Course:ASIA325/2025/Enlightenment Through Absurdity

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Enlightenment Through Absurdity: Stephen Chow’s A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box
Create an attractive research project title and put the title here in this section. The title should include keywords from your thesis statement/argument, and it should NOT be a long and complicated question (an eye-catching and provocative rhetorical question is fine). For instance, a possible format could be: “Keyword A, Keyword B, (or Keyword C): …….” . It is important for you to come up with a thematic idea in the first place because this will help you organize and focalize your writing and analysis in the remaining sections. Ideally, your title should comprise two parts, such as "By Way of Mass Commodities: Love in Comrades, Almost a Love Story." (notice here Comrades, Almost a Love Story is the title of the film under review/discussion). Please follow "Title Case" or "Headline Style" to format your title, which capitalizes the first letter of certain key words. In Title Case (or “Headline Style”), you will need to capitalize the first letter of the following (NOT including prepositions):

  • The first words of titles and subtitles
  • Nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns
  • Verbs and verb phrases
  • Adverbs and adjectives

Group Members' Contributions

Display a list of group members (and specify your group's internal division of labor). Please only include the acronyms of your first name and last name. For instance, if your name is Stephen Chow, you only write S C, followed by the parts or sections that you write out. If there are several members contributing to the same section, specify the different contributions each member has made, or how different members worked together on this section.

Introduction

Write a short introduction that includes all the basic information so that the film can be easily identified and there is no confusion. Note the name, the director, main cast, and the characters in the story, along with the year (and possible date) of the premiere, as well as a roadmap and agenda of your following research-informed review. You should include 1-3 lines synopsis of the film's main story written by yourself. Please do not copy and paste the existing synopsis of the film's main story from Wikipedia or any other English-language resources. In the roadmap/agenda paragraph, you should specify the driving themes of your film review, or a few keywords that your groups are struggling with or focusing on. This introductory part should be written last -- after you finished all the following sections.

Stories Behind the Film

A Hong Kong-Mainland Coproduction

The film A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box (1995) is the first part of Jeffrey Lau’s duology known collectively as A Chinese Odyssey, starring Stephen Chow. The second part being A Chinese Odyssey Part 2: Cinderella. The two films were shot back to back and released within two weeks of each other, premiering in Hong Kong cinemas on January 21st and February 4th respectively (). The film was a coproduction between leading man Stephen Chow’s fledgling film company Choi Sing Film Company and Mainland China’s Xi’an Film Studio, regarded as one of the six major film groups in China (). This partnership granted Hong Kong based filmmakers Lau and Chow the ability to market their film to a larger audience in Mainland China, and also provided them access to important filming locations such as the natural desert landscapes and culturally significant sites of Ningxia. Despite the benefit of filming in these new and exciting locations, a must for bringing their fantasy vision to life, the partnership was also a matter of necessity as investors found the film’s complicated and chaotic storyline to be unmarketable (). Thus, financing the film proved difficult. By forming this coproduction, Lau was also able to take advantage of the cheaper labour, equipment, and facilities in Mainland China, bringing costs down significantly.

Throughout the coproduction, creative control was maintained by the Hong Kong filmmakers, for both good and ill. The “unmarketability” of the film was a direct result of Lau’s directorial ethos of taking an improvisational approach to filmmaking, a guerrilla style that was popular in Hong Kong at the time, where directors began filming with only a rough outline of the plot (). This approach informed the film's sense of chaos both on and off the screen, with actors often not knowing the story, or having restricted access to scripts while on set (). Further chaos ensued when production faced both cultural and logistical tensions due to the Hong Kong director and actors insisting on speaking Cantonese on set while the Mainland actors and crew only knew Mandarin ().

Romance on and off the screen

Leading man Stephen Chow and Karen Mok’s relationship began during the production of A Chinese Odyssey, where Chow cast Mok in the role of Bak Jing-jing, his onscreen love interest. He discovered Mok early in her career and gave her her first leading role, seeing potential in her unique look and acting energy which stood out against the more conventional beauty standards in Hong Kong cinema of the era (). Their offscreen romance provided fuel for their onscreen chemistry, especially with regards to the tragic and romantic undertones of A Chinese Odyssey. Mok’s casting was not only personal, but also strategic in that her character provides the main emotional arc of the film. This casting also marked a turning point in her career, providing a springboard into her later stardom that includes both film and television roles, a successful singing career, global brand partnerships, and even carrying the Olympic torch during the 2008 Summer Games held in Beijing (). Though their relationship has since ended, the two have collaborated professionally since, notably on Chow’s blockbuster hit Mermaid (2016) for which Mok recorded the popular song You Are the Best in the World, with Chow providing backing vocals ().

