''The Love Eterne'' is a 1963 Hong Kong musical film of the Huangmei opera genre directed by

Li Han Hsiang Richard Li Han-hsiang (; 7 March 1926 in Jinxi, Liaoning – 17 December 1996 in Beijing) was a Chinese film director. Li directed more than 70 films in his career beginning in the 1950s and lasting till the 1990s. His '' The Enchanting Shadow' ...

. An adaptation of the classic Chinese story "

Butterfly Lovers The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo () and Zhu Yingtai (), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (). The story was selected as one o ...

", it tells of the doomed romance between the male Liang Shanbo ( portrayed by actress

Ivy Ling Po Huang Yu-chun (born 16 November 1939 in Shantou, Republic of China), known by her final stage name Ivy Ling Po, is a retired Hong Kong actress and Chinese opera singer. She is best known for a number of mega-hit Huangmei opera films in the 1960 ...

, who also sang the character's vocals) and the cross-dressed female Zhu Yingtai (

Betty Loh Ti Betty Loh Ti (July 24, 1937 – December 27, 1968), also known as Le Di or Loh Tih, was a Hong Kong actress originally from Shanghai. Known as the "Classic Beauty", she was one of the most celebrated actresses of Hong Kong cinema. She is most fa ...

, with singing dubbed by Tsin Ting). The film won 6 awards at the 2nd

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...

in Taiwan, including Best Picture. It was also selected as Hong Kong's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

36th Academy Awards The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Jack Lemmon. Best Picture winner ''Tom Jones'' became the only f ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Plot

A young 16-year-old girl, Zhu Yingtai, managed to convince her parents to send her to college at Hangzhou on the condition that she went in the guise of a man. Along her journey to the college, she met 17-year-old Liang Shanbo who was attending the same school. They became sworn "brothers" and studied for three years together. Over this period of time, they formed a strong friendship. Yingtai gradually fell in love with Shanbo who, being a bookworm, never did discover what she was despite coming across a couple of oddities. When she was summoned home by her father, Yingtai revealed the truth to her headmaster's wife. Yingtai requested that she be the matchmaker for her and Shanbo and gave her a jade pendant as a token to be handed to Shanbo. Shanbo walked with Yingtai for 18 miles to send off his sworn brother. She tried several times to hint to him her identity during the journey but to no avail, despite insulting him twice in her exacerbation with his denseness. Finally, she found a way and got his consent to matchmake him to her "twin sister". She exhorted him to seek out his fiancee soon before they reluctantly took leave of each other at the pavilion where they first met. Upon returning to school, Shanbo was restless and could not concentrate on his studies in the absence of his sworn brother. Seeing this, the headmaster's wife told him about Yingtai, gave him the jade pendant and bade him to go propose to her. The joy of the reunion of the two came to naught when Yingtai told Shanbo he was three months too late. Her father had already betrothed her to the frivolous son of the powerful and wealthy Ma family. Shanbo, who was already ailing, was deeply grieved. He returned home and his health steadily deteriorated. Several days before her wedding day, he asked to see her again. When his servant returned instead with a token from her, it was the final blow. He sent his servant to Yingtai with a last gift and died. Yingtai was stricken with sorrow and forced her father to come to a compromise: to allow her to visit Shanbo's tomb on the way to her betrothed's home or she would not marry. At the tomb, she swore her undying love for Shanbo and that if they could not be together in life, she would rather be with him in death. A tornado sprang up and an earthquake split the tomb in two whereupon Yingtai threw herself into it. The whipping winds covered the tomb with sand. After the winds died down, two residual pieces of cloth from Yingtai's mourning clothes transform into two butterflies, and flutter away to the heavens.

Cast

* Zhu Yingtai:

* Liang Shanbo:

* Ying Hsin: - Ren Jie * Si Jiu: - Li Kun * Old Master Zhu:

Ching Miao Ching Miao (March 15, 1913 – 1989) was a Taiwanese actor born in Shandong, China. He had appeared in over 190 films, mostly in Hong Kong for the Shaw Brothers Studio. He won the Best Supporting Actor for Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Go ...

* Madam Zhu:

Chen Yen-yen Chen Yanyan (; 12 January 1916 – 7 May 1999), born Chen Jianyan, was a Chinese actress and film producer in the cinema of Republic of China (1912–1949), British Hong Kong and Taiwan. Life Chen was born as Chen Jianyan in Ningbo, China in 19 ...

* Headmaster: Yang Chih-ching * Headmaster's wife:

Kao Pao-shu Kao Pao-shu or Gao Baoshu (; 1932–2000) was a Chinese actress, producer, writer and film director who appeared in over 100 films during her career. Originally from China, Kao moved to Hong Kong in 1951, where she acted in minor roles before jo ...

* Extra:

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

(uncredited)

Huangmei Opera Vocals

* Zhu Yingtai: Tsin Ting * Liang Shanbo: Ivy Ling Po * Old Master Zhu: Kiang Hung (Yingtai's father)

Reception

The story of "Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai" is a folk legend set during the period of the Jin Dynasty. There had been various film and TV renditions but the Shaw Brothers' version, directed by

, is the only adaptation that remains popular to this day. It is considered a quintessential ''Huang Mei'' film. In particular, the song 十八相送 ("Eighteen Miles Away") was popularized by the film. The film won enormous popularity in Taiwan, breaking records at the box office in 1963, becoming the largest grossing film at that time.Berry, Michael.

005 ''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...

(2005). ''Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers''. Columbia University Press. The songs and lyrics left an impression on audiences in almost all of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

. In a tour of Taiwan that year, Ivy Ling Po created a pandemonium attracting over 200,000 fans.
About Shaw > Shaw Studio, Hong Kong > Shaw Studio, 1960. According to the film director

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

, the film "became so popular in Taiwan that some claimed to have seen it 500 times. Lines of its dialogue became part of everyday conversation ... People would take two box lunches, go the theater and watch it all day long. My parents were watching it often. I remember the third time they went to see it, there was a typhoon coming, and they still left us at home. 'O.K., we're going to see this movie, bye.' ' ... The film was popular with everyone - from children and housewives to university intellectuals."
The New York Times, 9 March 2001

Second Golden Horse Awards (1963)

* Best Film * Best Director: Li Han Hsiang * Best Actress:

* Special Award For Outstanding Performance:

* Best Music: Zhou Lan-Ping * Best Editing: Chiang Hsing-loong

References

External links

* *
HK cinemagic entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Eterne 1963 films Hong Kong films 1960s Mandarin-language films 1963 musical films Shaw Brothers Studio films Films directed by Li Han-hsiang Films set in the Eastern Jin (317–420) Cross-dressing in film Huangmei opera films