The Mad Monk
| Ji Gong | |
|---|---|
 Chinese DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Johnnie To |
| Written by | Sandy Shaw |
| Produced by | Mona Fong |
| Starring | Stephen Chow Maggie Cheung Anthony Wong Kirk Wong Ng Man Tat |
| Cinematography | Wong Winghang |
| Edited by | Danny Wong |
| Music by | Wai Lap Wu |
| Distributed by | Shaw Brothers Studio |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Box office | HKD$ 21.562.580[1] |
The Mad Monk (Chinese: 濟公; pinyin: Jì Gōng is a 1993 Hong Kong fantasy comedy film directed by Johnnie To, and starring Stephen Chow as the "Mad Monk" Ji Gong, a popular Chinese folklore figure from the Southern Song Dynasty. 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
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (May 2021) |
The gods in Heaven complain to the Jade Emperor 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 excuses his bad behaviour by rebuking 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 Guan Yin 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 him a magical fan to help him in his mission - but Dragon is forced down from heaven moments after Tiger takes the fan away from him.
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, so 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 instill 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 chooses to attack Dragon during the date. Yuan murders Ta Chung, and forces Dragon to watch while he brutally rapes Xiao Yu. Before he dies, Ta Chung regains his dignity by seeing himself by his own name and not as a beggar.
Dragon rushes to retrieve a holy relic called the Golden Skeleton, which is 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 skeleton and kicks 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 as, 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. Xiao Yu realizes that Dragon is only fulfilling his plan in a selfish way. Heartbroken, she renounces her love for Dragon and slashes her face to spite herself.
Yuan slaughters all the people in the brothel so he can use the blood of 49 people to immerse Dragon's skeleton in and to rid it 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 discover he has been given an invincible body by the demon. Dragon pulls out 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 while wishing to be an animal in his next life.
Dragon is given a chance to return to Heaven, but he decides to stay in the town as to prevent the demon from bringing total destruction to those on Earth. Dragon imbues his power into his golden skeleton, pounds it into powder and makes it into golden paint, which he uses to write protective talismans around the temple. However the demon blows away the talisman 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 takes the last of his golden powder and jumps into the demon's mouth while he is laughing, sacrificing himself and causing the demon to explode and die, also dying at the same time.
The gods celebrate in Heaven that 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 restaurant, and Yuan has renounced violence to be reborn a pig. Dragon is in the end victorious, and he is immediately bring back. Guan Yin rewards Dragon with a higher rank as a new member of the Higher Gods. Honored, Dragon smiles and waves everyone as he is cheered on by his now fellow gods.
Cast
- Stephen Chow as Ji Gong/Dragon-Fighter Lohan/Lee Xu Yuen
- Maggie Cheung 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 as Tiger Fighter Lohan
- Anita Mui as bodhisattva Guan Yin
- Wong Yat-fei as Unicorn, heavenly soldier
- Philip Chan as Erlang Shen
- Michael Chan as Tudigong
- Nina Paw as Mother of Lee Xu Yuen
- Michelle Sima - Pregnant wife
See also
- Ji Gong, the main character in the film.
- Other media about Ji Gong:
- Ji Gong (TV series), a 1985 Chinese television series starring You Benchang and Lü Liang
- The Legends of Jigong, a 1997 Singaporean television series starring Xie Shaoguang
- The Legend of Crazy Monk, a 2009–2011 three-season Chinese television series starring Benny Chan
References
- ^ "The Mad Monk (1993)". HKMDB. Retrieved 8 October 2020.