Emperor Zhengde's Night Visit to the Dragon and Phoenix Inn (Restored Version)

This film was collected locally in 1994.

Lee Gee-hing established Man Li Film Co. Ltd. in the late 1950s and had distributed several hundred films in the 1960s. After he passed away, his family transferred the colour negatives and black-and-white prints of Emperor Zhengde's Night Visit to the Dragon and Phoenix Inn to the Archive. Some of the material had suffered substantial damages but with the introduction of digital technology, the Archive's Conservation Unit was able to restore them. The soundtracks of different prints were digitised and merged with the colour negatives, resulting in this 108-minute colour version.

This Cantonese opera film by Wong Hok-sing is adapted from a folk story and features Cantonese opera virtuoso Yam Kim-fai as the romantic emperor who falls in love with a beautiful commoner called Lee Fung (Lai Yee) during his travels in plain clothes. A romantic, the emperor would rather live in seclusion with his true love than resuming royal duties, angering the empress (Fung Wong Nui) who threatens to gouge out the eyes of Lee Fung. This Eastmancolour spectacle features magnificent settings of the palace and radiant and enchanting Jiangnan scenery shot on locations. Credit must be given to Joseph Sunn Jue, who wore the many hats of executive producer, photographer and colour consultant to create the extravagant visual design, setting a model for Cantonese opera films.

Date	Time	Venue
12/6/2021 (Sat)	4:00pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

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