The King of Masks

Starring:Renying Zhou, Zhigang Zhao, Xu Zhu, Zhigang Zhang
Director: Tian-Ming Wu
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The King of Masks tells a tale steeped in ancient tradition, simultaneously challenging the sociosexual inequity still plaguing China today. On the streets of Szechuan Province in the 1930s, the aged King of Masks, sole living master of "change-face" opera, delights and frightens audiences with the secret art of lightning-quick mask-shifting. His fondest wish is to pass on his skill to a male heir before he dies. Famous female impersonator Liang Sao Lang craves knowledge of the king's secret technique, offering to relieve the old man's poverty by taking him into his opera troupe. The king declines: what sort of heir would this half-female creature make? Instead, he buys an orphan on the black market, joyously showing him off as his grandson and heir. But soon the child is forced to disclose a dreaded secret--one that effectively renders him a person of no value according to Chinese custom. In the king's eyes, the kid goes from "beloved grandson" to "stupid crook," and both the old man and the child must pay dearly for his bigotry before they can know joy again. A deeply moving film, simply told and superbly acted. --Laura Mirsky

Customer Reviews:

Great story!.......2007-05-07

A wonderful, moving movie!! How do they get children to act like this?? And the sub-titles did not distract from the movie at all. One of my favorites!!

Bring the tissue!.......2007-01-15

A great movie about China, but more so about unconditional love. If you want a good movie with great visuals, try this one!

Overt Child Exploitation That Never Redeems Itself Satisfyingly.......2006-12-17

A well-acted, well-portrayed, sickening, overt example of an adult whose sole desire for a child is based on getting that child to meet his own selfish needs. He has little or no love for the child based on who the child is in her core, and sends her the basic message that she does not count as a human being aside from being an object to gratify him. If the child does not mold to his expectations and desires she gets rejected, and this is the horrible tension of the movie.

Although the movie has some twists and turns that shake things up, the man's character never develops much in a satisfying way, and nor do the basic themes of adult selfishness and cultural repression. As such the movie is essentially non-redemptive, and portrays a sad and tragic side of humanity.

Although this movie is set in an outer province on China in the 1930s, it's actually a good metaphor for Western culture, much as Western cultural norms do not allow parents to exploit their children so overtly...

Luck and misfortune intertwined..........2006-11-11

SPOILERS.............

Wang is a street performer, the self proclaimed king of Masks. He is a man getting up there in age, and he soon realizes the need for an heir. But his art is a long time family secret, passed down only through the male generation. But in 1920's China, boys are coveted whereas girls are thrown to the side. He buys a child on the street, only to find out too late that his little boy is actually a little girl. King of Masks is a story about a man so bound by tradition he denies his fate, leading to one tragedy and misfortune after another.
Although engaging, and at times heart rendering, I would call King of Masks a mediocore film. Even through all the tragedy I knew that everything would turn out alright in the end. It was fairly predictable.
The characters were very likeable. Wang was a very endearing man, and Doggie was the cutest thing. But I don't think the film expanded enough on their relationship. In fact at one point I was unclear whether Wang had kicked the girl out, or she had run away.
There were times, also, when the story felt rushed, and some ends were left loose. Such as explaining what exactly the purpose of kidnapping the children were.
As a whole, although fairly entertaining, it did not offer the depth that I hoped it would.

Wonderful Movie, poor DVD transfer.......2006-10-08

This is a wonderful heartfelt little movie, but the DVD makes the movie appear to have been made in 1989 versus 1999. Other than that, a worthwhile film to watch.

The King of Masks (Dvd) Original VERSION

Average customer rating:

The King of Masks (Dvd) Original VERSION

Manufacturer: MEI AH ENTERTAINMENT
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Subtitle: English, Traditional Chinese (Imbedded Subtitles)
Audio: Dolby Digital
Cast: Chu Yuk, Chao Yim Yin
Release date: 1996
Duration: 101 minutes

ASIN: B000PDLTBQ

Product Description

Having lost his son in the war, the artiste adopts a boy as his grandson and hoping he may inherit his art. Unfortunately, he has been hoaxed by the pedlar, as the child turns out to be a gril. He tries to get rid of her, but without success. Yearning for a home, she clings desperately to the old man for a livelihood. Thus the grandfather and the grandchild, though without blood relationship, lead a wandering life riddled with a series of witty but heartrending adventures. Cast: Chu Yuk, Chao Yim Yin Director: Wu Tian Ming Release date: 1996 Language: Mandarin Subtitle: English, Traditional Chinese (Imbedded Subtitles) Audio: Dolby Digital Picture format: NTSC Letter box Duration: 101 minutes Publisher: Mei Ah (HK) Co., Ltd.

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