The Legend of Lee Heung Kwan

Special Screening for Cantonese Opera Day

Set in the late Ming dynasty, the film depicts the love story between famed courtesan Lee Heung Kwan (Hung Sin Nui) and scholar Hou Chiu Chung (Law Ka-bo). Faced with the fall of the empire, Heung Kwan remains defiant while Chiu Chung changes his loyalties to the Manchus. Devastated by his defection, Heung Kwan cuts off her own hair to show her intention of becoming a nun. 

In the early 1960s, Hung Sin Nui adapted the Qing dynasty play The Peach Blossom Fan into a Cantonese opera, bringing to the stage the story of Lee Heung Kwan and featuring her and Luo Pinchao. More than two decades later, Hung is interested again in playing Lee Heung Kwan. With investment from Michael Lai who co-starred with her in It So Happens to a Woman (1955) and Chor Yuen as director, the film features renowned Cantonese opera artists from both Guangzhou and Hong Kong. As a Cantonese opera film of high artistic quality, Hung in her artistic heights is captured on the silver screen. This screening is made more poignant being the 10th anniversary of Hung Sin Nui’s passing. 

Filmed entirely at a film studio in Guangzhou, Chor Yuen deftly combined artistic elements from both Cantonese opera and film to tell this epic tale. The prominent camera movement in the scene in which Heung Kwan angrily denounces the corrupt officials helps portray her courage and unwavering loyalty. As consummate artists, both Hung and Law embody their characters through physical gestures and movements while their duets of ‘Nui style' and ‘Shrimp style' singing are a treat for the audience. Yuen Siu-fai takes on the role of the tactful Yeung Lung Yau who is diplomatic with both the authorities and the scholars. As a key character driving the plot, Lung Yau turns the blood spots on the fan from Heung Kwan’s suicide attempt into the peach blossoms of a drawing. In his prime during the film, Yuen is in supreme form with his impeccable appearance, singing and movements.

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