Modern ‘Red Chamber Dream’

Dir: Griffin Yue Feng
Orig Story: Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin
Prod Co: Great Wall
Cast: Li Lihua, Yan Jun, Ouyang Shafei, Luo Lan, Ping Fan
1952 | B&W | DCP | Mandarin | Chinese Lyrics | 118min

Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the big four of classic Chinese novels, has been adapted for film and television dozens of times over the past decades. Yet this sui generis Great Wall production daringly transposes the setting to modern-day 1950s. The contemporised story revolves nonetheless around the love triangle between Jia Baoyu and his two cousins. Both girls love him but his heart belongs to only one. The ending, however, is remarkably changed to separation of the lovers as a result of war—the war that was surely still haunting the minds of the filmmakers at the time when the film was made. Not only did Great Wall pour money into building extravagant sets just so to recreate down to the smallest detail the grandeur of the legendary Jia mansion, but the film also boasted of its lavish costume designs for the diverse female cast. From Chinese qipaos to Western dresses, all costumes (as many as 216 sets in total) were meticulously tailored to subtly highlight the unique personality of each and every character.

Modern ‘Red Chamber Dream’ has not been shown in theatre for years. The film can finally be shared with the audience after digitisation.