Bian Lian (1996)

Wang Bianlian is an aging street performer known as the King of Mask for his mastery of Sichuan Change Art in a true story. His wife left him with and infant son over 30 years ago. The son ... See full summary »

Director:

Tian-Ming Wu

Writers:

Wengui Chen (story), Minglun Wei (screenplay)

Stars:

Li Chen, Zhaoji Jia, Zhigang Zhang

22 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Li Chen	...	Ms Wen
Zhaoji Jia	...	Slave trader
Zhigang Zhang	...	Sulan, Luo
Zhigang Zhao	...	Liang Sao Lang
Renying Zhou	...	Gou Wa ("Doggie")
Xu Zhu	...	Bianlian Wang

Storyline

Wang Bianlian is an aging street performer known as the King of Mask for his mastery of Sichuan Change Art in a true story. His wife left him with and infant son over 30 years ago. The son died from illness at age 10. This left Wang a melancholy loner aching for a male descendent to learn his rare and dying art. A famous master performer of the Sichuan Opera offers to bring him into his act, thus giving Wang fame and possible fortune, but Wang opts for staying the simple street performer. Then, one night after a performance he is sold a young boy by a slave trader posing as the boy's parent. "Grandpa" finds new joy in life as he plans to teach "Doggie" (an affectionate term often used for young children in China) his art. All is well until Doggie is found out to really be a girl.

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Plot Keywords:

pet monkey | slave trader | slave | slavers | wage slave | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

16 August 1996 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

King of Masks

Filming Locations:

Shanghai, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$394,272, 11 June 1999

Gross USA:

$1,104,619, 27 February 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Wang (The Mask King) is performing for the soldiers who insist on having his secret, his missing front tooth is there in one scene, then gone in the next.

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Alternate Versions

Original Chinese version runs 101 minutes; international Version runs 91 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

User Reviews

A Beautiful Film

This is a beautiful, rich, and very well-executed film with a rich and meaningful story. Basically, it tells how an old master story teller needs to find a (male) heir to carry on his craft, but ends up not getting what he expected in his very male-dominated world. The characters must then deal with their situation and the old master must grapple with the conflict between his desire for a companion and heir and his and society's traditional notions.

The story is fun, emotional, and complex. The exploration of the characters, their lives, and emotions, is rich and compelling the character development is strong while the characters are complex and not one dimensional at all. The film expertly conveys the old man's emotions and his desire to find an heir, and compellingly shows how he and the kid handle the situation. There is also humour, sometimes quite subtle, at appropriate points. The film also examines the good and bad of traditional Chinese culture, creating further interest and depth to the film.

The directing, acting, and scenery are all outstanding. Added to the other strengths, this creates rich and convincing visual images and compelling, real characters. As a result, the film evokes strong empathy for, and feelings about, the characters.

Some have claimed that the ending weakens the film, but I do not necessarily agree. Perhaps it could have been stronger with a different ending, but any improvement in the overall film would have been rather small.