Bitter Phoenix, Sorrowful Oriole
Dir: Yeung Kung-leong Ma Si-tsang shot to super-stardom with his revolutionary vocal style, inspired by the please of real-life mendicants, in his 1923 onstage performance Bitter Phoenix, Sorrowful Oriole. When adapting this masterpiece from his repertoire for the big screen, Ma invited a whimsical diva Cheung Yuet-yee as his counterpart. Despite never having worked with each other on film before, their chemistry is spectacular as they engage in a witty war of words and a series of good-natured pranks. Although the film adaptation differs from the original production in many ways, it retains the most iconic moments from the onstage performance, and indeed, of Cantonese opera: detective Ma disguising himself as a lowly beggar and singing ‘Yu Hap-wan Expresses His Inner Feelings'. |
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Courtesy of Mr Jack Lee Fong, owner of the Palace Theatre, San Francisco, USA
| Date | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2/10/2020 (Fri) # | 11:00am | Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive |
# Post-screening talk with Prof. Chan Sau-yan
The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.