7 posts from January 2008

These films are based on Wu Cheng-en's 16th century novel "Sai Yau Gei" usually translated as "Journey to the West" (Monkey) which is, in turn, based on many centuries of popular tradition. Stephen Chiau finds his perfect alter ego in Sun Wu Kong (Cant : Suen Ng Hung, meaning Monkey, Awakened to Emptiness) who has no fear of heaven or humanity. The Mind Ape is freed from all constraints and is always supremely confident of his abilities. His Buddhist name, Awakened to the Void, refers to the fact that he has realised that there is nothing out there to be frightened of, given the fact that he has mastered the seventy eight earthly transformations, and learnt the Way of Immortality from Subodhi, the Zen Patriarch.

Humour is a very important characteristic of Wu Cheng Ens' Monkey King, implying his ultimate transcendance of all human desires. According to the Buddhist doctrine of detachment, laughter should be adopted as the ultimate mode of viewing the world. Sing Jais' comedy has always been based on fearlessness and detachment, so this really is a very appropriate role for him. On a physical level he transforms himself into the Great Sage Equal of Heaven with perfect monkey movements, gestures and expressions and his growling, snarling voice. This Monkey King is ferocious and elemental, wild and highly irreverent, perfectly defining the Animal/ God duality and just as you'd expect the immortal stone monkey to be.

At the beginning of part one he is reincarnated as a human who does not remember his divine destiny. He plays Chi Chuen Bo (Joker), the leader of the Ax gang, who live in the desert and make a good living robbing travellers until two beautiful and deadly female demons turn up in search of the Longevity monk Sanzang (eating him imparts immortality, a fact which attracts a lot of demons to the area).


It turns out that one of them, Pak Jing Jing (played by Karen Mok) has been stood up at the altar by the Monkey King five hundred years before. They rekindle their relationship but unfortunatley he loses her in a timewarp at the end of part one and in part two ends up with a Spider Web Immortal called Zixia (played by Athena Chu Yun) still trying to find Pandoras Box so he can go back in time to find Jing Jing.

Ng Man Tat is a tailormade Pigsy, a lusty gluttonizer to the core. Law Kar Ying is very funny as Sanzang (Tripitaka), and there is a long running joke about how he is so boringly pious that he drives even Kuan Yin to violence. The costumes are truly spectacular, even for Sing Jai, who distinguishes himself by the excellence of his wardrobe. Very talented cinematography, referencing Christopher Doyles work on Ashes Of Time, with stunning desert scenes and girls with black mules. Many of the settings feature water and the use of light reflecting off the water to create a shimmering, mobile ambience adding to the general dreamlike quality of the production. Sing Jais' place in the cosmology of Hong Kong is outlined by Sanzang (Law Kar Ying) in the song he sings in part two. I'd always thought Sing Jai was just wincing because his singing is so dreadful, but it turns out he is also embaressed at the flattery. Here is a translation of that song.

This final scene is all about Bound Heart, Free Spirit (Nietzsches' immortal aphorism). It's about having to give up mortal desires in order to attain spiritual power. Love must be a universal concept in a higher soul, not a specific one. In the end romantic love is always a delusion. The funny thing about this scene is how insincere Mr Chow looks at the big dramatic moment. Knowing him, it's not bad acting but an attempt to depict that very paradox. That as soon as love is declared it begins to cease to be. Part of the earth bound mortal will always long to be a free spirit, and part of the free spirit looks back nostalgically at his chains.