For anyone wondering how Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE - Hong Kong's lone Cantonese Christmas release this year - is faring, the SCMP has an article today on its opening figures. The film made HK$4,110,854 on the first day on 94 screens. I'm not sure if that includes the 10 pm preview screenings on the previous night. The newspaper compares it to INFERNAL AFFAIRS' opening haul of HK$3,796,818 [on much less screens] in December 2002. The mainland China takings for KUNG FU HUSTLE's first day meanwhile passed RMB10 million mark.

Tim.

Omigod! :o Does that constitute record takings in Hong Kong (for a local film)? And a record in terms of number of screens for one movie?

Am pleased to report that KUNG FU HUSTLE appears to be doing well over here in Malaysia too...so much so, in fact, that I was unable to get tickets to screening yesterday (Christmas Day). But have managed to get tickets to view the movie on Monday. Otherwise, I think I will burst into tears the next time I hear someone go on about how they've seen the movie and enjoyed it ever so much! :D

gonna have to bear with internet sources as I am within North America at the moment but coming March 25th, i will definitely be the first to go see it on the big screen no matter what. i haven't seen Stephen Chow in a big projector screen since "King of Comedy".

Sony/Columbia shoulda realized the fanbase Stephen CHow has in North America and coulda had the decency to have its opening day shifted earlier. March 25th is too long of a wait.

>Sony/Columbia shoulda realized the fanbase Stephen Chow has in North America and coulda had the decency to have its opening day shifted earlier. March 25th is too long of a wait.

At least it's not March 25, 2008, which would have been the opening date if Miramax had the rights to it. :) I hope you're in NY or LA, because (from what I've read) KFH is opening limited first in those two cities. I figure it will get to me around June. :) (By then many of us will have the HK DVD, I'm sure.) I'm wondering what cuts Sony will inevitably make to it, considering they've made cuts to House of Flying Daggers.

Just came back from viewing KUNG FU HUSTLE (and feeling thoroughly exhilarated by the experience). Loooooved the movie but found myself wondering how it would be received by mainstream Americans (who are not familiar with many of the kungfu moves and movies referenced in the film as well as Stephen Chow's inimitable style). And imagining that quite a few scenes will have to be removed if the film's not going to get an R rating in the U.S.A...

i'm in toronto....so i'm pretty sure i won't be able to watch it opening week. however, house of flying daggers is showing now so i'm sure it'll show up in april.

and seeing that it's a columbia release, i think it'll be a long time until it reaches DVD. it took almost half a year for "Time and Tide" to come out.

When do you think the Hong Kong DVD will be out, then? I would have figured within a couple of months because of the pirates.

I wouldn't be so sure, since the film was produced by Columbia Tristar - they've generally held DVD releases back quite a lot with the films they've produced (e.g. Time & Tide, So Close, Era Of Vampires). They might wait until it's played in US theatres - though it would be a mistake if they do, as I'm sure a few fans with import DVDs can do a lot to drum up excitement and promotion for the film, and they'd be pretty sure to see it in theatres anyway.

Hello Yvonne (and others),

I've been on holiday down time but have been periodically popping on-line to check my inbox for reply messages from relatives in Malaysia and Singapore (hopeful--they're mostly on the other side of the peninsula) and mates in India and Sri Lanka. Nonetheless, it's good to know that you and your family are well.

On a happier note, I concur with YTSL's ringing endorsement of "Kung Fu Hustle." I caught it twice on Christmas day in packed auditoriums of 450 to 500 both times--unusual for a 12:30pm lunchtime screening and a 11pm Christmas night market in Nanjing (e.g. a special Christmas movie treat where the picture house owners showed all four of the theatre's offerings back-to-back-to-back-to-back for the price of one ticket. Thus from 11pm to 6:30am, a packed house was treated, in order, to "The Real McCoy" [US--dubbed into Mandarin], "Kung Fu Hustle" [HK--dubbed into Mandarin with Chinese subtitles], "Nid de guepes" [FR--partial Mandarin dub with Chinese subtitled sections], and "A World without Thieves" [PRC--in Mandarin with English and Chinese subs].)

