Romance of the Western Chamber (film) explained

Romance of the Western Chamber
Director:	Hou Yao
Cinematography:	Liang Linguang Lai Man-Wai
Studio:	China Sun Motion Picture Company (Shanghai)
Released:	8 September 1927 (Hangzhou Theater, China) 2007 (USA)
Runtime:	42 min. (orig.) 45 min. (2007 DVD release)
Country:	China
Language:	Silent film Written Chinese and French intertitles

Romance of the Western Chamber, also known as Way Down West, is a 1927 silent Chinese film drama directed by Hou Yao.

The film is an adaption of the classic Chinese dramatic work Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang Shifu.

Originally consisting of ten film reels, only five have survived.

The 2007 USA DVD release by Cinema Epoch has an additional original musical score composed by Toshiyuki Hiraoka.

Cast

^[1]

• Lim Cho Cho - as Cui Yingying, the daughter of the late Prime Minister
• Li Dandan - as Hongniang, the maidservant of yingying
• He Minzhuang (M. C. Noo) - as Madame Cui, the mother of Yingying
• T. K. Kar - as wise student Zhang Gong
• Tsao Yao Dein - as an old monk Fa Pen
• Lee Wha Ming/Li Huamin - as Sung Fei Fu (Tiger Sun), the bandit king
• Lu Ying Lang/Li Yinlan - as monk Wei Hing, the messenger with bō staff
• Wang Longxi - as clever monk
• Hu Chichang - as the White Horse General
• Zhu Yaoting - as the stupid monk
• Huang Ke - as the boy servant

Further reading

• Harris K. (1999), "The Romance of the Western Chamber and the Classical Subject Film in 1920s Shanghai" in Zhang Y. (ed.), Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922-1943. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999. pp. 51–73.

External links

• • http://www.dvdtalk.com/silentdvd/romance_of_the.html

Notes and References

1. http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2009/04/1927-romance-of-the-west-chamber-ancient-costume-movies.html#more 1927: "Romance of the Western Chamber" and Ancient Costume Movies