''Legend of the Demon Cat'' () is a 2017

Xianxia ''Xianxia'' ( zh, s=, t=仙俠), directly translated to 'immortal heroes', is a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Taoism and influenced by Chinese mythology, Chan Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

Chen Kaige Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wi ...

, based on the novel ''

Śramaṇa ''Śramaṇa'' (Sanskrit: श्रमण; Pali: ''samaṇa, Tamil: Samanam'') means "one who labours, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose)" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic".Monier Monier ...

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon se ...

'' (Japanese: 沙門空海　唐の国にて鬼と宴す) written by Japanese writer Yoneyama Mineo, known under the pen-name Baku Yumemakura. It was released in China in December 2017.

Plot

The story is a supernatural reimagining of the story of death of

Yang Guifei Yang Yuhuan (; 26 June, 719 – 15 July 756Volume 218 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Yang was killed on the ''bingshen'' day of the 6th month of the 1st year of the Zhide era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 15 Jul 756 on t ...

. The movie opens with Chunqin, the wife of an army commander, making a reluctant bargain with a talking black cat. In exchange for the eyes of fish which are eaten by the cat, Chunqin finds a pot of coin which she shares with her husband. The Japanese Buddhist monk Kukai is called to the imperial palace to assist Emperor Xuanzong who is cursed with a supernatural ailment. The Emperor passes away while strange cat wailings can be heard. Kukai makes the acquaintance of

Bai Letian Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

the poet whose major work is "Chang hen ge" - Song of Everlasting Sorrow (長恨歌)- the story about the life of the Emperor's favorite concubine

. The commander's wife has lapsed into a coma. When Kukai and Bai Letian investigate they see an visage of Chunqin on the roof reciting a poem. Kukai believe this visage is that of a demon cat. They research the poem being recited by Chunqin and learn that it was one that was composed at Yang Guifei's wedding banquet. They decide to visit Yang Guifei's abandoned residence. Inside they see Chunqin's visage. The visage explains that she was once Yang Guifei's beloved cat. She explained that she was buried alive but was allowed to escape. It became a demon cat in order to exact revenge. The cat later possess the commander and while possessed he kills Chunqin. The commander goes insane. Bai Letian believes his work Everlasting Sorrow would be fraudulent if he is not able to learn the real story behind Yang Guifei's death. Bai and Kukai would visit Concubine Yang's lady in waiting, Qin Yi, but she was not present when the concubine died. The demon cat kills Qin Yi after their visit. They learned of the existence of the Japanese envoy Abe no Nakamaro and obtain his diary from his widow who is still in China. They learned that during the crisis where the imperial soldiers surrounded the royal residence, they had hatched a plan to save Yang Guifei's life. This would involve using an acupuncture technique that would make Yang seem dead for a period of time. Yang would later revive. The soldiers would be satisfied she was dead. The plan works and the soldiers leave the residence. Yang was then placed in a coffin and buried inside in a tomb. Her black cat was left in the tomb. Kukai and Bai Letian visit Yang Guifei's tomb. They realize

was buried alive in the coffin from the marks inside. They realize that the plot was actually meant to trick

and the Emperor had no plans to rescue her from the tomb. This was because nobody could bear the guilt of killing her. Yang's two loyal charges Bai Ling and Bai Long attend at her grave. Bai Ling confesses that he was aware of the plan to trick Yang Guifei and put poison into her wine so she would not suffer. Bai Long is shocked at this. He refuses to abandon the grave. Bai long sacrifices himself and imbues his spirit into the black cat. When his spirit melded with that of the cat he learned that the poison did not work and Yang Guifei was buried alive. The (now) demon cat returned to the palace and attacks the Emperor putting a curse on him. Kukai and Bai Letain are joined by Bai Ling at the tomb. The cat attacks Bai Ling. Bai Ling told the cat that he retrieved Bai Long's body and had put it beside

's. Bai Long tells the cat that he is prepared to die. The cat goes to attack but returns to try to get onto the coffin. The Demon cat is unable to mount the coffin. He sees the image of a white crane (Bai Long is white crane) fly off and the cat dies. Kukai and Bai Letain are seen walking in the city. Bai Letain said he does not intend to change his poem even though it is not correct. Kukai returns to his monastery in Japan. He gives a sutra to a monk and ask him whether he had found the secret to life without sorrow.

Cast

* Huang Xuan as

Shōta Sometani is a Japanese actor from Koto, Tokyo. He is known for his protagonist roles in ''Himizu'' and ''Parasyte''. Career Sometani was a child actor. He has worked in both film and television, gaining his first leading role in ''Pandora's Box'', ...

Kitty Zhang Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...

as Chunqin *

Qin Hao Qin Hao (Chinese name: ) is a Chinese actor. He is known for starring in the 2009 film ''Spring Fever'' and the 2020 television series '' The Bad Kids''. Early life In 1996, Qin entered China's Central Academy of Drama. He graduated from the C ...

as Chen Yunqiao * Hiroshi Abe as

Abe no Nakamaro , whose Chinese name was Chao Heng (, pronounced ''Chōkō'' in Japanese), was a Japanese scholar and '' waka'' poet of the Nara period. He served on a Japanese envoy to Tang China and later became the Tang '' duhu'' (protectorate governor) o ...

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in film ...

as Bai Ling *

Liu Haoran Liu Haoran (; born 10 October 1997), also known as Turbo Liu, is a Chinese actor. Liu ranked 18th on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2020, 19th in 2019, and 89th in 2017. In 2021, Liu became the youngest actor to gross over 15 billion R ...

as Bai Long *

Oho Ou Oho Ou or Ou Hao (, born 13 October 1992) is a Chinese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Zhang Yang in '' The Left Ear'' (2015). Career In 2012, Ou released his first single "Fake Movement", which won him the "Outstanding Newco ...

as The young Dan Long *

Zhang Tianai Zhang Tian'ai (; born 28 October 1988), also known by her English name Crystal Zhang, is a Chinese actress and model. She is best known for her breakout role in the 2015 hit web-drama ''Go Princess Go''. Early life and education Zhang Tian'ai w ...

as Yulian *

Zhang Luyi Zhang Luyi (born 7 June 1980), also known as Edward Zhang, is a Chinese actor and director. Background and career Zhang first studied film direction at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, before entering Peking University where he obtained ...

as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang * Sandrine Pinna as Lady Yang *

Tian Yu Tian Yu (c. 171 – c. 252), courtesy name Guorang, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Tian Yu was from Yongnu County (), Yuyang Commandery (), which is present-day Wuqing Distri ...

Gao Lishi Gao Lishi () (684–762), formally the Duke of Qi (齊國公), was a Chinese eunuch and politician of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, becoming particularly powerful during Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign. He is believed to have been in ...

* Liu Peiqi as Huang He * Xin Baiqing as

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

*Cheng Taisheng as The Old Dan Long * Mason Lee as The Chamberlain *

Qin Yi Qin Yi (; 4 February 1922 – 9 May 2022) was a Chinese actress. She gained fame for her stage performances in the war-time capital Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war, she became one of China's most popular film actre ...

as Old Lady-in-waiting *

Shōhei Hino is a Japanese actor and singer. Hino was born in Tokyo and raised in Osaka. Hino appeared in many jidaigeki television dramas. He is best known for his roles in the Hissatsu series. He began his acting career at the age of 13. In 1966, he mad ...

as Kūkai's Teacher

Production

A set costing US$200 million and five years to create was constructed for the film. It was reported that the set will be turned into a theme park.

Awards and nominations

References

External links