''The Mad Monk'' ( is a 1993

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

, and starring

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for ''Shaolin Soccer'' and ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in British ...

as the "Mad Monk"

Ji Gong Ji Gong (, 22 December 1130 – 16 May 1209), born Li Xiuyuan and also known as "Chan Master Daoji" () was a Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the Southern Song. He purportedly possessed supernatural powers, which he used to help the poor and st ...

, a popular Chinese folklore figure from the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. The film follows "Dragon Fighter Luohan" as he accepts a challenge from the gods to change the fate of a beggar, a prostitute, and a villain in three heavenly days. He is reborn on earth as a mere mortal and ultimately battles an evil demon to stave off hell on earth.

Plot

The gods in Heaven complain to the

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...

about the malicious practical jokes played on them by Dragon Fighter Lohan. The Emperor summons Dragon, but Tiger Fighter Lohan appears instead to defend his friend. Dragon then appears and rebukes the various gods for their own horrible judgments on mankind, and insists that he can do a better job. The Jade Emperor banishes Dragon and Tiger to be reincarnated as animals, but the

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Guan Yin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She w ...

intervenes. Jade Emperor issues Dragon a challenge: if he can change the fates of three people destined to nine incarnations in the same roles — a beggar, a prostitute, and a villain — within three heavenly days, he will not be punished. The Bodhisattva gives Dragon a magical fan to help him in his mission - but Tiger takes the fan away from him moments before he is forced down from heaven. Dragon is reborn to a couple who visit a Buddhist temple to pray for a child. Tiger enlists the aid of a heavenly soldier named Unicorn to help him take the magical fan to Dragon. When Tiger is reincarnated he is much younger than Dragon has grown. Unicorn uses his magic to make Tiger rapidly age - physically; Tiger's mental abilities remains that of a baby. Dragon's parents adopt Tiger and treat him as their own son. Dragon regains his memories when he is struck by lightning during an encounter with Bai Xiao Yu, the prostitute. In short order, he also encounters the beggar Ta Chung and the villain Yuan Ba Tian. When the clouds block the moon and heavenly security is the most relaxed, Tiger regains himself enough to give Dragon the magic fan before being forced to return to Heaven. Dragon tries to instil dignity to Ta Chung, persuade Xiao Yu to change her trade, and Yuan to turn over a new leaf. After he notices Ta Chung retaining some dignity while in front of Xiao Yu, Dragon arranges a date for the both of them. Yuan attacks Dragon during the date, and goes on to murder Ta Chung. Yuan then forces Dragon to watch while he assaults Xiao Yu. Before Ta Chung dies, he regains his dignity by seeing himself by his own name and not as a beggar. Dragon retrieves a holy relic called the Golden Skeleton, his body from a former life. He uses it to travel to the underworld where he confronts a demon and trades his skeleton for Ta Chung's soul. The demon keeps both the soul and the holy relic and sends Dragon back to the land of the living. Dragon rushes back to the temple and learns that all of the local gods housed there are leaving; because of Dragon's deal with the demon, they do not want to be associated with him. Dragon seeks out Xiao Yu and promises to marry her if she gives up the sex trade. She agrees, but when Dragon begins to transform into a tree because of a prohibition against gods marrying mortals, she thinks he is playing a joke on her. Yuan slaughters all the people in the

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

so he can use the blood of 49 people to rid Dragon's relic of its power. Dragon goes to the brothel to confront Yuan and, with the help of Tiger and Unicorn, is able to regain his proper form. Dragon beats up Yuan and discovers that Yuan has been given an invincible body by the demon. Dragon pulls Yuan's heart out to show him that the demon gave him a stone heart. A dying Yuan regrets all the bad things he has done and crushes the stone heart, wishing to be an animal in his next life. Dragon is given a chance to return to Heaven, but he decides to stay to prevent the demon from bringing destruction to those on Earth. Dragon imbues his power into his holy relic and makes it into golden paint, which he uses to write protective talismans around the temple. The demon blows away the talismans and chases Dragon. While fleeing from the demon, Dragon meets the temple Abbot and asks for his help: the Abbot manages to make the demon laugh and simultaneously open his mouth. Dragon jumps into the demon's mouth while he is laughing and causes the demon to explode and die. The gods celebrate in Heaven as Dragon has seemingly lost the bet. Guan Yin interrupts the festivities and shows how Dragon has succeeded in changing the fates of the three people: Ta Chung has regained his dignity, Xiao Yu has left prostitution behind and opened a

bean curd A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

restaurant, and Yuan has renounced violence to be reborn a pig. Dragon is in the end victorious.

Cast

/ Dragon-Fighter Lohan/Lee Xu Yuen *

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and in ...

as Bai Xiao Yu, the prostitute * Anthony Wong as Chu Ta Chung, the beggar * Kirk Wong as Yuan Ba Tian, the villain *

Ng Man-tat Richard Ng Man-tat (, 2 January 1952 – 27 February 2021) was a Hong Kong actor originally from Fujian. He was a veteran actor in the Hong Kong film industry, with dozens of awards, including Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Fi ...

as Tiger Fighter Lohan * Anita Mui as

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

* Wong Yat-fei as Unicorn, heavenly soldier *

Philip Chan Philip Chan may refer to: * Philip Chan (actor) Philip Chan Yan-kin (born 25 January 1945) is a Hong Kong actor, film director, producer, screenwriter and music composer of Taishan area origin. Career He worked as a Royal Hong Kong Police Fo ...

as Erlang Shen * Michael Chan as

Tudigong Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...

Nina Paw Nina Paw Hee-ching (in Chinese 鮑起靜, born 20 July 1949) is a Hong Kong actress. Paw got her start in film but came into prominence portraying mothers on ATV television dramas, such as ''Fatherland'' (1980). Having portrayed many mother a ...

as Mother of Lee Xu Yuen *

Michelle Sima Michelle Sima () (1963–2015) was a Hong Kong actress. Sima is credited with over 25 films. Early life On March 15, 1963, Sima was born in Hong Kong. Career In 1980, Sima became a beauty pageant contestant in Miss Hong Kong, but she was n ...

- Pregnant wife

References

External links

*
Hong Kong Cinemagic entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Monk 1993 films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films directed by Johnnie To 1993 comedy films Hong Kong comedy films 1990s Hong Kong films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links