Why ‘Journey’ theme continues to enthral
The characters, especially the Monkey King, reflect who we are during different periods of our lives, from happy childhood to tiring middle-age, and thereby appeals to us all.
DOZENS of movies later, the iconic Journey to the West theme continues to draw millions of audiences in China and the global Chinese diaspora.
Movies based on the same theme are invariably box-office hits, much to the amusement of Hollywood insiders accustomed to a totally different formula for success.
Why does the same theme work?
For one thing, it’s a compelling mythical setting full of monsters and deities.
Additionally, the characters and core spirit of the story also are a factor. While the US has dozens of superhero characters, for many Chinese, the sole and only local superhero is the Monkey King.
“Before I started writing Legend of Wukong as a 20something college graduate, I had long been fascinated by the Monkey King,” said Jin Hezai, an online literature writer and the scriptwriter for the upcoming film Wukong, referring to the 2000 blockbuster online novel that made him a big name.
He once dreamed about becoming a versatile superhero like the Monkey King, who “stood against the rules set by the celestial and underworld gods”.
The classic novel Journey to the West follows the monk Xuanzang as he makes his way to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures accompanied by his three cursed disciples Sun Wukong (Monkey King), Zhu Bajie (Pig) and Sha Wujing (Friar Sand).
Since 1926, the story has been adapted more than 100 times worldwide.
“The characters, especially the Monkey King, reflect who we
Jin Hezai, scriptwriter for the upcoming film ‘Wukong’
are during different periods of our lives, from happy childhood to tiring middle-age, and thereby appeals to us all,” figured Jin.
Wukong, to be released in July, will be the eighth movie adaptation of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel.
Outside of China, other Asian countries and regions have also been enthusiastic about adapting Journey, with Japan alone producing at least four TV series about the story from 1952 to 2007.
Over the past two years, most Journey remakes released in the mainland, such as Stephen Chow’s big-budget blockbuster Journey to the West: Demons Fight Back (2017), have chosen to debut during the Chinese New Year holidays, the country’s most fiercely competitive period for films.
In most cases this was a wise movie as a majority of these films saw commercial, if not critical, success during the period. Demons Fight Back alone raked in more than 1.6 billion yuan.
“I was very much attracted to Wukong’s rebellious spirit and his hatred toward the rules of a rigid world,” Lin Jianyu, an 18year-old university freshman.
He said that Jin’s version of the Monkey King reminded him of his own life and appealed to him more than the original story.
Jin was also the co-writer for the novelisation of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons along with director Stephen Chow.
Commenting on his work with Chow, Jin said that Chow tends to humanise the four characters in his works, which is probably why his recent Journey adaptations and his 1994 A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella, in which Chow played the Monkey King, were so popular among Chinese and even foreign audiences.
“Chow told me he wanted to depict the foursome as ordinary human beings who experience frustration and pain,” said Jin.