My Kingdom (2011) Da wu sheng (original title)

Director:

Xiaosong Gao

Writer:

Jingzhi Zou (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 September 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The story of two brothers' quest for fame, love and revenge in the heyday of Shanghai opera.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Execution | Beheading | Training | Qing Dynasty

Cast

Chun Wu	...	Guan Yi Long
Geng Han	...	Meng Er Kui
Barbie Hsu	...	Xi Mu Lang
Louis Liu	...	General Lu
Yuen Biao	...	Master Yu Shengying
Rongguang Yu	...	Master Yue
Annie Shizuka Inoh
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alex Genneopoulos	...	1920's Gentleman (uncredited)

Directed by
Xiaosong Gao

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jingzhi Zou		screenplay

Produced by
Chris Blunden	....	co-producer
Zoe Chen	....	producer
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	....	producer
Andre Morgan	....	producer
Ross Alan Pollack	....	executive producer
Peter Poon	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Joachim Horsley

Cinematography by
Ting Wo Kwong		(director of photography)
Wah-Chuen Lam		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Chris Blunden

Sound Department
James Ashton	....	sound re-recording mixer assistant

Stunts
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	....	fight choreographer

Music Department
Sherri Chung	....	orchestrator
Miles Hankins	....	music arranger
Miles Hankins	....	orchestrator
Joachim Horsley	....	conductor
Ben Leathers	....	orchestrator
Elizabeth Lim	....	additional orchestrations

Other crew
Rosa Li	....	executive in charge of development

Production Companies

• Celestial Pictures
• DW Films
• Huanle Jiaoyang Shanghai Film
• Skyland Films

Distributors

• Celestial Pictures (2011) (worldwide) (all media)
• China Lion Film Distribution (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2011) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Raintree Pictures (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"Da wu sheng" - China (original title)

Runtime:

China:108 min

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Chinese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Shanghai, China

Company:

Celestial Pictures

Quotes:

Yu's Aide:Master Yue, you share our opera background. You understand a duel between two warriors is a serious thing. Whoever loses must break his spear and retire from the stage, their livelihood destroyed!

Beautiful sets and location but slipshod storytelling

Gao Xiaosong's "My Kingdom" is set in the 'glamorous' world of Chinese opera, with the main part of it based in the tumultuous period of 1920s Shanghai. With Sammo Hung touted as action director, many would expect hot kungfu action - and many would be disappointed. There is a mixture of genres here, part costume drama, part soap opera, part kungfu flick and with a touch of romance. Those who like twists and turns in the plot would like the second half where the vengeance plot starts to unravel.

The film opens at the end of the 19th Century, when the Prince Regent of the crumbling Qing Dynasty orders the beheading of the entire Meng clan. Awaiting execution, a five-year-old Meng boy named Er-kui sings an aria. Deeply moved, opera Master Yu Shengying (Yuan Biao) and his seven-year-old pupil Guan Yi-long rescue the boy and the two orphans become as close as brothers. Yu, who wins a coveted golden plaque from the Prince Regent, is challenged to a duel by a Shanghai rival, Yue Jiangtian (Yu Rongguang). He loses and is forced to retire.

Master Yu trains the boys as warriors in the Peking opera and when they 'graduate' Yi-long (now played by Wu Chun) and Er-kui (Han Geng) move to Shanghai to reclaim the coveted plaque from Yue, who, together with his co-star Xi Mu-lan (Barbie Hsu), operate an opera show in the British concession of Shanghai.

Many important scenes are left to our imagination. Er-Kui's rescue at the opening and his revenge sequences are done in super quick cuts. Actually the 'rescue' scene is non-existent while the revenge scenes are shown in a series of flying dagger shots followed by newspaper reports announcing the murders. The characters are so poorly defined and portrayed that they appear like caricatures. On the opera stage, the main cast of Wu Chun, Han Geng and Barbie Hsu may get away with unconvincing performances, but not when they are offstage.

There is no chemistry among the trio and the 'brotherhood' of Yi-long and Er-kui smacks of 'Brokeback Mountain' at times. Wu, Han and Taiwan magician Loius Liu Qian were obviously chosen for their looks. However, the biggest miscast is of Liu Qian as General Lu. His performance sticks out like a sore thumb as we would be wondering how he manages to be a police chief at such a young age.

As for Sammo Hung's kungfu choreography, we get two: one at the start of the film between veterans Yuen Biao and Yu Rongguang, and a climactic duel between Er-Kui and Mu-lan in a wine cellar which is more dramatic for its wine spillage than the action. On the plus side, the locations and sets of Shanghai look lavish and fabulous. Ditto that for the opera costumes and music score. (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)