Qing dian da sheng (2005)

A love story between an alien and a monk.

Director:

Jeffrey Lau

Writer:

Jeffrey Lau (as An Ji)

Stars:

Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, Bingbing Fan

6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Nicholas Tse	...	Tripitaka
Charlene Choi	...	Yue Meiyan
Bingbing Fan	...	Princess Xiaoshan
Bo-lin Chen	...	Sun Wukong
Isabella Leong	...	Red Child
Kenny Kwan	...	Zhu Wuneng
Steven Cheung	...	Sha Wujing
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenny Bee	...	Alternate face of Buddha
Michael Wai-Man Chan	...	(as Wai-Man Chan)
Jiaoqian Dai	...	Lizard Queen (as Shirley Dai)
Goo-Bi GC
Dong Han
San Kao
Yiu-Cheung Lai
Tats Lau

Storyline

Taking place in the younger days of the famous monk, Tripitaka (known for bringing the sacred Bhuddist sutras from India to China), the film tells a fantastical adventure of the monk and his three disciples. On their way to the city of Shache, the monk narrowly escapes an attack from a group of demons. While trying to think of a way to rescue his disciples, he is captured by the king of reptiles and placed under the vigilance of Meiyan, an ugly demon who falls in love with the monk. Luckily, a princess from another galaxy rescues the monk, deeply affecting Meiyan, who pursues the two. In a twist of fate, the ugly Meiyan decides to help her beloved and teams up with the princess to rescue Tripitaka's three disciples.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | monk | rescue | disciple | false accusation | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Emperor Motion Pictures [Hong Kong]

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin

Release Date:

22 December 2005 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

A Chinese Tall Story

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$28,449 (Hong Kong), 6 January 2006, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asia Premium Investment, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Emperor Classic Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Unknown: The greatest distance divides us, not because you are oblivious to my love, when I stand in front of you; but because we each other, knowing fate will forever keep us apart.
[translated from chinese text shown on screen]

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Connections

Spoofs Sai yau gei: Sin leui kei yun (1995)

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Soundtracks

Love Saint
Performed by Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi

User Reviews

Off the rails comedy/action/romance is full of wild action and humor but is wounded by a disjointed narrative that starts and stops at will

Another go round with the monkey king going west....sort of.

Beginning in the middle of some action the movie just goes from the first frame onward.

A monk and his three disciples go to a town to get the sacred suras that will bring peace to the world once they are translated and spoken to the world.But an evil force has intervened and kidnapped all of the children of the town. The evil force wants the monk because if you eat him you will live forever. The retainers battle the forces of darkness before forcibly sending the monk off for safety (The monk thinks he can win simply by reasoning with the bad guys). The monk ends up with a bunch of lizard imps who plan at some point eating him... however the bad guys arrive and he's off an odyssey with the ugliest of the lot.

Can a movie that starts off the rails go off the rails? Don't get me wrong I really liked this movie but its so scatter shot and all over the place that plot and logic simply fall away as some scenes simply pick up mid action with no way of knowing how we got there (The final battle to rescue the disciples is completely out of left field). This is one of the messiest movies I've seen in a while, but it made me laugh and smile like no get out. The movie starts and you have no idea where things are and then whats on screen is either interesting or funny and you just go with it. How do we get from thing to thing is often beyond me. Its full of odd asides and strange references as we go from heaven to the ocean to space to the rib cage of some mythic beast to god knows where. This movie floats all over the place which helps keep it fun since you don't know where it will end up (and is the reason"m keeping details to a minimum) And its funny. Very very funny at times.

And the action is very good, even if a good chunk of it is unabashed CGI animation (which provides for some cool images, the golden staff, the spider attack formation, the angel in flight...) And its very touching. Action and comedy aside this is actually a wonderful love story. Its the story of an ugly imp and a monk who end up falling in love (and having other complications). Its a interesting look at the nature of love and what is true love. You will be moved.

However much I enjoyed it I was still annoyed by its scatter shot construction. The films inability to hold its ideas together and to tell a complete story really hurts the film and takes away from the enjoyment every time we get to a bump in the road. the bumps take you out of the movie itself and make you realize how much is being cribbed from other sources.

Absolutely worth seeing since it does have many choice moments, just be prepared for some bumps and you'll have a good time.