MOVIE REVIEW

A Chinese Odyssey Part I (Pandora's Box)(TITLE)
A Chinese Odyssey Part I (Pandora's Box)/Part II (Cinderella) is loosely based on excerpts of Wu Cheng En's "Journey to the West" which was a fairly whimsical tale in its own right, and when told through Steven Chow's perspective, it is downright confusing.

Hong Kong culture is based on a practice that some would call regurgitation while others would call adaptation. It is beyond my ability to decide whether it is the former or the latter, but it is very amusing to see these things in a movie. Especially a Steven Chow movie. Steven Chow is, in some ways, similar to Jim Carrey, except that he can deadpan much better than Carrey. He writes many of his own scripts, too. Though many do not think his ideas make much sense, his sheer popularity proves that there is substance to his own brand of humor. A Chinese Odyssey is 3 hours of culture chow suey. Classic Chinese novel, old fashioned tragedy, surreal fights and time shifts, Shakespearean mistaken identities, and get this, Wong Kar Wai references, all cut up and mixed in a giant platter. Dizzying, hilarious, heartbreaking, it is one of the best Steven Chow tales.

Nothing is sacred in this movie. Everything is mercilessly mocked at. Steven Chow's Monkey King is not the heroic, daring fighter we have come to expect, instead, he is meek, indecisive, and selfish. Some of his lines sound straight out of a Woody Allen movie. Unable to commit and weighed down by fate, he is more a common (modern Hong Kong) man than a mythical fighter.

The movie has become a cult classic among the young Chinese, especially university students. No wonder--because the dialogue and the content of this movie are really ingeniously done and have a deep cultural meaning for all its comic surface. But unfortunately this movie can be fully appreciated on several conditions: 1, one should have a basic knowledge of the classic Chinese novel The Monkey (or A Journey to the West), on which this film is based, to appreciate the twists and turns in this film version; 2, the English subtitles are not very good as in most HK movies, so if one could read the Chinese subtitles or if one knows Mandarin or Cantonese (in which the movie was originally shot), it would be a great help, and one can enjoy the movie much, much more; 3, one should definitely watch this movie along with Part II, for Part I is in a way a preparation for the wonderful climax at the end of Part II. Well,this may be discouraging to many potential viewers, but I must also add it is to see both film parts. This movie (Part I and II) is the greatest of all films of Steven Chow, and one of the best HK movies. Unlike done by most other HK movies, it may mot made in a cheap studio:but in such as the great scene in both Part I and II spellbinding.

Cast is outstanding. Kar Ying Lau is the Monkey King's master, Monk Tong. Monk Tong has some of the most memorable lines in this movie, trite yet complex, you can't expect what he will say next. Mon Tat Ng is the Pig Man. Karen Mok, who I have always liked, is mostly seen in the first half, while Athena Chu takes the leading role in the second half. This is melodramatic movie at its best: jestering and sending itself up while playing serious at the same time. Many who are accustomed to Western style movies and their tight story lines, uniform underlying philosophy will be shocked by this culture mess. However, it is strangely addicting. Escapism in its prime form.

BACKGROUND
"Journey to the West" WAS written in latter half of 1500 A.D., a work depicting the journey of the monk, Xuan Zang (or Tripitaka), to India to bring back Buddhist sutras to China circa mid 600 A.D. Although some of Wu's contents had been adapted for film and many of these excerpts are well known to the Chinese speaking public, it is still a rarity to find someone that had actually read the unabridged book from cover to cover (100 chapters, approximate 800-900 pages), whether in the original Chinese or foreign translation.

Yes, it is work that historians today consider a serious study of Chinese culture, but Wu never envisioned this. In fact, he produced the work to earn a living but at the same time, decided to have some fun at it. Since he was not a learned Buddhist or Taoist scholar, his work only depicted the common man's view of Buddhism and Taoism in its day with its accompanying inaccuracies and some satirizing on his part. Previously, there were existing scholarly accounts as well as common tales of Xuan Zang's journeys, but Wu's work became the most popular.

Now to really appreciate A Chinese Odyssey Part I (Pandora's Box)/Part II (Cinderella), It's believed that reading the unabridged "Journey to the West" to be helpful. Did you find the film a convoluted mess? Did you find the humor inane and ridiculous? Yes, believe it or not, you may find some vague parallels to Wu's work. Wu was a little "over the top" for his day. The true Xuan Zang was a man of courage.

So what do we have here in Wu's "Journey to the West"? Wu depicts the monk as a mildly comical character, often cowering for fear of being eaten by demons and outsmarted every now and then by the rambunctious Monkey King. And the dialogue? The book even depicts the Goddess of Mercy using some crude language when she refers to his disciples. Very few of the characters are depicted in noble light. Even much of the poetry in the book is "overdone".