New Monkey King epic brings back memories(2)

"They teach you how to deal with life's obstacles and setbacks," said Chen Shu, 33, who watched the film on three occasions and read the novel five times when he was lovelorn.

Chen said the film and the novel are so imaginative and rebellious that they present their audience with new ways to live life. "I became much more magnanimous and open-minded," he said.

People like Xie and Chen are going to movie theaters hoping to enjoy a bit of something from their past, and have found yet another interpretation of an old favorite in "Odyssey."

"China's speedy development in the past decade left people much more lonely and detached in bustling mega-cities. It explains why the "Odyssey" audience feels nostalgic when watching it," Zeng, author of both "Biography of Wukong" and the novel adapted from the film "Odyssey," told Xinhua.

"But times change. The Monkey King's love oath changes from the moving 'love you for 10,000 years' [in 'A Chinese Odyssey'] to 'carpe diem' [in 'Odyssey']," said the author, who is better known in China by his pseudonym Jinhezai.

He added that the film displays today's Chinese society, in which people feel more anxious about the future.

"People now rush to do everything. They are also more realistic as they value material needs such as a house and cars more within a marriage than older generations did," said Chen.

He said it is a pity that fewer believe in love forever now. "Romance is more like a luxury."

Those adapting films from works of literature, literary scholars and film critics agree with Jinhezai's notion that "there are 1,000 Monkey Kings in 1,000 people's eyes."

Zhang Yiwu, a culture critic and professor with Peking University, said the original novel's combination of mythology, distinct characters and comic elements has made imaginative adaptations possible.

He said in an increasingly open and diverse society like China's, more eye-catching adaptations of the Monkey King mythology will emerge.

Meanwhile, Zeng hopes to make another Monkey King film in the near future. "It will tell my outlook on life."