New Monkey King epic brings back memories

"Odyssey," the latest film adaptation of the legendary Monkey King story, is enjoying success at the box office and fueling waves of nostalgia among Chinese audiences.

The fantasy-action film directed by acclaimed Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow took in 123 million yuan (19.7 million U.S. dollars) when it debuted in theaters on Feb. 10, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, setting a new record for single-day earnings at the Chinese box office.

The movie was adapted from the 500-year-old Chinese classic "Journey to the West," or "Monkey," the story of Monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India with the Monkey King and two other disciples.

Throughout the past century, "Journey to the West" has been successfully adapted to Peking Opera, comics, films, TV series and plays.

"Odyssey" is considered a companion piece to the film "A Chinese Odyssey," which Chow acted in 20 years ago. It also pays tribute to "Biography of Wukong," which was published by author Zeng Yu online, chapter-by-chapter, before being compiled in book-form in 2000.

The latter two overturned the traditional story by allowing the Monkey King, or Wukong, and his fellow pilgrims to experience the same struggles, joys, pains and thrills that regular people go through. They also added romance to the monotonous, monster-battling journey detailed in the original novel.

"A Chinese Odyssey" and "Biography of Wukong" were hits with both audiences and readers, and they even became "guides for people in love" among university students born in the 1970s.

"Dozens of my friends have borrowed lines from the film 'A Chinese Odyssey' to propose to their girlfriends and they all succeeded," said Xie Zhen, a female fan of the film, who is in her 30s.

"I can still recite the most famous lines, that is 'If God would give me a chance, I would tell my true love three words - I love you. If our love has to have a time limit, I wish it could last for 10,000 years,'" said Xie, who agreed to marry her then boyfriend after he recited the lines to her.

Other fans consider "A Chinese Odyssey" and "Biography of Wukong" the best cure for a broken heart.