''A Chinese Odyssey'' is a two-part 1995 Hong Kong fantasy-comedy film directed by

Jeffrey Lau Jeffrey Lau Chun-Wai (; born 5 February 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Lau is famous for writing and directing " mo lei tau" comedies. His comedies include '' A Chinese Odyssey'' (with Stephen Chow) and '' ...

and starring

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and former actor, known for his mo lei tau comedy. His career began in television, where he gained recognition through variety shows and TV dramas. Chow's breakthrough came in 1 ...

. The first part is titled ''A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box'', while the second part is titled ''A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella''. The film is very loosely based on the 16th-century Wu Cheng'en novel ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

''. A third film, '' A Chinese Odyssey Part Three'', was released in China on 14 September 2016. The line "10,000 years" in the film became one of the most popular buzzwords for Chinese-language films, with a Google search count of 21.9 million.

Plot

Part One

500 years ago, during their journey to the west to fetch the Buddhist scriptures,

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

got annoyed with the constant nagging of his master, Longevity Monk, and decided to betray him. He was intercepted and subdued by

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

, who decided to give him a second chance after Longevity Monk pleaded for leniency and sacrificed himself. Joker is the chief of a group of outlaws. Joker and his gang are attacked by two demons, Spider Woman and Bak Jing-jing, who threaten and force them to search nearby travelers for 3 dots on their feet, an indication of Monkey. Joker's second-in-command (a reincarnation of Pigsy) overhears the demons' plan to capture Longevity Monk and feast on his flesh to gain immortality, prompting Spider Woman to force him into servitude. Joker subsequently falls in love with Bak Jing-jing. Grandpa Buddha informs Joker about the danger he is in, gives him a magic mirror which can reveal a being's true form, and claims to the suspicious demons that Joker is a reincarnation of Monkey to give them time to escape. The group are attacked by Bull King, who is also after Longevity Monk. Joker and Pigsy flee with Bak Jing-jing and Spider Woman to Waterfall Cave, where the two demons starts fighting over Joker. Bak Jing-jing and Joker eventually flee from the cave while Spider Woman is impregnated with Pigsy's child by accident. As Bak Jing-jing has been poisoned by Spider Woman, Joker goes back to the cave to ask for the antidote, but is imprisoned by Spider Woman. In the meantime, outside the cave, Bak Jing-jing is captured by Bull King, who cures her of the poison in exchange for revenge on Monkey. Inside the cave, Joker finds Pandora's Box, which can open up a time portal when moonlight shines on it and when "

Prajñāpāramitā A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna. Prajñāpāramitā refers to a perfected way of seeing the natu ...

" is chanted. He also overhears Guanyin's voice, telling him that he was actually Monkey in his past life and is destined to continue his quest to escort his master on the journey to the west. Meanwhile, Bull King and Bak Jing-jing enter the cave and fight with Spider Woman. Bak Jing-jing commits suicide after mistakenly believing that Joker has betrayed her love and fathered a child with Spider Woman. Joker finds Bak Jing-jing and tries to save her by travelling back in time with the aid of Pandora's Box, but each time he arrives a few seconds too late to stop her from committing suicide. He finally manages to make it on time to prevent Bak Jing-jing from slitting her throat, but she sacrifices herself to save him from Bull King. Joker travels back in time again, but ends up going back in time by 500 years. Outside the cave, he encounters a fairy, Zixia, who confiscates Pandora's Box and sears three dots on the sole of his foot to mark him as her servant. This finishes Monkey's reincarnation.

Part Two

After travelling back in time, Joker learns more about his past life and reunites with his master, Longevity Monk, and his fellows, Pigsy and Sandy. However, he does not want to accept his fate as Monkey because he just wants to get back Pandora's Box and return to 500 years later to save Bak Jing-jing. Zixia falls in love with him after he pulls out her sword from its scabbard because she made a promise to marry the person who can unsheathe her sword. Zixia and Longevity Monk are captured by Bull King, who wants to take Zixia as his concubine and feast on Longevity Monk's flesh to become immortal. Pigsy and Sandy try to rescue their master but he refuses to leave unless Joker promises to fulfil his destiny. Joker goes off in search of Zixia and rescues her, after which they flee from Bull King. In the ensuing fight between Joker and his companions against Bull King, Joker falls off a cliff and finds himself back in Waterfall Cave, where he meets Grandpa Buddha and Bak Jing-jing. Bak Jing-jing agrees to marry Joker initially, but she leaves later and tells him to save Zixia because she knows he's actually in love with someone else. Shortly after, Spider Woman comes to Waterfall Cave and kills everyone, including Joker. At the point of death, Joker realises the one he truly loves is Zixia. Joker, as a ghost, hears Guanyin's voice inside the cave again, reminding him about his destiny. He decides to accept his fate and puts on the golden circlet, therefore transforming into Monkey. He returns to the world and rushes to Bull King's city to save his master and stop Bull King's wedding ceremony with Zixia. As he is now Monkey, he must relinquish all his human desires, including love, so he tells Zixia he is not Joker and pretends to scorn her. Monkey and Bull King engage in battle. When Bull King realises he is losing, he uses

Princess Iron Fan Princess Iron Fan () is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. She is one of the most popular ''Journey to the West'' villains, alongside her husband the Bull Demon King, her son Red Boy, and Baigujing. In ' ...

