Monday, November 16, 2020

A Little TLC(w): The Yang’s Saga: Episode 1 (1986)


Way back in his career, Tony Leung Chiu-wai did a handful of TV projects. This is the first I’ve been able to get my hands on that I can reasonably watch (I thought I had a bead on both The Duke of Mount Deer and The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, both similarly mid-80s period pieces, but the subtitles on them are unusable – the search continues.) Having now seen the first installment of this 6-part miniseries, I can’t say I have a full hang of everything, but I enjoy a lot of what I’ve seen.

 

When the Emperor Song is killed by his brother, he pleads in the afterlife with the Jade Emperor to intercede with his kingdom on his behalf. The Jade Emperor initially agrees but later walks back his pledge. The result is a number of deities all interfering on Earth at cross purposes – some for the Song Dynasty, others for Song’s rivals. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the sixth son of the prestigious Yang family falls in love with Princess Chai, the daughter of a conquered rival now living in the new Emperor Song’s household. Though another suitor vies for Princess Chai’s hand, she only has eyes for Sixth Son and schemes of a way they can be together.

 

So the gods stuff and the romance stuff is all pretty straightforward. I get all that, and I enjoy it – the gods setting up rival and ever-more-complicated factions as they get involved in the lives of the humans, Princess Chai longing to marry Sixth Son and devising clever tests for any prospective suitor to pass. What I don’t fully understand yet is how the two plots fit together. Most of the actors double up their roles, playing both a deity and a human, so I imagine that will probably come into play at some point, but so far, there’s only limited evidence of how the gods are trying to influence the humans and either protect/disrupt the Song Dynasty. I’m hoping to have a better handle on it once I get a few more episodes under my belt.

 

But even if I’m not yet entirely following, I’m still enjoying it. It has some 80s cheesiness and cheapness to it, but the major characters are engaging, especially Sixth Son, Princess Chai, and some of the princess’s allies in the Song court (side note: if I’m understanding correctly, her position is similar to Theon Greyjoy or Myrcella Baratheon from Game of Thrones; she’s living in the house of the man who conquered her father, but she’s treated much more like a family member than a prisoner/hostage.) Some big Hong Kong names here, all looking very young and fresh-faced. Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, As Tears Go By) plays Sixth Son, while Carina Lau (Days of Being Wild, He Ain’t Heavy… He’s My Father) plays Princess Chai. I also caught sight of Chow Yun-fat and Maggie Cheung.

 

Leung plays Yang Yin-si, the seventh son of the Yang clan. He and his brother are close, with him often appearing to play the slightly happy-go-lucky sidekick to the more dashing, heroic Sixth Son. He doesn’t take things as seriously as Sixth Son, but when his brother wants something, Seventh Son is all in to help. Leung’s other role is the deity Thunder Boy. We’ve only seen a bit of him so far; all we really know so far is that he appears to be a minor god in love with a minor goddess, and his attempts to get her to defy her mistress get her in trouble.

 

Not a whole lot of say so far, just that Leung is spectacularly young here, younger than the vast majority of the things I’ve seen him in. For both of his roles, I needed to hear his voice to confirm it was really him, as I couldn’t be positive just by looking at him.

 

First impressions:

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Possibly. I need to see more, but so far, I’m enjoying my first foray into ‘80s Hong Kong television.

 

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Too soon to say. So far, Leung is likable in both roles, but not especially noteworthy.

 

Warnings

 

Violence and drinking/smoking.

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