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Legend of the Demon Cat

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2017 film
Legend of the Demon Cat
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese妖貓傳
Simplified Chinese妖猫传
Literal meaningKūkai -KU-KAI- The Mystery of The Beautiful Queen
Hanyu PinyinYāomāo chuán
JyutpingJiu¹ maau¹ cyun⁴
Japanese name
Kanji空海 -KU-KAI- 美しき王妃の謎
RomanizationKūkai utsukushiki ōhi no nazo
Directed byChen Kaige
Screenplay by
  • Chen Kaige
  • Wang Hui-ling
Based onShamon kūkai tō no kuni nite oni to utage su (沙門空海唐の国にて鬼と宴す, lit. 'Feast with A Demon In The Country of Shamon Kukai Tang')
by Baku Yumemakura
Produced byKao Shirley
Starring
CinematographyCao Yu
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Emperor Motion Pictures, Moonstone Entertainment (present)
  • QC Media (China)
  • Toho, Kadokawa (Japan)
  • Parkway Management (Hong Kong)
Release dates
    • 22 December 2017 (2017-12-22) (China)
    • 11 January 2018 (2018-01-11) (Hong Kong)
    • 24 February 2018 (2018-02-24) (Japan)
Running time2 hours 9 minutes
Countries
  • China
  • Japan
  • Hong Kong
Languages
  • Mandarin
  • Japanese
BudgetCN¥170 million
Box officeCN¥530 million

Legend of the Demon Cat (simplified Chinese: 妖猫传; traditional Chinese: 妖貓傳; pinyin: Yāomāo chuán) is a 2017 Chinese-Japanese-Hong Kongese Xianxia fantasy mystery film co-written and directed by Chen Kaige, based on the Japanese novel series by Baku Yumemakura. The film released in December 22, 2017 in China.

Plot

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The story is a supernatural reimagining of the story of death of Yang Guifei. The movie opens with Chunqin, the wife of an army commander, making a reluctant bargain with a talking black cat. In exchange for the eyes of fish which are eaten by the cat, Chunqin finds a pot of coin which she shares with her husband. The Japanese Buddhist monk Kukai is called to the imperial palace to assist Emperor Xuanzong who is cursed with a supernatural ailment. The Emperor passes away while strange cat wailings can be heard. Kukai makes the acquaintance of Bai Letian the poet whose major work is "Chang hen ge" - Song of Everlasting Sorrow (長恨歌)- the story about the life of the Emperor's favorite concubine Yang Guifei. The commander's wife has lapsed into a coma. When Kukai and Bai Letian investigate they see an visage of Chunqin on the roof reciting a poem. Kukai believe this visage is that of a demon cat.

They research the poem being recited by Chunqin and learn that it was one that was composed at Yang Guifei's wedding banquet. They decide to visit Yang Guifei's abandoned residence. Inside they see Chunqin's visage. The visage explains that she was once Yang Guifei's beloved cat. She explained that she was buried alive but was allowed to escape. It became a demon cat in order to exact revenge. The cat later possess the commander and while possessed he kills Chunqin. The commander goes insane.

Bai Letian believes his work Everlasting Sorrow would be fraudulent if he is not able to learn the real story behind Yang Guifei's death. Bai and Kukai would visit Concubine Yang's lady in waiting, Qin Yi, but she was not present when the concubine died. The demon cat kills Qin Yi after their visit. They learned of the existence of the Japanese envoy Abe no Nakamaro and obtain his diary from his widow who is still in China. They learned that during the crisis where the imperial soldiers surrounded the royal residence, they had hatched a plan to save Yang Guifei's life. This would involve using an acupuncture technique that would make Yang seem dead for a period of time. Yang would later revive. The soldiers would be satisfied she was dead. The plan works and the soldiers leave the residence. Yang was then placed in a coffin and buried inside in a tomb. Her black cat was left in the tomb.

Kukai and Bai Letian visit Yang Guifei's tomb. They realize Yang Guifei was buried alive in the coffin from the marks inside. They realize that the plot was actually meant to trick Yang Guifei and the Emperor had no plans to rescue her from the tomb. This was because nobody could bear the guilt of killing her. Yang's two loyal charges Dan Long and Bai Long attend at her grave. Dan Long confesses that he was aware of the plan to trick Yang Guifei and put poison into her wine so she would not suffer. Bai Long is shocked at this. He refuses to abandon the grave. Bai Long sacrifices himself and imbues his spirit into the black cat. When his spirit melded with that of the cat he learned that the poison did not work and Yang Guifei was buried alive. The (now) demon cat returned to the palace and attacks the Emperor putting a curse on him. Kukai and Bai Letian are joined by Dan Long at the tomb. The cat attacks Dan Long. Dan Long told the cat that he retrieved Bai Long's body and had put it beside Yang Guifei's. Bai Long tells the cat that he is prepared to die. The cat goes to attack but returns to try to get onto the coffin. The Demon cat is unable to mount the coffin. He sees the image of a white crane (Bai Long is white crane) fly off and the cat dies. Kukai and Bai Letian are seen walking in the city. Bai Letian said he does not intend to change his poem even though it is not correct. Kukai visits the Great Qinglong Temple, as instructed by his master. He gives a sutra to Dan Long, now a monk there, and asks him whether he had found the secret to life without sorrow.

Cast

Production

A set costing US$200 million and five years to create was constructed for the film. It was reported that the set will be turned into a theme park.

Awards and nominations

Awards Category Recipient Result Ref.
25th Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Director Chen Kaige Nominated
Best Visual Effects — Won
23rd Huading Awards Best Director Chen Kaige Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Sandrine Pinna Won
9th China Film Director's Guild Awards Best Film Legend of the Demon Cat Nominated
Best Director Chen Kaige Nominated
12th Asian Film Awards Best Director Chen Kaige Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Kitty Zhang Won
Best Cinematography Cao Yu Nominated
Best Costume Design Chen Tongxun Won
Best Production Design Tu Nan and Lu Wei Won
Best Visual Effects Ishi Norio Won

See also

References

  1. "Legend of the Demon Cat". Emperor Motion Pictures. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  2. "Chen Kaige's 'Demon Cat' Picked Up by Moonstone, Emperor". Variety. 17 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. "Chen Kaige completes shooting of new film "The Legend of the Cat Demon"". China Radio International. 31 December 2016. Archived from the original on January 1, 2017.
  4. "Japan-China Co-Production Treaty at Advanced Stage". 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Stills from "The Legend of the Demon Cat" Released". Asian Movie Pulse. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  6. "艺恩-数据智能服务商_数据榜单". Archived from the original on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  7. "The Legend of Cat Demon is being filmed". People's Daily. 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  8. "Legend of the Demon Cat: Chen Kaige adapts to China's changed cinematic landscape with lavish production". South China Morning Post. 18 September 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  9. "第二十五届北京大学生电影节闭幕式暨颁奖典礼圆满落幕". Tencent (in Chinese). May 7, 2018. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  10. "Student film festival draws down the curtain". China Daily. May 7, 2018. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  11. "第23届华鼎奖提名：《战狼2》、《芳华》双雄逐鹿". Sina (in Chinese). March 20, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  12. "电影导演协会2017年度入围名单揭晓 吴京入围最佳导演". ifeng (in Chinese). February 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  13. "Asian Film Awards 2018 nominations". South China Morning Post. January 11, 2018. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  14. "Asian Film Awards: 'Youth' Wins Top Prize From 'Demon Cat'". Variety. March 17, 2018. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.

External links

Films directed by Chen Kaige
Categories: