Pan Si Dong
Director: Dan Duyu
Year: 1927
Rating: NR
Aka - The Cave of the Silken Web
In a film the other day about Lost Films
and preservation, this film was mentioned. It had been thought lost but in
2011 it was discovered in the archives of the Norwegian Library. It is up
on YouTube with no musical accompaniment. It has Chinese, Norwegian and English
subs. The first reel of 10 is missing and some in the middle as well. It
is 60 minutes long. It is a bit of a challenge to watch but well worth it
for historical purposes. It was shot in black and white but a few sections
were tinted.
It is the first film made adapting a part
of the Journey to the West, considered one of the major writings of Chinese
literature. Since this, there have been many adaptations in different formats
- film, theater, TV. Right up to the present. The Cave of the Silken Web
was the third film in the four-film adaptation from Shaw Brothers in 1967.
There was a sequel produced in 1930 but that is a Lost Film, so far.
In Journey to the West Buddhist monk Xuanzang
is travelling west in order to obtain some sutras and along the way he has
many adventures and picks up three colleagues - the Monkey King, Pigsy and
Sha Wujing - all with mystical powers. Having lost the first reel, this begins
in a cave with Xuanzang being surrounded by seven beauties fawning over him,
caressing and trying to tempt him with sex and drink. He refuses. One of
the women goes to their kitchen servant who upon hearing that they have a
monk and want him to cook food, goes "Oh good. I haven't eaten monk in a
long time". No, we have other plans for him.
And that is to marry the Queen. The women
are of course not human. Demons. Big fat giant hairy spiders that have taken
the form of humans and very pretty ones to their credit. There is a large
wedding ceremony in which all their demon friends in their best demon finery
show up to dance and prance about. They know how to throw a party. Meanwhile,
the Monkey King and Pigsy are trying to save him with a sword and shovel.
It is all good fun. Would be great to have a score along with it. It is directed
by Dan Duyu who directed some 50 films up to 1950. I believe he moved to
Hong Kong at that point because he was married to the Queen Spider, Yin Mingzhu,
and they had a daughter raised in Hong Kong. Yin was a huge star in Shanghai
and their daughter Judy Dan won the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1952 became
an actress in America - the Royal Wife in the King and I. I have to watch
those Shaw films one of these days. And the Stephen Chow ones.
