The Romantic Monk

The Romantic Monk was consecutively performed onstage over 300 times during the 1940s, solidifying Ho Fei-fan's persona as the ‘romantic monk'. Director Chun Kim was hired to adapt it for the big screen in 1956, and The Romantic Monk becomes his first and only Cantonese opera film. Based on Dreams of the Red Chamber, the story begins with Lin Daiyu entering the Jia mansion and ends with Jia Baoyu's renouncement of his worldly identity to become a monk. Famous scenes from the novel are retained, ultimately culminating in the final act, where Ho delivers a knockout 12-minute singing performance ‘Baoyu Leaves Home for Monkhood'. Veteran singer Au Wai-chuen leads a mixed chorus of nanyinperformers to narrate plot developments, an interesting set-up and technique that adds to the film's musicality, beauty, and romance.