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A Chinese Odyssey: Part One - Pandora's Box

Original title: Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap
  • 19951995
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
7.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Stephen Chow, Athena Chu, Jeffrey Lau, Kit Ying Lam, Karen Mok, and Man-Tat Ng in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
A Monkey King is reincarnated in the un human form as Joker, a highwayman oblivious to his original identity and the fact that 500 years earlier, he and his master, the Longevity Monk, were punished and made to stay human.
Play trailer1:06
1 Video
76 Photos
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Comedy

A Monkey King is reincarnated in the un human form as Joker, a highwayman oblivious to his original identity and the fact that 500 years earlier, he and his master, the Longevity Monk, were ... Read allA Monkey King is reincarnated in the un human form as Joker, a highwayman oblivious to his original identity and the fact that 500 years earlier, he and his master, the Longevity Monk, were punished and made to stay human.A Monkey King is reincarnated in the un human form as Joker, a highwayman oblivious to his original identity and the fact that 500 years earlier, he and his master, the Longevity Monk, were punished and made to stay human.

IMDb RATING
7.6/10
7.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Jeffrey Lau
  • Writers
    • Jeffrey Lau
    • Cheng'en Wu(novel "Hsi-yu chi")
  • Stars
    • Stephen Chow
    • Man-Tat Ng
    • Kar-Ying Law
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jeffrey Lau
  • Writers
    • Jeffrey Lau
    • Cheng'en Wu(novel "Hsi-yu chi")
  • Stars
    • Stephen Chow
    • Man-Tat Ng
    • Kar-Ying Law
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 25User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:06
    Trailer

    Photos76

    Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow and Karen Mok in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Stephen Chow and Man-Tat Ng in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Shuming Lu and Man-Tat Ng in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)
    Kit Ying Lam and Man-Tat Ng in Sai yau gei: Yut gwong bou haap (1995)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Stephen Chow
    Stephen Chow
    • Jokeras Joker…
    Man-Tat Ng
    Man-Tat Ng
    • Assistant Masteras Assistant Master…
    Kar-Ying Law
    Kar-Ying Law
    • Longevity Monkas Longevity Monk
    Kit Ying Lam
    Kit Ying Lam
    • Spider Womanas Spider Woman
    Karen Mok
    Karen Mok
    • Pak Jing-Jingas Pak Jing-Jing
    Johnnie Kong
    • Sha Wujingas Sha Wujing
    • (as Johnny Kong)
    Shuming Lu
    • Bull Kingas Bull King
    Jeffrey Lau
    Jeffrey Lau
    • The Grapesas The Grapes
    Athena Chu
    Athena Chu
    • Zixiaas Zixia
    Kin-Yan Lee
    Li Po Lung
    • Monkey Servantas Monkey Servant
    • Director
      • Jeffrey Lau
    • Writers
      • Jeffrey Lau
      • Cheng'en Wu(novel "Hsi-yu chi")
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Fantasy adventure about the arrival of Buddhism in China. When the Goddess of Happiness tosses the Longevity Monk and his disciples out of heaven (because the Monkey King tried to attain immortality), the Monkey King is reincarnated as the Joker. He now spends his time chasing two jealous women. When one of them is dying, the Joker goes back in time in an attempt to save her. —Anonymous
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Adventure
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Connections
      Followed by A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella (1995)

    User reviews25

    Review
    Top review
    Dufus Flying Whimsy Great Sage
    What an insane thing this is! The story of cinema has been written from a predominantly Western point of view this first hundred years. Were it to be evenly told somehow, this would be in a short list of cult classics you have to see, for sheer bonkers imagination.

    It's rooted in a Chinese classic about the Buddhist monk who brought back the first scriptures from India but that's just the springboard that supplies the context and characters of legend, it has as much actual history as the Pythons' Holy Grail does about medieval times.

    Everything at first takes place in some remote outpost where a mysterious woman walks into the company of a petty thief and his gang. That night characters are revealed to be Devils, the woman changes into a giant spider. Immortals and supernatural beings show up through both films. The "hero" is a scoundrel who gets beaten all the time and set on fire, in that marvelous way Hong Kong has of mocking cool.

    There's time travel and a story about being incarnated as the "Monkey King" of legend, meanwhile the famed Buddhist monk is shown to nag everyone with legalistic obtuseness. Illusory magic puts characters in each other's bodies. Half of it makes no sense at all but strangely it somehow does. A Bull King with his army comes stomping into the scene. Now and then it erupts in flying wuxia, remarkable gliding and leaping through colored smoke. A battle takes place inside someone's body, slashing through arteries!

    It's all as crazy as anything the Pythons and Abrahams/Zucker did, as devilish as Army of Darkness. It's drawing from its own Chinese folk tradition of course about ghosts, immortals and magical belief. It begins with Guanyin, this is the boddhisatva of compassion in Buddhism, facing off with Monkey because Monkey can't stand the monk's nagging and wants out from the mission.

    How revealing to watch it with a Marvel comparison in mind (who have many of the same stuff, mythic beings, gods and demigods) where everything has to be laboriously explained. Everything here just springs from air, shapeshifts in and out of illusion. Characters come and go with no obligation to some overarching purpose, or feels like it. Self is malleable, a matter of illusory disguise, a foolish invention the story gives rise to; so proper in a Buddhist context.

    Another context sees the women in control, the men as dufuses. Men and women change bodies, changing the social dynamics. Self being illusory, anyone can be anything, a devil of vast powers turn into just a girl in love. Yet the central tenet in the story is the pining for deep love.

    I could barely make sense of it but what I could hold onto is sweet and layered. The hero travels through time to save his loved one, until he loses himself. But it seems that was someone he started to love out of duty to a story he made up, because he said he was who she was waiting for, Monkey. Being lost, he meets another girl who is his true love and "turns him" into that person. There's body swapping at this point and she becomes possibly a Pigheaded henchman. His being torn between dutiful and true love is surreally transmuted in a scene with dual marriages supposed to take place.

    By the end we have veered off into a cosmic showdown where the sun is tethered close and burns everything up. And then we return to normative reality. The "Monkey King" has to resume his place dutifully in the journey of fantastic mythadventure while his mortal self stays behind with the love of his life. Parting illusory from real.

    This is taking whimsical nonsense as your dharma teacher.
    helpful•1
    0
    • chaos-rampant
    • Oct 21, 2015

    FAQ1

    • What does this movie mean to the Chinese people?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 21, 1995 (Hong Kong)
    • Countries of origin
      • Hong Kong
      • China
    • Language
      • Cantonese
    • Also known as
      • A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box
    • Production company
      • Xi'an Film Studio
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,499,696
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

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    Film Review: A Chinese Odyssey Part 1: Pandora’s Box (1995) by Jeffrey Lau
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