Princess Yang Kwei-Fei - a Shaw Japanese movie!

[Killer Meteor]

A superb film by the master Kenji Mizoguchi, this is definetly worth watching for fans of Chinese cinema too. Although Shaw financed it, they were unable to sell a Japanese take on the story to their markets, and in fact nearly lost their shirts!

This was remade by Li Han-Hsiang as The Magnificent Concubine.

The colour in this is stunning, and the drama compelling.

[Takuma]

Asia-Pol is another similar case. Maybe a good idea to create a thread for that too...

- http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?p=222058

[DrNgor]

I was discussing the history behind this in a FB post today:

Quote

An Lu-Shan was a half-Turkish, half-Iranian Uzbek whose tribe was persecuted by another Turkish tribe circa 700 AD. His tribe fled to Western China as refugees. His knowledge of different "Barbarian" tongues helped him get drafted into the Chinese army, where he worked in Border Patrol.

He gradually moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a sort of military governor up in the North where he defended the border against the Khitans, or "proto-Mongols." He also became a favorite at the court, where he had this strange, openly-flirtacious relationship with Yang Kuei-Fei, the Emperor's favorite consort. This was key to his keeping favor with the court while he secretly amassed an army of well-trained Turks and Khitans at his fortress at the Northern Border.

He eventually led his army toward the capital, destroying villages and slaughtering civilians wholesale as he moved in for the kill. He took over the second capital and declared himself Emperor of the Yen Dynasty. He eventually kicked the Emperor out of the capital. At his soldiers' request, the Emperor had Yang Kuei-Fei hanged (the author says "strangled").

After becoming something of a guerilla emperor, his power was unraveled by his notorious anger (he had his own men decapitated for the slightest offense), caused in part by his failing eyesight and a skin disease that afflicted him. Also, he spent most of his adult life being morbidly obese. His men, including his son, had him killed. His son continued the dynasty, and civil war raged on between the Yen and T'ang Dynasties until the latter took back their power.

This story is told in part in the Japanese film PRINCESS YANG KWEI FEI (1955), directed by famous director Kenzo Mizoguchi.

EDIT: The author highlights that the Chinese military at the time functioned on a system in which it was broken up into three groups: one group was assigned border patrol, one group was assigned to the capital, and one group was assigned to farmwork. These groups switched roles on a regular rotation. As time passed and the royal family grew more decadent, they depended more and more on specially-trained corps to protect the capital, while sending more and more troops to the border. It cost more, but required less central planning, which [cynical] gave the emperor more time to bang his concubines[/cynical]. This change in systems was what helped An Lu-Shan amass his rebel army, since it meant that the court was less involved in his affairs.

The strange part about all this was that as the common soldier's role in internal defense, especially at the capital, decreased, the paranoia directed at him by the Court increased. It reached the point where soldiers carrying weapons or practicing their archery at the Capital became a punishable offense.

 

On 10/31/2013 at 12:49 PM, Killer Meteor said:

This was remade by Li Han-Hsiang as The Magnificent Concubine.

The same story is told in the series The Legend of Lady Yang. (2000)

[DrNgor]

I'm curious as to if Yang Kwei-Fei, specific among the Four Beauties, has a special following in Japan. Her character seems to show up in other Japanese movies, too.

EDIT:

It seems that her story was the basis for the Japanese literary masterpiece Tale of the Genji. There is also legend that says that she did not die, but fled to Japan and spent the rest of her life there.

Edited July 25, 2022 by DrNgor

[ShawAngela]

I have the three versions (Japanese movie with Fench subtitles, Magnificent concubine, and the TVB series), and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't found a while to watch any of them !!

[ShawAngela]

Talking about Shaws' Japanese movies, they also had a Japanese version of Madame White Snake, with Japanese actors.