Dir: Ng Wui
Scr: Lee Yuen-man
Librettist: Lee Yuen-man, Poon Cheuk
Prod Co: The Union
Cast: Cheung Wood-yau, Tsi Lo Lin, Mui Yee, Lam Kar-sing
1956 B&W D Beta Cantonese Chinese subtitles 126 min

 

Director Ng Wui further integrated Cantonese opera and film in this masterpiece by being the first one who arranges musicians on site. With the sound of gongs and drums being recorded live as the actors performed, creating a sense of immediacy for the viewers. Besides making creative use of editing and optical processing technique to enhance the film's fantastical plots, the composition of shots was also thoughtfully arranged. In the scene where Chum Heung (Lam Kar-sing) defeats God Erlang (Siu Sun Kuen) to save his mother, Ng first applied wide shot to film Chum running with Ling Chi (Mui Yee) to escape Erlang. The shot is then tightened to cover only Chum and Erlang , filming their fighting scene up close. Each editing position of shots are coordinated with the music, Ng's preciseness in filmmaking is fully demonstrated in this film.