The Rise of Mo lei tau and the Comedic Lineage of Stephen Chow

Stephen Chow, A Chinese Odyssey, and Mo lei tau as a cinematic form owe their existence to the Cantonese language comedies that rose to prominence in the 70s, especially those by Michael Hui. Hui helped reinvent and revitalize Cantonese language cinema with hits like Games Gamblers Play (1974) and The Private Eyes (1976). His films were often rooted in working class absurdities and get-rich-quick schemes which laid the groundwork for a style of humour that was anarchic, irreverent, and deeply local (). Chow would later modernize and radicalize this theme into a unique blend of slapstick, wordplay, meta humour, and pop culture references.

The rise of Mo lei tau comedy in 1990s Hong Kong cinema coincided with a period of cultural uncertainty, especially as the 1997 Handover drew nearer. The genre gained popularity through actor Stephen Chow and directors like Jeffrey Lau as they mixed absurdity, linguistic hijinks, and slapstick humour into a unique cinematic language. The literal translation of Mo lei tau is “can’t tell head from tail”, and this sense of the illogical resonated with young people in Hong Kong who were faced with the senselessness of colonialism and political transition. As La Frances Hui puts it, Chow’s comedy offered a “subversive challenge to reason, logic, and convention,” allowing Cantonese speaking youth to carve out a linguistic identity distinct from both English and Mandarin dominance (). A Chinese Odyssey is a prime example of this genre, combining fantasy, romance, comedy, tragedy, and action into a time bending retelling of Journey to the West.

Histories of the Film’s Reception

Initial Reception and Box Office Woes

Upon its initial release, A Chinese Odyssey failed to meet expectations at the box office. Against a reported production budget of 60 million HKD it was only able to recoup 45 million HKD (). This return was somewhat disappointing considering the scale of its production and collaboration between the Mainland Xi’an Studios and Stepehen Chow’s Choi Sing Films. According to box office data for the period, neither Part 1 nor Part 2 were able to break into the top five earners for Hong Kong films in 1995 (). The film performed so poorly that Choi Sing Films was forced to declare bankruptcy, A Chinese Odyssey being its first and last production (). Despite its weak earnings, the film was well received by some Hong Kong critics, winning awards at the 2nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards that year. Among Mainland critics however, it was listed as “one of the ten worst films of 1995” ().

A Second Life with Mainland Audiences

The film grew in popularity throughout the late 1990s and 2000s alongside the rise of internet meme culture (). Mainland university students who did not see the film during its initial theatrical run shared it via bootleg film discs, a common practice in the late 90s. This underground sharing of media coincided with the advent of online forums in late 1997, such as BBS hosted by Tsinghua University. Online discussion boards became a nexus for discussion of A Chinese Odyssey, and over the next few years the film became one of the most talked about in China (). As Li Zeng writes, “between 1998 and 2002, more than one hundred Dahua (A Chinese Odyssey) fan websites were established” ().

Factors contributing to the wild popularity of A Chinese Odyssey among Mainland youth are posited to be “campus life, popular culture, employment pressure during China’s transition to a market economy, and the changing relationship between individuals and Chinese society” (). Of particular note is the openness in which the film approaches the theme of love, which resonated heavily with mainland fans. Historically, China has had a more traditional view of love, only becoming more in line with Western attitudes as late as the mid 90s, with the rise of Hong Kong and Taiwanese television shows like Princess Huan Zhu (). Candid discussion of love was rare before then, and A Chinese Odyssey’s loose treatment of the subject was “fresh and liberating to young Chinese viewers” (). The film’s reception among audiences in Hong Kong, however, remained lukewarm as they were already accustomed to such free depictions of intimacy ().

Entry into the Pantheon of Timeless Classics

A Chinese Odyssey is now regarded as a timeless classic among Chinese audiences, even receiving a full theatrical rerelease of both Parts 1 and 2 in 2012, nearly twenty years after its initial run (). The film’s legacy continues on as it is introduced to a new, younger generation via quotable lines infiltrating common vocabulary such as the famous “10,000 years”, and as the original fans of the film age, marry, and share their love of the film with their children (). The popular A Chinese Odyssey fan attraction at Xi’an Film Studio, where mothers and fathers take their children for fun, is a testament to the films lasting popularity among people of all ages ().