The neat thing about "Kung Fu Hustle" is that there's something for everyone who is a fan of motion pictures in general and, specifically, Hong Kong ones. One can simply enjoy it for the special effects and fight choreography, the director's evocation of the bygone studio era, or the loopy hijinks that suggest vintage Chow (one thinks most explicitly of "Love on Delivery") or the more pensive, mature one that has emerged since "King of Comedy." It's neat to see how the director employs his "family troupe" of old faces in addition to integrating stars of yesteryear into the mix--this is truly one of the finest ensemble casts of any Chow or Hong Kong movie to date (sadly "uncle" Ng Man-tat is nowhere to be found but one hopes that news of a sequel will bring him back into the fold plus reconciliation news with the semi-retired Cheung Man.) Although I wasn't born when the Shaw machine was churning out picture after picture with its stable of inimitable regulars, watching "Kung Fu Hustle" and recognising the tableaux filled with the usual suspects is much like watching the old Shaws re-issued by Celestial with mum (whom did grow up through that era) with her excitedly pointing to the faces and character actors that inhabited the cinematic landscape of her generation.

Lastly, on a literary level, "Kung Fu" has the power to amaze recalling the first time one picked up a Jin Yong martial arts novel (those are being slowly translated into English by Oxford University Press if one finds reading them in Chinese too time consuming or tricky.) And I cite Louis Cha specifically because of the "jiang hu" feel of "Kung Fu"--from the quirky characterisations of the kung fu fightin' folks in the movie (some of whom actually recall Ku Lung and Huanzhu Louzhu characters), to one of the best visual representations of "palm power" (thinking again of Jin Yong) that makes all heretofore attempts in film and TV serials look amateurish, to a moment near the end that invokes the majesty of "Journey to the West" (with prior knowledge of Chow as Sun Wu-kong, the Monkey King, from "A Chinese Odyssey") but which works entirely well in Chow's own idiom and does not feel weighted down by slavish adherence to the "tradition" (see just about any martial arts serial since the end of the eighties--it's as if everybody was trying to recreate the 1983 TVB "Condor Shooting Heroes," which itself codified Shaw Brothers studio-era conventions.) No, what makes "Kung Fu Hustle" so amazing is that Chow is channelling the spirit of Bruce Lee, the history of Hong Kong cinema, and the tradition of martial chivalry novels but does so with a touch that is not only light but which is also bubbly and ebullient. It's a superlative movie that should be seen in theatres with an audience--that will complement the nostalgia, neither sentimental nor twee, that suffuses Chow's magnificent movie.

I've also seen KUNG FU HUSTLE, likewise in a packed cinema, but don't share such enthusiasm for the movie. It is one for fans of Hong Kong cinema classics to check out (with a major HOUSE OF 72 TENANTS-influenced aspect among the highlights) and the high budget shows on screen, but I tired of the action as it went along, wasn't taken with most of the humour and had little liking for the mute girl scenes. The audience response was mostly loud and approving, though, which was nice to hear.

Interesting to read about the literature angle and what it brings to an appreciation of the film - I should finally get round to reading the HKU "Deer and the Cauldron" books you bring up.

Tim.

one thing that had me laughing was when The Beast mentioned the landlord and landlady's names, he said "Yang Guo and Xiao Lung Nu (Little Dragon Maiden" yet the subtitles refer to Helen of Troy. I would guess Columbia took in the liberty of changing certain dialogue and try not to be completely accurate

Just saw the film about three hours ago and loved it. I caught the House of the 72 Tennants reference as well. I was also really tickled by the references to Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu especially since they were not especially good looking. :) And I was laughing so hard when one of the bad guys went down on all fours and puffed his cheeks out cuz that just has to be Ouyang Feng and his "ha ma gong". Which novel or series is the whole caterpillar metamorphosis thing from. I recall watching a series called "tian chan bian" when I was a kid, would it be from that one?

Sigh, I wished I could have seen it in Cantonese over here in S'pore. :(

caroline

Hello,

Some comments regarding this thread.

First, to Caroline, what is _Tian Chan Bian_ like? Would you please elaborate on your intriguing remarks and give some information about this one series (my pinyin isn't very good but a parse suggests something like "divine rebirth" or "divine transformation")? I've only started watching broadcast television in the last ten years and am keen on filling gaps in my TV literacy. As to your initial inquiry, I do not recall any stories that specifically feature a caterpillar metamorphosis, though, to be sure, there have been literally thousands of martial chivalry novels published in the last few decades. (Spoiler: skip the rest of this paragraph if you have not seen "Kung Fu Hustle" yet.) It is not unreasonable to consider that said process could have become a narrative trope in the more fantastical strains of the genre to represent regeneration, rebirth, or redemption. Also, I don't keep abreast of the internet wu xia novels (Koreans have internet novels such as my "Sassy Girl," "100 Days with Mr Arrogant," "My Tutor Friend," etc; Chinese people have internet martial chivalry novels--some of which are in English written by overseas aficionados. This truly is a vast genre if one counts both printed and on-line works.) Regardless of whether or not such a device is a regular feature of significance in the genre, it will be after the success of Chow's movie when aspiring writers need a new way to portray the "awakening" of untapped potential.

