''The Great Magician'' () is a 2011 Hong Kong-Chinese action fantasy-comedy film directed by

Derek Yee Derek Yee Tung-sing () is a film producer, director and a former Shaw Brothers actor from Hong Kong. Early life Yee was born Yee Tung-sing in Hong Kong on 28 December 1957, the son of Yee Kwong (爾光), a film producer from Tientsin (Tianjin), ...

and starring

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place ...

Lau Ching-wan Sean Lau Ching-wan (born 16 February 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who has acted in both films and television series. He won Best Actor in the 2007 and 2015 Hong Kong Film Awards and in the 2000 and 2007 Golden Bauhinia Awards. Career Lau was born ...

and

Zhou Xun Zhou Xun (, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. She gained international fame for her roles in '' Suzhou River'' (2000) and ''Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' ...

Plot

In the years after the Revolution in which the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

in China is overthrown and the Republic is established, China is broken up into fiefdoms held by warlords, who are busy fighting each other. A butler, Liu Kunshan (Wu Gang), uses magic to scare convicts into joining the army of warlord Lei Bully (

). Lei Bully has six wives and also imprisons a girl, Liu Yin (

), and wants her to be his seventh wife willingly. A group of local revolutionaries want to kidnap Lei and bring back the republic. They team up with a magician, Chang Hsien (

), to entice Lei to a magic show and kidnap him during the show. It is revealed that Chang and Liu Yin had been ex-lovers and Chang is an apprentice of Liu's father, a magician, Liu Wanyao. Chang discovers that his former master was imprisoned by Liu Kunshan as he had wanted to extract a magic secret from Liu Wanyao. The two ex-lovers meet during Chang's magic show. Chang wants to run away with Liu Yin but she refuses to leave Lei to ensure her father's safety so that he will not be killed. Lei and Chang become close friends. Despite knowing one another's background, they pretend not to know. Chang discovers that his master was tortured by Liu Kunshan and that he had a secret to hide and informs Lei. Lei asks Chang to investigate Liu Kunshan and subsequently discovers that Liu Kunshan is a member of the Qing Dynasty remnants and wants to bring back the Dynasty by collaborating with the Japanese. Lei discovers that Butler Liu Kunshan had an affair with his third wife and demands that they both leave. With his cover blown, Liu Kunshan and the Japanese launch an attack on Lei and his fellow warlords but Chang and Lei plan an elaborate scheme to hide that Lei and Liu Yin are dead. With the rest of the Qing Dynasty remnants, Liu Kunshan tries to raise an army by magic via Chang. However, the scheme is revealed and the Qing Dynasty remnants are killed or arrested. Lei subsequently disbands his army and gives away his riches to pursue being a weapons researcher and also pursue Liu Yin. Liu Yin decides not to follow either Lei or Chang and both Lei and Chang chase Liu Yin on equal ground.

Cast

as Chang Hsien *

as Lei Bully *

as Liu Yin * Yan Ni as Lei's wife *

Wu Gang Wu Gang (), formerly romanized as Wu Kang and also known as Wu Zhi in some sources,Eberhard, Wolfram. ''Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought''pp. 76 ff Routledge & Kegan Paul (London), 2013. Accessed 12 Novem ...

as Butler Liu Kunshan *

Paul Chun Paul Chun (; born 26 June 1945) is a Hong Kong actor. He has appeared in more than 130 films and television series since 1949. In 1966, he appeared in ''The Sand Pebbles'', an American film produced and directed by Robert Wise. Early life He wa ...

as Liu Wanyao * Alex Fong as Chen Kuo *

Lam Suet Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor. Life and career Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...

as Li Fengjen *

Daniel Wu Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...

as Captain Tsai * Kenya Sawada as Mitearai *

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...

as Warlord *

Wang Ziwen Wang Ziwen (, born 28 February 1987), also known by her English name Olivia Wang and now as Ava Wang, is a Chinese actress. She is most known for portraying Qu Xiaoxiao in the popular Chinese television drama ''Ode to Joy'' and as Xuxu in ''When ...

as Li Jiao

Awards and nominations

32nd Hong Kong Film Awards The 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony took place in Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 13 April 2013. The hosts for the awards ceremony were Eric Tsang, Ronald Cheng, Gordon Lam, Jerry Lamb . TVB, Now TV and RTHK Radio 2 were the live b ...

* Nominated: Best Actress (

) * Nominated: Best Costume Make Up Design ( Yee Chung-man and Jessie Dai)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Magician 2011 films Hong Kong action comedy films Films directed by Derek Yee Films about magic and magicians Chinese mystery films Chinese action comedy films Films based on Chinese novels