Stephen Chow
Written and directed by Jeffrey Lau, the 1994 fantasy-comedy film series "A Chinese Odyssey" will hit theaters again in China on Oct. 17, Friday, China Daily reported.
To give the audience a better viewing experience, the films were digitally reproduced from the original released 20 years ago.
Loosely based on the Chinese classical novel "Journey to the West," "A Chinese Odyssey" has two parts.
Titled "Pandora's Box," the first part features the reincarnation of the character named Monkey King becoming Joker, the leader of a group of outlaws, after 500 years. The film grossed HK$25,093,380.
In the second part titled "Cinderella," which earned HK$20,872,117, Joker finds out things about his past and reunites with his master, Longevity Monk, whom he betrayed when he was Monkey King.
With a focus on romance, the story of "A Chinese Odyssey" is a mix of slapstick comedy and the Chinese fiction genre called "wuxia," which tackles martial artists' adventures. What the film adaptation added was Monkey King's relationship with a fairy.
Among the stars are the writer-director himself Ada Choi, Lu Schuming, Law Kar-Ying, Karen Mok, Yammie Lam, Ng Man-tat and Athena Chu.
The lead role of Monkey King or Joker was played by Hong Kong-based filmmaker, actor and kung fu artist Stephen Chow.
"A Chinese Odyssey" will be among the films to be shown in "God of Comedy," a week-long retrospective of Chow's works. The commemoration kicked off at BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 13, Monday, The New Yorker reported.
"I was just in Sydney doing one of these and the entire audience was Cantonese-speaking Chinese. I'm glad to see that you here are a bit more sophisticated," New York's Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office director Steve Barclay told the crowd.
Before the screening of Chow's movies, the audience were presented Hong Kong films, including Wong Kar-wai's "In the Mood for Love," Chow Yun-fat's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx."