On another track, metamorphosis could certainly fit within a segment in _Journey to the West_--maybe you're thinking of the book itself or the odd adaptation in this instance.

Second, to Tim, _Deer and Cauldron_ would be the one to read if one read only one. If Jin Yong were ever to receive that very prestigious literary prize that is issued from Stockholm every year, _The Duke of Mt Deer_ (the other English name by which _Lu Ding Ji_ is hailed) would probably be the major work named at the head of the Swedish Academy's citation (not that one should put too much stock in such things.) Portrayed by Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a TVB production from the eighties and by Stephen Chow in "Royal Tramp," Jin's Wei Hsiao-pao--protagonist of the work--is one of the most intriguing characters in twentieth century literature. An anti-hero worthy of intense loathing but admired by legions of readers in the Chinese-speaking world for his absolute amorality and back-stabbing opportunism, Hsiao-pao is further surrounded by a cast reminiscent of a Dickens, Trollope, Balzac, Tolstoy, or Rushdie. Oh yeah, and some of the characters can fly and rip apart enemies in seconds--one certainly won't see that in the works of other masters in Republique mondiale des lettres (thinking of Pascale Cassanova's insights here.) And it is due to his complete ambivalence to Western reception that Jin Yong will never get shortlisted in Nobel voting.

Lastly, in a note that will have repercussions for the martial chivalry genre and future adaptations, Jin Yong is re-writing the ending to _The Duke of Mt Deer_. In interviews with the Chinese press on all sides of the straits, the final four books of the revised oeuvre will be released during the first half of 2005. In addition, Jin has suggested that he has reworked aspects of _The Smiling and Proud Wanderer_ (take note "Swordsman" fans), _The Return of the Condor Heroes_ (take note "Ashes of Time" fans), and _Semi Gods and Semi Devils_ (once again fans, take note) that will change character relations, plot, and, well, whatnot. Iconic figures such as Yang Guo, the Little Dragon Girl, and Poison West will be altered. The most important change, however, will be that Wei Hsiao-pao will be getting his just deserts and will not be surrounded by seven wives in the end. Huzzah?

The DVD is scheduled to released Feb. 1 according to this article in Xinhuanet.

Also, I will second Yi Lee's recommendation for The Deer and The Cauldron. Unfortunately, I only read the first two volumes. Volume 3 was not yet released when I finished Vol.2. Then it was delayed further, about a year, it seems, and I never did get around to picking it up. I can say it was a good read, though.

noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Louis Cha is pulling off a George Lucas!!!! it's a sad day indeed!

:(

Arrgghhh... had to re-write this response, don't know what I clicked and lost the orginal post. :( Okay, let's try this again.

I was very young when I watched this series so I'm not even very clear what the story was about anymore. The thing that did make a huge impression on me was obviously the metamorphosis portion of the story since I definitely remember it enough to recall it even now.

Well, I consulted my mum this afternoon and she said that I didn't dream it up, I did watch a series titled "Tian Chan Bian" when I was young but we don't remember the English title anymore. She said that if she did not remember wrong, the hero was acted by Norman Tsui (Xu Shao Qiang) and that Wu Wei Guo also had a part in the series. For some reason, I thought it was Alex Man who played the hero. My mum also said that she thinks the series is an ATV series cuz she remembered that one of the actresses was in "Bian Se Long" (Chameleon) which she thinks was an ATV series. She added that "Tian Chan Bian" had a nice theme song. :)

I don't remember much about the story anymore and neither does my mum. I only remember that the hero somehow became encased in some kind of protective silky thread and finally emerged a much stronger fighter. Maybe he was injured and his martial arts automatically did it for him, or maybe he was practising a form of martial arts and this was just a process he must go through to become better, I just don't remember.

I think there may have been a sequel or a re-make or maybe it was another series all together. Anyway, I also remember that in one version, the actor who entered the cocoon wasn't the same one who exited it. I'm not sure why. It may have been on purpose or it may have been cuz the original actor couldn't play the role anymore. I'm not sure.

Anyway, I think the Chinese characters for the series is "Ìì²õ±ä" (not sure if the characters will show up in the forum). Do you know this series?

caroline

Oh boy, after searching for like forever, I finally found the series. I think this is the series I saw when I was a kid. Its English title is "Reincarnated" and it is an ATV series. And they did switch actors in the middle of the series. Norman Tsui didn't finish this series.