Scholarly Literature Review

An Unfaithful Adaptation of Journey to the West

  • The 1995 film: A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box“ directed by Jeffrey Lau and starring Stephen Chow” (Qian, 208, 2011) is an adaptation of the novel Journey to the West assumed originally to be written by Wu Cheng’en in the 1590s that strays from the main plot of Journey to the West (Zeng, 187, 2012). This is most apparent through the use of portraying the film’s first 4:40 minutes where Monkey King/Sun Wukong is killed and his master, Longevity Monk sacrificed himself to allow Monkey King to be reincarnated in the distant future. This beginning of a story is contrasted from the eventual plot within Journey to the West, where Xuan Zang “asks Monkey King to go to China and give the Emperor a letter informing about his death and asking to send someone else with the same mission” (Sarakaeva, 220, 2019). Accompanied with the fact that the movie ends with Sun Wukong returning back to his original time (1:23:14-1:24:18) shows that the trilogy A Chinese Odyssey is an adaptation in the form of an epilogue to Xuan Zang’s story. The Longevity Monk is likely to be portrayed as Xuan Zang based off of the fact that the scene at 37:32 relates to the following quote from a summary of Journey to the West:
    • “As for the demons there is no lack of them, in fact all the demons big

and small try to capture the monk and eat him. It turns out the monk

Xuanzang used to be an arahant, the second disciple of Buddha in his

previous life, so eating his flash can make one immortal.” (Sarakaeva 197)

A Chinese Odyssey is a predecessor to other successful media that faithfully replicated stories from Journey to the West such as “The Monkey King Conquers the Demon (金猴降妖), which was based

on the story ‘The Monkey King’s Three Battles with the Baigujing (白骨精)’ from

Journey to the West (see Fig. 1e).” (Zhang & Zhou 2025 pg 9) and the “1986 television series Journey to the West” (Zhang & Zhou, 2025 pg 10). This leaves A Chinese Odyssey to be an outlier within the 1990s as an unfaithful adaptation that deviates from the plot of Journey to the West, bringing into question of the purpose of creating a film adaptation of a story considering the high acclaim Journey to the West and previous adaptations had in Chinese culture (Zeng, 2012, pg. 188+191). The main argument from Zeng’s 2025 article is that adaptations of Journey to the West even until 2025

have been a form of cultural empowerment for the Chinese literary text as media was usually portrayed with innovative formats for their period of time, with A Chinese Odyssey being a unique take on adaptation (Zhang & Zhou, 2025, pg 15). In addition to this, the main argument

“Over centuries and changes in different media environments, Journey to the West has not only preserved its inherent philosophical depth but also gained a new sense of contemporaneity and relevance, achieving lasting resonance among contemporary audiences. Simultaneously, it has expanded its cultural infuence and reinforced its “Thick Power,” making it an important and sustainably adaptable pillar of Chinese cultural heritage.” (Zhang & Zhou, 2025, pg. 15)

In addition to this, Zeng’s 2012 article analyzes the success of A Chinese Odyssey as a film and an unfaithful adaptation of Journey to the West is to be dependent on expectations of quality to not discredit the film and a changing perception “of films with ‘baggage,’ which refers to lofty ideas, politically ‘correct’ ideologies, and moral lessons” (Zeng 2012, 192). This sentiment is shared with Qian’s 2011 article where he expresses “the nonsense comedy not only subverts the original classic to obtain people’s laugh, but also deconstructs any heavy-hearted discussion on Hong Kong’s identity” (Qian, 2011, 320). However, when considering critical analysis of the film, Jeffrey Lau’s romance story appears to be exploring prior expectations and values that are regarded when making an adaptation of a film. Apart from this, Zeng’s 2012 article highlights how the concept of love (used in A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella) and twisting of social expectations of the story allow the unfaithful adaptation to develop its own identity outside of the original literature. Understanding that the film is an unfaithful adaptation, it is important to denote key differences between Journey to the West and A Chinese Odyssey which include portrayal of religious representation of Buddhist, Taoist and Confuscist beliefs within A Chinese Odyssey compared to Journey to the West, as well as shaping contemporary identity using Pandora’s Box.

