Flirting Scholar
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| Flirting Scholar | |
|---|---|
 Flirting Scholar DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Lee Lik-Chi |
| Produced by | Stephen Shiu |
| Written by | Vincent Kok Lee Lik-Chi Stephen Siu |
| Starring | Stephen Chow Gong Li Nat Chan Cheng Pei-pei Liu Chia Hui |
| Music by | William Hu |
| Cinematography | David Chung Peter Ngor |
| Editing by | Ma Chung-Yiu |
| Distributed by | Win's Movie Production Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | July 1, 1993 |
| Running time | 102 min |
| Country |  Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese, Mandarin |
| Gross revenue | HK$40,171,804.00 |
| IMDb profile | |
Flirting Scholar (traditional Chinese: 唐伯虎點秋香; pinyin: Tang Bohu dian Qiuxiang) is a 1993 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Lee Lik-Chi and starring Stephen Chow. Chow plays a character based on famous historical personage Tang Yin, better known as Tong Bak Fu (Tang Buo Hu in Mandarin). The events in this movie are based on the story penned by Tong Bak Fu with a bit of artistic license applied.
[edit] Plot
In the Ming Dynasty, there exists a legendary au pair of four scholars, whose literary and artistic skills were the talk of South Central China, along with the capital area. Out of the four scholars, Tong Bak Fu (Stephen Chow) was most famous for his eight wives and literary skills, however, all is not rosy in the garden, as Tong's eight wives were complete gambling addicts, and, in general, unappreciative of Tong's artistic skills. This led to Tong's quest for a woman who truly understands him and appreciates his skills.
In addition to this quest, there is also a familial secret within the Tong Family. The Tong Family is actually a family of martial arts masters. The Tong Family had 2 major enemies, one was the Evil Scholar, who killed Tong Bak Fu's father during a melee, the other was a love rival of Tong Bak Fu's mother, Chussy. Due to these rivalries, Tong Bak Fu was forbidden by his mother to use martial arts at all.
One day, during an outing with the rest of the legendary four scholars, Tong stumbled upon the convoy of the House of Wah, an aristocratic family with much political power in the Ming Dynastical Government. That was when Tong met Chow Heung (Gong Li), one of the four maids in the House of Wah who are renowned for their legendary beauty. Tong originally sought to woo Chow Heung inside a temple, but was stopped violently by a monk for singing in a temple. Afterwards, under the advice of a boat driver hired by Tong to chase the House of Wah's boat, Tong decided to enter the House of Wah as a lowly servant, and gained entry after a fierce bid war.
Tong finds life as a servant very difficult until he was caught apparently helping a band of rapists attempting to kidnap and rape Chow Heung. This results in Madame Wah discovering that Tong is actually educated, through a rap/poem Tong made up on the spot that claims that his life was ruined by Tong Pak Fu. After some persuasion by Chow Heung, Tong was hired as an assistant tutor for Madame Wah's two young sons, both of whom are mentally challenged, and was given the name Wah On.
After the sudden (and quite comical) death of the main tutor of the House of Wah, Tong was hired as the main tutor, and as a result, Tong managed to get closer to Chow Heung. The good times did not last long, however, as the House of Wah was visited by Chancellor Wah's political rival, King Ning, who brought along the Evil Scholar (Gordon Liu), notorious around China for his deadly weaponry, The Deadly Scholastic Sword (書生奪命劍). King Ning, on the surface, was bringing the "Spring and Autumn" painting by Tong Bak Fu for Chancellor Wah to see. But in reality, King Ning wanted to bring along the Evil Scholar to inflict damage and injuries in the Wah Family.
In the subsequent "viewing" of the painting (in actuality, a fierce martial arts melee), Madame Wah was injured, and Tong stepped in to finish the battle in the House of Wah's favor. He succeeded, but the painting was destroyed in the process. King Ning seized the opportunity to blame the House of Wah for insulting him by destroying the picture. To save the House of Wah from being possibly executed by King Ning, Tong claims that the destroyed painting was actually a counterfeit, and that there is a copy of the genuine painting inside the House of Wah compounds.
Afterwards, Tong left with Chow Heung to fetch the painting. Chow Heung was fearful, for the House of Wah, under the orders of Madame Wah, was not allowed to have Tong Bak Fu's paintings or works of literatures inside the compounds. Within a short time, Tong painted the picture on the spot, and presented the painting to King Ning. King Ning was defeated, but Tong unintentionally revealed his real identity to Madame Wah, who, as the love rival of Tong's mother, was one of the enemies of the Tong Family. Madame Wah poisoned Tong upon learning of his real identity.
Several days after the first melee, The Evil Scholar returned to the House of Wah to annihilate the entire House. Once again, Madame Wah sought to defend the family, but was almost killed in the process. Tong appeared moments before Madame Wah, and Chow Heung (who was protecting the injured Madame Wah), would be killed by the Evil Scholar. After a fierce battle, Tong kills the Evil Scholar and earns Chow Heung's hand in marriage as a reward. Madame Wah puts on a game to test Tong's love for Chow Heung, and Tong proved himself. Tong and Chow Heung eventually married each other in a ceremony where he discovers, to his dismay, that Chow Heung was as much a gambling addict as his previous eight wives.
[edit] Cast
- Stephen Chow - Tong Bak-Fu
- Gong Li - Chow Heung
- Chan Pak-cheung - Chuck Chi-Shan
- Cheng Pei-pei - Madame Wah
- Liu Chia Hui - Evil Scholar
- Francis Ng - Member of The Four Scholars
- Vincent Kok - Tu Chuen-Chang
- Leung Ka-Yan - Mo Chong-Yuen
- Chan Fai-hung
- Chu Tiet Wo
- Peter Lai - Teacher
- Lam Wai - King Ning
- Lee Kin-Yan
- Leung Wing-Chung
- Carol Wan - Tung Heung
- Gabriel Wong - Wah-Man
- Wong Jim - Chancellor Wah
- Yuen King-Tan - Shek-Lau
- Mimi Zhu - Chussy
[edit] External links
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