Check these pages out...

http://www4.osk.3web.ne.jp/~hasinaka/tsb.html
http://www.spcnet.tv/atv_reincarnated.shtml

caroline

I'm guessing that release will be just in Putongua and without extras. KUNG FU HUSTLE will still be on cinema release in Hong Kong in early February.

Interesting notes on piracy in that article. The cinema I saw it at on opening weekend (the Sunbeam at North Point) had a couple of security guards watching over cinemagoers - presumaby standard across Hong Kong for the film's first few days.

Tim.

I had read somewhere (with no memory, link, nor book to back it up, so take it as you will) that Jin Yong rewrote his stories before, when they went from serialized fiction to book form, trying to make them more coherent, having a bit more time to think about them than during the original writing. So to find the "original" stories you'd have to go back to the periodicals they were first published in.

-- Peter

I heard that each edition is different than the other one too - but this sounds like he plans to do more considerable changes. They should not let him.

I agree with going for The Deer and The Cauldron - not only it simply is a great read (as the other Jin Yong novels) but also would appeal a non wuxia reader as well.

Wei Xiabao is a different kind of anti-hero, one you are angry at, at the same time can not help but like (he is a stud too)

Hello,

Some quick notes.

First, to Caroline, _Reincarnated_ sounds fantastic. Mum probably caught it "back in the day" whilst at home convalescing after my birth. I think it would make an excellent present of some sort (mother's day perhaps?) Thanks for your suggestion and the link to the reviews. And in the larger long-running debate of whither TVB or ATV, proof positive that the latter could pull out all the stops too. I mean, ATV put out _Princess Returning Pearl_--probably the biggest Chinese period serialisation of the past ten years. Conversely, TVB hasn't graduated a class like the one that put out Tony Leung and Andy Lau back in the eighties since, well, back in the eighties.

Second, to Peter, Elif's comments on the state of Jin Yong editions is correct but for the absolute originals, perusing back issues of Chinese newspapers would be the thing to do. For those keen on doing such a thing, most academic/research libraries with strong Chinese periodical holdings would be the place to look. I've been reading Chinese newspapers (in the Peking-Tientsin and Kiangsu-Chekiang social spheres) from the twenties and thirties for graduate school research but I always take out a portion of my day to read the new vernacular stories that were being published after 1919 (of which martial chivalry novels would be a distinct subset.) Very neat stuff indeed and worth a look if you have both the time and resources nearby.

Lastly, regarding the major revisions, _Big Weekly_ has been running a series of articles on Jin and his literary plans all December long. I'm not sure whether all the press including the rewrite news (also found online and in other newspapers) is just some sort of pre-release publicity. At the same time, however, several interviews are consistent in Jin's desire to rewrite _The Duke of Mt Deer_ because of "the bad example" that Wei Hsiao-bao has set for many Chinese youth since his retirement in 1970 and the fact that Jin, with seven granddaughters, feels that Wei having seven wives at the end of the novel in this day and age is a bit inappropriate. At the same time, however, Jin has noted that having only one wife at the end of the Qing as a high-ranking official would be a "very strange" thing too.

My own feelings on Wei Hsiao-bao vary. As a teenager I was a big fan but the older I get, the more disapproving I grow. On one hand Wei is good to his friends and family. And is kinda good to his wives. But the fact remains he's an absolute scoundrel albeit a quick-witted and charming one. One of the positive aspects of a re-write is that it could bring out the more human side if Jin stripped his most famous creation of some of his wealth, fame, and wives. At the same time, however, a large set of fans and Jinologists are dead set against even the mere suggestion of tampering with the novel in any way. I guess we have to wait and see to guage whether this pre-release news is as drastic as the December press reports suggest.

>At the same time, however, several interviews are consistent in Jin's desire to rewrite _The Duke of Mt Deer_ because of "the bad example" that Wei Hsiao-bao has set for many Chinese youth since his retirement in 1970 and the fact that Jin, with seven granddaughters, feels that Wei having seven wives at the end of the novel in this day and age is a bit inappropriate.

This reminds me of Steven Spielberg's comment that if he were making Close Encounters of the Third Kind now, as a father he would have had Roy Neary decide to remain rather than go onto the alien spaceship. He can no longer countenance the idea of Roy abandoning his family.

At least Spielberg hasn't messed with Close Encounters, thank goodness. It disturbs me that Mr. Cha wants to rewrite The Duke of Mt. Deer (or The Deer and the Cauldron). I found the ending quite perfect as is -- an ending more bittersweet than 100 percent truly happy, anyway. The better solution IMHO would be to write a NEW novel with new characters that reflect Mr. Cha's current viewpoint.