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How 2 films from Li Han-hsiang became classics of Hong Kong’s Chinese folk opera cinema
Love Eterne and Dream of the Red Chamber are two very different ‘huangmei diao’ films from legendary Hong Kong director Li Han-hsiang
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Legendary Hong Kong film director Li Han-hsiang is best known for stately historical dramas like the lavish Empress Wu Tse-tien (1963), but he also made important huangmei diao opera films. Originating in mainland China’s Hubei province, this folk opera style spawned massive 1960s box office hits.
Notably, these productions were not filmed stage operas but fully formed cinematic experiences, akin to Hollywood musicals.
Here we look at two very different huangmei diao films directed by Li.
The Love Eterne (1963)
This classy musical romance was the biggest hit of the huangmei diao craze that ruled the local box office in the early 1960s. It is a beautifully structured work reminiscent of an Italian operetta – until second-half storm clouds push it into the realm of tragedy.
The story, based on the well-known folk tale The Butterfly Lovers, follows a young woman, Zhu Yingtai (Betty Loh Ti), who dresses as a boy to attend school. She falls in love with her best friend and classmate Liang Shanbo (Ivy Ling Po, playing a boy for the first time), who is unaware that she is a girl.
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