塞翁失馬
變臉 Bian lian [King of Masks], 1996. Dir. 吳天明 WU Tianming. Acted 朱旭 ZHU Xu, 周任瑩 ZHOU Renying, 趙志剛 ZHAO Zhigang.
Very sweet film focusing on the art of 'face changing,' and an old man's desire to have an heir to pass his knowledge down to. After purchasing a boy on the black market - this being '30s China & things not going too well - he discovers the boy is actually a girl. This is somewhat contrasted against his friendship with a famous dan (young female role) actor, who is in fact a man.
Hijinks ensue. A perfect illustration of one of my favorite Chinese chengyu, 塞翁失馬 - "Sai Weng loses a horse," or, bad luck isn't always bad luck and good luck isn't always good luck. I was left with the warm fuzzies in the end. Beautifully acted (and that includes the monkey!) with some nice cinematography.
The slow motion scene of a lovely dan in full opera regalia running through the lovely streamers of the set to save a falling child was totally worth the whole movie. I wonder if it was intentional to lighten the mood that was getting heavier and heavier. Regardless, it was hysterical.
Very sweet film focusing on the art of 'face changing,' and an old man's desire to have an heir to pass his knowledge down to. After purchasing a boy on the black market - this being '30s China & things not going too well - he discovers the boy is actually a girl. This is somewhat contrasted against his friendship with a famous dan (young female role) actor, who is in fact a man.
Hijinks ensue. A perfect illustration of one of my favorite Chinese chengyu, 塞翁失馬 - "Sai Weng loses a horse," or, bad luck isn't always bad luck and good luck isn't always good luck. I was left with the warm fuzzies in the end. Beautifully acted (and that includes the monkey!) with some nice cinematography.
The slow motion scene of a lovely dan in full opera regalia running through the lovely streamers of the set to save a falling child was totally worth the whole movie. I wonder if it was intentional to lighten the mood that was getting heavier and heavier. Regardless, it was hysterical.