1976 Princess Changping

(Pinyin: di nu hua)
帝女花
Dai Nui Fa

a JOHN WOO film "Princess Chang Ping" (source: Fortune Star's DVD cover)

Following their first movie musical of Cantonese opera genre in 1975 with Laugh in the Sleeve, Lung Kim Sang and Mui Suet See went on to star in John Woo (吳宇森) directed “Princess Changping” based on the original story scripted by Tong Tik Sang.

It is an engaging historical drama set during the fall of the Ming dynasty depicting the stories of loyalty to one’s nation, filial duty to one’s parents and love to one another.

The Ming Dynasty is coming to a faltering end with rebels everywhere...

In the meantime, Princess Chang Ping is engaged with a young scholar Chou Shil-hsien, and the emperor is happy with the match. Yet, when the rebels invade the capital, the emperor orders the death of the empress and princesses because no royal house-hood should fall into rebel hands. Princess Chang Ping has luckily escaped, but...

-- From the Fortune Star’s digitally remastered “Princess Chang Ping” DVD back cover.

Originally bought this Cantonese opera movie for its English subtitles as a “back-up” in case I wouldn’t be able to fully comprehended the 2006 Princess Changping stage version performed in Cantonese in its entirety; but, ended up liking the movie version from a different perspective.

Comparing to a typical full-length opera that is usually performed in three and a half hours, the 103 minutes film version presents with no compromise on the original opera's main materials;that is, every scene from the opera is all there. Moreover, Mr. John Woo did elaborate on the ending scene to give it a bittersweet touch as the Golden Boy and the Jade Girl return to Heaven at the sound of the choral music.

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Needless to say, the chemistry between Ms. Lung and Ms. Mui is addictive. They were young then. Their skilled yet youthful performance came bursting through, it is very refreshing. As they age, they become masters of their craft and mature in their performance in which they are able to inject deeper and stronger sense of emotion into the characters that they are playing and still continue to maintain the youthful exuberance of the yesteryear. This can be seen as they reprise their roles in the 2006 Princess Changping series of returning to stage performance.

And it’s great to see fellow members from the Chor Fung Ming Cantonese Opera Troupe taking parts in the movie cast. Starring along side Ms. Lung and Ms. Mui were none other than renowned Cantonese masters Lan Chi Pak and Leung Sing Bo (梁醒波) as the Ming emperor and Minister Chou Chung respectively. That is yet to mention Yam/Pak’s other beloved student, Chu Kim Dan, taking on the role of Chou Chung’son - the Ming’s military commander, Chou Bou Lun.

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Overall, the DVD picture quality and sound restoration in this digitally remastered version are satisfactory. Though there are not that many in-depth special features included, what did get included are gems given the original production dated back in 1976. I really enjoy those special features of new and original trailers, photo stills/photos slide show and especially the brief interview session with Cantonese opera legend - Master Yuen Siu Fai 阮兆輝, who played the Ming emperor in the 2006 Princess Changping stage version.

I would recommend this digitally remastered DVD of John Woo’s 1976 English subtitled "Princess Changping". Beside the fact that it is a more affordable version to get in comparison to the 2006 stage version, it’s a good beginner's introduction to those who are interested in getting to learn more about Cantonese Opera.