Film critics could sometimes use standards so high that they panned Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid” on the fantasy movie’s first day of exhibition during China’s Spring Festival in 2016. The film eventually broke all box-office records in China, and what happened then raises the possibility that for the 2017 Spring Festival, another fantasy comedy with a simple storyline could again break records.
Could it be “The Village of No Return” in which the focus of the movie is a helmet-like thing which erases the memories of the wearer? It was worn by a stranger in an isolated village in China, according to Global Times.
The lead stars of the film are Wang Qianyan and Hsu Chi. Yeh Ju-feng, one of the movie’s producers, said the story is uniquely interesting seldom seen in cinemas. Chen Yu-Shun directed the Taiwanese movie which is his sixth attempt at directing a comedy since 1995 when he megged “Tropical Fish,” Asianmoviepulse reported.
“The Village of No Return” is a period film set at the end of the Qing dynasty. The arrival of the helmet wakes up a sleepy Chinese village and turns the life of residents upside down. Hsu Chi, the lead actress of the film, is known as a screen seductress after she starred in movies such as “Viva Erotica” and “Sex and Zen.” From sexy movies, she leveled up to mainstream cinema with movies such as the Chinese remake of “My Best Friend’s Wedding” shown at the 2016 Cannes Festival.
Among the competition of “The Village of No Return” at the 2017 Spring Festival are “Kung Fu Yoga,” starring Jackie Chan and “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons,” by Stephen Chow of “The Mermaid” fame.