Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Chinese Opera Festival (COF), as a core part of the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) 2025, will launch the screening programme “Chinese Opera Film Shows” from May to September. The programme will showcase 10 classic Chinese opera films from the 1950s to 1980s, featuring Cantonese opera, Peking opera and Yuediao opera. To resonate with the theme of “Three Kingdoms” of this year’s COF, most selected films are inspired by the stories of “Romance of Three Kingdoms”, with a special focus on the plays related to “Zhou Yu Thrice Humiliated”, “Invoking the East Wind”, “A Meeting of Heroes” and “The Battle at Changbanpo”, making a delightful contrast between the stage performances and film screenings for similar repertories at the festival.
Details of the Cantonese opera film screenings are as follows:—————————————————————————————–
Date: May 31 (Saturday)
Starring: Sun Ma Si-tsang, Yam Kim-fai, Ng Kwun-lai, Choi Zhen-chu
Synopsis: Zhuge Liang (Hung Ming) is entrusted to persuade Zhou Yu (Chow Yu) to form an alliance against the State of Wei, but Zhou repeatedly schemes to make things difficult for him. Later, after Shu seizes control of Jingzhou, Zhou attempts various stratagems to reclaim the territory, all of which are cleverly thwarted by Zhuge. Coupled with repeated military defeats, Zhou dies of frustration and despair.—————————————————————————————–
Date: June 14 (Saturday)
Starring: Ho Fei-fan, Lam Dan, Leung Sing-por, Mak Bing-wing
Synopsis: General Fan Yuqi of Qin is entrusted to invite Crown Prince Dan of Yan and his consort to Qin as guests. The King of Qin breaks his promise and imprisons them instead. Fan helps the royal couple escape successfully. Infuriated, the King launches an assault on Yan on a false claim. Crown Prince Dan accepts the courtier Tian Guang’s recommendation to send Jing Ke to assassinate the King.—————————————————————————————–
Date: July 12 (Saturday)
Starring: Fong Yim-fun, Yam Kim-fai, Mak Bing-wing, Poon Yat-on
Synopsis: Cao Cao decrees Lady Zhen is to marry Cao Pi. Heartbroken, Cao Zhi loses his creative spirit. Later, Pi ascends the throne. He believes rumours suggesting that Zhi is the father of his child, and forces Lady Zhen to take poison and banishes Zhi to a remote land, forcing the lovers apart forever.—————————————————————————————–
Date: August 30 (Saturday)
Starring: Sun Ma Si-tsang, Tang Bik-wan, Lau Hark-suen, Pak Lung-chu
Synopsis: Dong Zhuo holds sway in the imperial court and renders the young king a mere figurehead, aided by the formidable warrior Lü Bu (Lui Bo). Concerned for the state, the songstress Diao Chan (Diu Sim) and minister Wang Yun devise a honey trap. Wang promises Diao’s hand to Dong and Lü. Diao begs Lü to rescue her by killing Dong. Meanwhile, Diao tearfully reports to Dong that Lü had taken liberties with her, thus turning the partners into enemies.—————————————————————————————–
Date: July 9 (Wednesday)
Starring: Xiao Changhua, Ma Lianliang, Tan Fuying, Ye Shenglan
Synopsis: Zhou Yu and Huang Gai stage a ruse, pretending to defect to Cao Cao’s army and execute a fire attack. Cao is suspicious, and dispatches Jiang Gan to investigate. Jiang mistakenly believes that there is internal strife in Eastern Wu, and convinces Cao that Eastern Wu poses no real threat. In the end, Zhuge Liang successfully invokes the easterly wind, giving the Wu-Shu alliance the upper hand in battle.—————————————————————————————–
Date: July 30 (Wednesday)
Starring: Ma Lianliang, Tan Fuying, Ye Shenglan, Qiu Shengrong, Yuan Shihai, Xiao Changhua
Synopsis: At Xiakou, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu come together to resist Cao Cao’s advances. To spy on their coalition, Cao dispatches Jiang Gan to visit Zhou under the guise of friendship. Zhou sees through the ruse and organises a grand feast for civil and military elites. He deliberately let Jiang steal a forged letter of surrender from Cao’s general and escape back to Cao’s camp. The letter leads the suspicious Cao to mistakenly believe that there is treachery within his ranks and to execute several of his own generals.—————————————————————————————–
Date: August 6 (Wednesday)
Starring: Gao Shenglin, Yuan Shihai, Li Shizhang
Synopsis: After Shu’s defeat by Wei, Guan Yu is forced to surrender and imprisoned by Cao Cao. Later, he learns of Liu Bei’s whereabouts, and escapes to reunite with Liu. On hearing that Zhang Fei is stationed at the Old City, Guan rushes there, but Zhang is suspicious of Guan’s intentions. Guan shows his unwavering loyalty by killing Cai Yang of the Cao army who arrives in pursuit. Zhang realises his grave mistake and apologises. The brothers are reunited.—————————————————————————————–
Date: August 27 (Wednesday)
Starring: He Quanzhi, Shen Fengmei, Chen Jing, Mu Baicheng
Synopsis: Zhou Yu is determined to reclaim Jingzhou. His negotiations with Zhuge Liang prove fruitless, triggering a fierce battle in which Zhou suffers a crushing defeat and dies of grief at Baqiu. Zhuge travels to Wu to attend Zhou’s memorial. General Zhang Zhao lays an ambush with the intent of capturing Zhuge. Zhuge points out to Zhang that any strife between the states of Shu and Wu would only benefit Cao Cao. At that moment, Cao is advancing with an army of hundreds of thousands. Zhang quickly apologises to Zhuge, and they begin discussing a joint plan to repel the invasion.—————————————————————————————–
Date: September 3 (Wednesday)
Starring: Mei Lanfang, Jiang Miaoxiang
Synopsis: Cao Pi crowns Lady Zhen as royal consort, but she is drawn to the literary brilliance of his younger brother, Cao Zhi. The two begin a forbidden romance in the face of grave danger. Upon discovering Lady Zhen’s infidelity, Pi executes her in a fit of rage. Years later, Zhi dreams of a divine calling from the Goddess of River Luo, and he goes to the appointed place, astonished to find Lady Zhen waiting for him. She has become the Goddess of River Luo, a celestial being, forever separated from the mortal realm.—————————————————————————————–
Date: September 10 (Wednesday)
Starring: Yuan Shihai, Li Jialin, Yu Dalu
Synopsis: Liu Bei’s retreat from Xinye is pursued by Cao Cao’s forces through the night at Changbanpo. Liu becomes separated from his troops and family. Zhao Yun charges into the enemy camp alone and rescues the local governors Jian Yong and Mi Zhu. He also fights valiantly to protect Lady Gan and Liu’s infant son, A Dou, leading them safely through the encirclement.
The above-mentioned Cantonese opera films will be screened at the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum at 7.45pm, and the Peking opera and Yuediao opera films will be screened at the Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive at 7.30pm. Tickets priced at $70 per screening are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk
The programme will also feature two sessions under the “Chinese Culture for All: A Special Performance Series”, featuring the film of Peking opera “A Meeting of Heroes” (1957), to be held at 11am and 2.30pm on September 8 (Monday) at the Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive. Free admission specially for local primary and secondary school students to allow them to have the opportunity to appreciate the traditions and essence of Peking opera through the timeless masterpiece. Interested schools can call 2268 7325 for details.