Different Representations of Taoist, Buddhist and Confucius Beliefs

  • Firstly, there are multiple religious references throughout the film, A Chinese Odyssey directed by Jeffrey Lau where Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism being some of the dominant religions in East Asia (Reader, 1+2, 2015). With the use of comedy within the film (21:00-21:45), the light hearted representation of religion provides a positive perspective on their lifestyle and values. To provide an example of a positive representation, the Buddhist representation within the film includes the belief in reincarnation and selfless sacrifice of Xuan Zang to allow Sun Wukong to reincarnate at 4:30 - 4:40 time of the film. However, it is important to denote that this scene replicates the following sentiment of a representative of
    • “The Jade Emperor whom Monkey King defies stands not only for Taoism. His image stands even more for political power, for the whole social and structural hierarchy cemented for centuries by Confucianism or rather Confucians in the service of the System.” (Sarakaeva, 2017, 207-208)
  • The following sentiment shares its defiant nature of the adaptation of the film and how certain aspects of the movie challenge traditional values.  One aspect is the how at 55:44 - 55:55 Bak Jing-Jing abandoned her “good marriage with Chilean Immortal” in pursuit of love with the Monkey King leading to many fights pressed by her objective older sister 26:32-26:53. Abandoning filial piety is criticism of the traditional values upheld by Confucian beliefs impeding an individual’s perception of happiness similarly to the Journey to the West analogy of when Xuan Zang pities a wood cutter “who is afraid of death not because his own life is dear to him, but because he is the only supporter of his widowed mother”. Ma’am 30 is not Bak Jing-Jing’s mother however Bak Jing-Jing always sacrifices for childish dreams to marry Sun Wukong even after 3 years of no contact and ending up in the same location 500 years later (33:00 - 33:25). The one-sided love, that lead Bak Jing-Jing to suicide in A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s box (1:06:30-1:07:30) expresses the challenges of defiance through Bak Jing-Jing being disconnected from her sister (26:48) and a miserable life in pursuit of personal fulfillment. Arguably, this portrayal of upholding traditional beliefs through Confucianism beliefs is more a neutral portrayal by showing both positive and negative aspects of divorcing in the name of love. Apart from this, an example of Buddhism in a positive light is at 44:00-44:20 minutes of the film, where Buddha is portrayed as the saviour of the village (even if temporary) by trapping the 2 demons that threaten the village by trapping them in magic bags. Buddhist representation in the original material, Journey to the West highlights enlightenment, karma and a saviour Buddhist monk (Sarakaeva, 2017, 209-210), quite similar to the film A Chinese Odyssey’s way of representing Buddhist monks including Sun Wukong to deal with karma and enlightenment (1:11:37 - 1:12:39). Furthermore, Jeffrey Lau blends Buddhist and Taoist representation of religions through the theme of reincarnation as the Taoist representation at 1:11:03-1:12:10 using the scroll as a guide to ascension (Sarakaeva, 2017, 212). Using the displays the ascension/transformation process of the immortal Sun Wukong from his human form to be dependent on a ritual with the three birthmarks provided by a higher power (Spider Web Immortal). However, this portrayal of Taoist beliefs conflicts with the Journey to the West’s negative portrayal of “Taoist saints and spirits are shown inferior to the Buddhist saints” (Sarakaeva, 2017, 205) while A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box makes no reference to Taoist saints. Overall, the religious representation within the film usually complement one another with Buddhism held as a more positive impact to the story, but this does not discredit the impact of Taoism and Confucianism beliefs to teach the moral struggles of upholding our traditional beliefs.

