get the Moonlight Box, but ran into Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng and was asked by them to save the master. He ran into the Bull Demon King’s sister Xiangxiang. Xiangxiang was angry that Zhizunbao had changed his feelings for someone else, so he used the shapeshifting technique to swap Zixia with Zhu Bajie, and mistakenly swapped herself with Sha Seng. In fact, Zixia was Qingxia at night, so it was Qingxia who switched bodies with Zhu Bajie.
When everyone was in chaos, the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan fought each other here. It turned out that Iron Fan came to find Sun Wukong to rekindle their old love, and the two were jealous of each other and started fighting. The Bull Demon King stole the Princess Iron Fan’s treasure fan and took everyone back to the demon cave. Zhizunbao pretended to jump off the cliff to escape from the Iron Fan, but he really fell down. However, he accidentally saved three thieves who were caught. Zhizunbao took the three unconscious people to Pansi Cave. At this time, Bai Jingjing came to worship Pansi Daxian, and Zhizunbao explained the cause and effect to her and decided to marry her. On the other hand, the Bull Demon King forced Zixia to get married. Zixia imagined that her lover would come to save her on a colorful cloud.
Bai Jingjing saw a tear left by Zixia in Zhizunbao’s heart, and found that Zhizunbao went back five hundred years ago to find Zixia. She left a letter and left. While Zhizunbao was confused, Chun Sanshi Niang, who was chasing Bai Jingjing, came and killed Zhizunbao and the other three.
After Zhizunbao died, his soul returned to the Water Curtain Cave. Because he saw a tear left by Zixia in his heart before he died, he realized that he loved Zixia deeply. He decided to wear the magic spell to restore his infinite power and save Zixia from the sea of suffering. He was willing to accept Guanyin’s condition of completely leaving the world and wholeheartedly protecting Tang Monk on his journey to the West to obtain the scriptures. At this time, a classic saying that is widely circulated was born: “I once had a sincere love in front of me, but I did not cherish it. I regretted it when I lost it. This is the most painful thing in the world. If I can give me another chance, I will tell that girl that I love her. If I have to add a time limit to this love, I hope it will be 10,000 years.” Sun Wukong, who successfully restored his magic power, came to rescue Tang Sanzang on a colorful cloud. He confessed his past mistakes in front of his master and was willing to protect his master again on his journey to the West to obtain the scriptures, but he ridiculed Zixia in every way. He aimed to make Zixia forget himself, knowing that he could no longer stay with Zixia. The Bull Demon King was unable to beat Wukong, and he was angry and took out the iron fan to fan the city towards the sun. Wukong held the city with all his strength, while the Bull Demon King attacked secretly. Zixia desperately blocked a fork for Wukong.
“My lover is a great hero. One day he will come to marry me on a seven-colored cloud. I guessed the beginning, but I couldn’t guess the ending.” Zixia left with deep regret. Wukong held Zixia’s body for a long time and was unwilling to let go, but the tight ring on his head was getting tighter and tighter. He had no choice but to let go and watched Zixia fly towards the sun. Wukong vented all his anger on the Bull Demon King and finally beat him to death. The city was too close to the sun and was about to explode. The four masters and apprentices left with the help of the Moonlight Box. Before leaving, Sun Wukong asked Qingxia to leave with him. Qingxia no longer lingered in the world because of Zixia’s death and was willing to return to the Buddha.
After waking up, Wukong seemed to be in another world, and all people and things had changed. Was this just a dream? Wukong seemed unable to believe it. He saw the incarnation of Bodhi and suffered the so-called three swords in his previous life, saw the incarnations of Chun Sanshi Niang and Bai Jingjing living in harmony, saw the incarnations of Zhizunbao and Zixia and helped them hug each other tightly, then his worries came to an end, and he continued to embark on the journey to the West with his master and fellow apprentice without hesitation.
