The Legend of Lee Heung Kwan

The classical opera Peach Blossom Fan of 1699 has inspired two major Cantonese operatic films: Peach Blossom Fan (1961) starring Lam Fung and the present film starring Hung Sin Nui (1925-2013), the renowned founder of the Hung School of female singing in Cantonese opera. This version is close to a documentary of a stage performance, featuring traditional stage movements, gestures, sway of the long sleeves and several singing passages. While it fascinates fans of Hung, Hong Kong audience who are more familiar with the styles of Fong Yim-fun and Pak Suet-sin might find Hung's glissandos and melismas glib and pretentious. During the last year of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the patriotic artiste Heung Kwan (‘perfume') is in love with Hou Chiu-chung, the audacious scholar. Their emblem of love is a paper fan that bears his romantic poem. After he has fled to the frontline to join the battle against the invading Manchus, Heung Kwan is forced by the sinister prime minister to marry a landlord. In desperation, she attempts suicide by bumping her head on a tree and thus shedding her blood on the fan. The gory spots, resembling peach blossoms, are witnesses of her chastity. Having survived, she hides in a nunnery in the hills to await the return of her lover. Chiu-chung, now wearing a Manchu robe and pigtail, is exhilarated by the sight of her. Devastated by his defection, she tramples the fan and cuts her own hair to show her determination of becoming a nun.

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