Pandora’s Box Differentiating an Identity

  • Qian’s 2011 article makes reference of how Pandora’s Box in the A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella, Sun Wukong interacts with his past self (Qian, 2011, 310) was used to highlight how identity was influenced by time and its connection with “the Joint Declaration of 1984 on the future of Hong Kong” (Qian, 2011, 309). However, A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box shares similar traits when the Master Bandit drastically changed his appearance to signify that he is done with both the life of Sun Wukong and Master Bandit as they have both committed immoral actions (31:10-32:10). This provides Sun Wukong’s identity to be in a transformative period where there is liberty to choose which path to go, however through moral guidance and proposed negative outcomes of not becoming Sun Wukong, insinuates the moral of the story of A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box to be more about responsibility and acceptance of his previous identity (Qian, 2011, 312) compared to Part Two: Cinderella about decentering one’s identity due to the experiences he had in the future (time period of Part One) where “In this sense, it is simultaneously the past that is preserved and the present that passes” (Qian, 2011, 313). The use/reference of Pandora’s Box is claimed to be more present in A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella as Qian’s 2011 article highlights that “This time the same does not return, the opposite does not return, what returns is the difference, the power of differentiation”. How this relates to the A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box is through the identification that using Pandora’s Box, which is a Greek mythology that is not highlighted to be present in other adaptations of Journey to the West, is an allegory of what can be understood through the differentiation of identities across time periods. This would develop the narrative of the Part One of a Chinese Odyssey of including but not limited to questioning their societal values as a whole, which discussing questions about value in love compared to societal obligation results in one’s happiness as shown with Sun Wukong using Pandora’s Box to save Bak Jing-Jing (1:16:30-1:22:00) or how religious beliefs can be upheld together to develop a narrative even when from different religions (by using Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism). A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella evaluates “Hong Kong [as] a hybrid society composed of multiple ethnicities, languages, and value systems, it is a hodgepodge of ingredients, in much the same way as the nonsensical combination of words that cannot completely blend together to create a homogeneous whole” (Qian, 2011, 321). Qian’s 2011 article does not mention identity within Hong Kong to be an explored theme of Part One: Pandora’s Box, however this adaptation of Journey to the West displays how using unfaithful adaptations of literature can develop discourse of new themes by analyzing details within the differences between literature and media adaptation.

Comparative Analysis

Conduct a comparative analysis: compare the film with another film (be it in Mandarin, Cantonese, or from any other language) that explores a similar theme but by a different director. You should find the second film you want to compare by yourself and confirm with the instructor. Before launching into your comparison, you want to say a few words to justify why you picked these two films for comparative analysis and why does this comparison matter (the famous "so-what" question). Compare the two films and elaborate on their similarities (at least three points) and differences (at least three points) with concrete audiovisual examples (you are encouraged to insert film stills or clips into your comparative analysis). You may pay attention to their different or similar historical contexts of production, different or similar film elements (mise-en-scene, acting, editing, soundtrack, cinematography), settings, characterizations, plots, scenic spectacles, tones, cinematography, and expressed themes, etc. But you do not have to be comprehensive–only compare the formal aspects or film techniques that speak to the theme you chose to focus on. Let thematic analysis drive your comparison of the formal elements. You want to arrive at an thematically meaningful argument or conclusion in this section through the comparison.

Alternative Interpretation

Seek an alternative interpretation--first identify an existing interpretation that you want to challenge, revise, or amend (be precise on this; and you can glean this interpretation from "Scholarly Literature Review" above); and then pick two distinctive scenes from the film that made a particularly strong impression on your group and analyze them in detail that will speak to the interpretation you want to challenge or amend. The two scenes could be of a relationship of reinforcement or contrast or parallel or continuity. The purpose is to give a refreshing, non-conventional, and thought-provocative interpretation of the film via close reading of the two scenes you selected. Pay attention to the actors’ performance, setting, music, light, characters’ behavior, and dialogue, but be selective in your analysis. This is to say, you do not need to give a shot-by-shot analysis in this section, but only focus on the formal aspects or film elements in detail that speak to your (counter-)arguments. No need to list any “interesting” aspects of the mise-en-scene or cinematography that are irrelevant to your major arguments (as stated in the introduction) or central themes (as indicated in the title). You only want to mention a few aspects of those shots and interpret their meanings when such thematic analysis will either echo or challenge one point made in the scholarly literature review (in the 6th section above). Once again, thematic analysis should drive your formal analysis, and formal analysis could be the compelling evidence that can support your interpretation of the film's themes. You are encouraged to insert a few still images or clips to accompany your analysis. The best alternative interpretation is to articulate your disagreement with existing scholarship that you have already reviewed in section 6. By "alterative interpretation," it means an interpretation different from any of the given interpretations in existing scholarship. No need to worry about spoilers.

Conclusion

Write a conclusion: briefly summarize and state what the general perception of the film was by the audience and the critics alike. Then focus on expressing your group’s personal opinion and either recommend the film (in this case, specify what audience will most likely enjoy it) or not recommend it (in this case, specify the reasons for not recommending it). Include the rationale for your evaluation.

References

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