Jun 242013
 

Classical literature has provided storytelling fodder for cinema since the invention of the medium, but rarely is it adapted as unconventionally as in Emperor Visits the Hell, the new film from Chinese director Li Lou.  Based on a part of the 16th century Ming Dynasty classic Journey to the West (which also inspired the cult ’70s TV show Monkey), the film’s story of gods, demons, ghosts and the underworld is shot in a mundane, contemporary setting without costumes or special effects.  Non-professional Chinese actors dressed in everyday attire wander around city centres and country fields portraying a fantastical fable of life, death and magic, all of which makes for a most intriguing watch.

In 7th century China, Emperor Li Shimin fails to keep a promise to the Dragon King (a deity who control the rains and the oceans) to protect him from Heaven’s executioner after a bet with a fortune-teller goes awry.  The Dragon King’s ghost haunts the emperor until he falls gravely ill and dies.  With the help of the guardian of the underworld (a former friend of his Prime Minister), the emperor must trick the King of Hell into believing that his death was a mistake, and make amends with the souls of those he has killed before he can return to the land of the living.

The emperor and his entourage look like harried office workers, the Dragon King like a modern day gangster.  The King of Hell presides over his domain from a city apartment, while the the river of life and death runs through a muddy village.  Initially this representation of the magical through the mundane is somewhat jarring, and almost feels like you’re watching a rehearsal for the real movie, with costumes and CGI to be added later.  But as the film goes on, distinctions between the fantastical and the everyday begin to fade in the mind of the viewer, until there seems to be nothing at all ridiculous about having a water-spirit played by a man in shorts and sandals, or Hell’s gatekeeper portrayed by a middle-aged businessman.  The contemporary setting, shot in stark black and white, suggests that the story’s moral message – that of keeping one’s promises and righting past wrongs –  has just as much relevance today as it did when it was written five centuries ago.  Emperor Visits the Hell also forces us to ask questions about the representation of fantastical subject matter in cinema, particularly about which story elements most merit preservation in the course of adaptation.  Seeing the magical as the everyday doesn’t devalue this tale of the fantastical, but rather gives us an interesting insight into what we love about fantasy.  What’s more, it also serves to make the everyday itself a little more magical.

Emperor Visits the Hell is showing on 26th June at 6.15pm (Filmhouse) and 29th June at 7.45pm (Cineworld).

[suffusion-the-author]

[suffusion-the-author display='description']