's magic fan to churn up strong winds that will blow the entire city towards the sun and kill everyone in the process. Monkey succeeds in stopping Bull King and saves everyone, but Zixia sacrifices herself to save him. As she dies, Monkey reveals his love for her and, as a result, his circlet tightens and causes him to feel extreme agony. In anger, he beats up Bull King before escaping together with his master, Pigsy and Sandy by using Pandora's Box. Monkey wakes up later and finds himself in a cave, but with his master and fellows this time. Outside the cave, in a busy city, Monkey sees the incarnations of Joker and Zixia in a standoff on top of a wall. He uses his powers to possess Joker's body and gave Zixia a long and passionate kiss before leaving Joker's body. Joker recovers and is surprised to see himself locked in an embrace with Zixia, but accepts and continues the romance with her. They notice Monkey walking away in the crowd below and laugh at his appearance. Monkey does not turn back until outside the gates where he gave a final glance at the embracing couple and continues on the journey to the west with his companions.

Cast

Sun Wukong Sun Wukong (, Mandarin pronunciation: ), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monk ...

/ Joker *

Law Kar-ying Dr Law Kar-ying (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor. Background Born Law Hang-tong on September 22 (August 27 Lunar), 1946 in Shunde, Guangdong as the eldest son of actor Law Kar-kuen (羅家權) and his ...

Tang Sanzang Tang Sanzang is a Buddhist monk and pilgrim who is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. His birth surname name was Chen (), but having been found in a river as a baby--he was abandoned after bir ...

Ng Man-tat Richard Ng Man-tat (, 2 January 1952 – 27 February 2021), commonly called Uncle Tat (), was a Hong Kong actor originally from Fujian. He was a veteran with dozens of awards in the Cinema of Hong Kong , Hong Kong film industry, including Hon ...

Zhu Bajie Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three disciples of Tang Sanzang, along with Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, and a major character of the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. ''Zhu'' means "swine" and ''Bajie'' means "eight pr ...

/ Joker's second-in-command * Johnnie Kong as

Sha Wujing Sha Wujing ( zh, t=沙悟淨) is one of the three disciples of the Buddhist pilgrim Tang Sanzang in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' written by Wu Cheng'en in the Ming dynasty, although versions of his character predate the Ming n ...

/ Blindy *

Athena Chu Athena Chu (born Chu Yan; 25 October 1971) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Zixia Fairy in '' A Chinese Odyssey'' (1995). Early life and education On 25 October 1971, Chu was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Her f ...

as Zixia *

Yammie Lam Yammie Lam Kit-ying (27 April 1963 – 31 October 2018), also known as Yammie Nam, was a Hong Kong actress and most notable for her performances in TVB drama series '' The Greed of Man'' and '' Looking Back In Anger'', as well as in the film seri ...

as Spider Woman *

Karen Mok Karen Joy Morris (; born 2 June 1970), better known as Karen Mok, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is considered one of the leading East Asian pop singers and actresses with a career spanning three decades. Mok is the first female Hong Kong ...

as Bak Jing-jing *

as Grandpa Buddha / The Grapes * Lu Shuming as

Bull Demon King Bull Demon King (), also translated as the Ox King, also-known by his self-proclaimed title the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven (), and as ''Dàliwáng'' (大力王, lit, "King fGreat Might"/"King Powerful") and as ''Niú Dàli'' (牛大力, ...

Ada Choi Ada Choi Siu-fan (; born 17 September 1973) is a Hong Kong actress who gained fame with the TVB dramas such as '' Healing Hands'' (1998–2000) and '' Where the Legend Begins'' (2002), before she shifted her career to mainland China, where she gai ...

Box office

The first part grossed HK$25,093,380 and the second HK$20,872,117 in Hong Kong. The second part has grossed on its 2017 release in mainland China.

Reception

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' gave ''Part Two'' a positive review saying that "if you missed the original film - forget it, you'll never understand what's happening in this picture, but if you saw and enjoyed the first part, you'll no doubt have a great time with this terrific follow-up".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Odyssey, A 1995 films 1990s Cantonese-language films Hong Kong epic films Hong Kong fantasy films Hong Kong romance films Films based on Journey to the West Wuxia films Comedy film series Martial arts comedy films Films directed by Jeffrey Lau Films about body swapping Films about reincarnation Films about shapeshifting 1990s films about time travel Chinese New Year films Hong Kong New Wave films 1990s Hong Kong films