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GeneChing
12-16-2020, 10:15 AM
Dec 15, 2020 7:00pm PT
Netflix Buys Chinese Fantasy Film ‘The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity’ (https://variety.com/2020/film/asia/netflix-buys-chinese-fantasy-film-the-yin-yang-master-1234853898/)

By Patrick Frater

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/YYM-2-cr-res.jpg
Courtesy of Fortissimo Films
Global streaming giant Netflix has acquired rights to “The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity,” a period fantasy action film by the ferociously talented and divisive director Guo Jingming. The film is set for a major theatrical release in mainland China on Dec. 25.

Netflix, which acquired rights excluding China, will release it in the rest of the world on Feb. 5, 2021, shortly before the Lunar New Year holiday celebrations.

Adapted from the popular 2001 novel “Onmyoji” by Japanese writer Baku Yumemakura, the story sees the four best Yin-Yang Masters in the country called to the capital to slay the serpent demon, which awakens only every 100 years. In the meantime, a princess and the head of the royal guard conspire to end the serpent’s eternal life.

It stars a young and attractive cast headed by Mark Chao (“Saturday Fiction”), Allen Deng (“Ashes of Love”), Jessie Li (“Port of Call”) and Wang Ziwen (“The Postmodern Life of My Aunt”), many of whom have appeared in Guo’s previous works as director.

“The strong [Asian] aesthetics of the film might be appealing for international audiences. In the meantime, the story is universal and accessible to anyone,” Guo told Variety earlier this year.

He enjoyed early success as a novelist, before adapting and directing his own contemporary aspirational titles “Tiny Times” and “Tiny Times 2” in 2013. He has continued to write and direct and is the co-screenwriter of “The End of Endless Love,” which is currently on release in China and has garnered $46 million to date.

“The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity” was produced by Hehe Pictures, ZUI, Thinkingdom Pictures, Shanghai Film Group and Black Ant Film. International sales including the Netflix deal, were handled by Fortissimo Films.

The film, previously pitched as a two-parter, completed most of its lensing before the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and wrapped up principal photography at Hengdian Studios in April.

The creative team includes Japanese music composer Kenji Kawai (“Ghost in the Shell,! “Ip Man 4”), South-Korean VFX studio 4th Creative Party (“Okja,” “Snowpiercer”) and Chinese production designer Tu Nan (“Legend of the Demon Cat”).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZPRVpJXB8

GeneChing
02-24-2021, 09:40 AM
A CGI-laden Chinese sorcery tale with opulent sets and magnificent costumes. It's a tangled tale of demons, eternal love, and imperial majesty.

At first I thought this owed a huge debt to Doctor Strange (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69097-Doctor-Strange) and his mystic circles. This is true but it does offer some new visions of magic and demons. It had some moments and might have been better served on the big screen. It's visual but we're so jaded with these sorts of visuals and here they are way overdone.

It's long - too long at 2+ hours. And it's full of itself - too much slo mo dwelling on its own opulent imagery which gets tiresome. If this was edited down to a tight hour and a half, it would be so much better. It had so many false endings, so many scenes where I was ready for the credits to roll...but wait! There's more.

There were tentacles. Well, possessive worms, but they were tentacley.

There was also a giant evil serpent. And a hair demon that was like a black Cousin It without the bowler or glasses...and could fly and kill.

GeneChing
02-24-2021, 09:44 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lc8mlrm3rk&feature=emb_logo

Is this the sequel to The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity?