Chinese fantasy film hits Japanese theaters

Chen Kaige's fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat, known in Japanese as Kukai, hit screens in Japan on Saturday.

The film tells the story of a Japanese Buddhist monk who teams up with a Chinese poet to explore the mysterious death of Yang Yuhuan, the beloved concubine of Tang Dynasty emperor Li Longji, who reigned from 685 to 762. The story is based on the book Samon Kukai by science fiction writer Yumemakura Baku.

Chinese veteran director Chen Kaige and the cast of the movie made an appearance at the Japanese premiere on January 15, 2018 in Tokyo. [Photo: IC]

Chinese veteran director Chen Kaige and the cast of the movie met the audience at the premiere on January 15 in Tokyo.

Chen said he hopes audiences will see the openness and diversity of the Tang Dynasty, and understand what attracted so many foreign people to visit. And he hopes that this China-Japan co-production will promote cultural exchanges and friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

Japanese actor Shota Sometani stars as the Buddhist monk in the film. He said that Chinese director and actor Huang Xuan, who acted alongside Sometani, helped him a lot during the filming as he needed to read all his lines in Chinese.

The movie has earned 530 million yuan (83.7 million US dollars) since it was released in China in December last year.