Kunqu Opera film 'A Dream of Red Mansions' opens Monaco festival  

昆曲电影《红楼梦》成摩纳哥电影节开幕影片

北京时间12月5日上午，第12届摩纳哥国际电影节在摩纳哥最大的城市蒙特卡洛开幕。来自中国的昆曲电影《红楼梦》获选成为开幕影片。这是该影片继美国洛杉矶、法国巴黎和英国伦敦放映后，第四次走出国门，向世界传递中国的传统文化。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A Kunqu Opera film version of A Dream of Red Mansions marked the opening of the 12th Monaco International Film Festival in Monte Carlo on Friday.

The movie is based on the novel A Dream of Red Mansions, hailed as one of China's "Four Great Classical Novels". The best-known storyline from the piece involves the tragic love tale of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, a couple forced apart by Jia's family in a similar manner to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Kunqu Opera developed in the 14th Century during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and is one of the oldest forms of Chinese Opera. The film's cast includes award-winning actors and actresses from Kunqu Opera theaters around the country.

A French university student who saw the film said it converged several forms of beauty in terms of character, costume, headdress, and singing.

General producer Wang Haiping said the movie provides a universal language in spreading the culture of Kunqu Opera.

Further efforts will be made to help foreigners become more familiar with Chinese culture through Kunqu Opera, according to executive producer Ling Jin from the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater.

Alongside the Chinese offering, the Japanese film Imphal 1944 and the British movie I Know You make up the list of candidates for the festival's Angel Film Awards.

The screen version of A Dream of Red Mansions has already made quite a splash in China and abroad. The movie was shown at the Chinese-American Film Festival in Los Angels in 2012 and also vowed audiences during cultural exchange activities between China and France in 2013. In October this year, the modern combination of a literary classic and Kunqu Opera was screened in London.