Detective Dee and the curse of the sea monster

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Movie
German title Detective Dee and the curse of the sea monster
Original title 狄仁傑 之 神 都 龍王 / Di Renjie: Shen dou long wang
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 2013
length 134 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Tsui Hark
script Chen Kuo-Fu ,
Tsui Hark ,
Chang Chia-Lu
production Tsui Hark ,
Nansun Shi ,
Chen Kuo-Fu
music Kenji Kawai
camera Sung Fai Choi
cut Boyang Yu
occupation
synchronization

Detective Dee and the curse of the sea monster (original title: Chinese  狄仁傑之神都龍王 , Pinyin Di Renjie zhī shén Dou lóng wáng ) is a Chinese Mystery - wuxia film by Tsui Hark from the year 2013. It is a prequel to Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flames from 2011 by the same director. In 2018 the sequel Detective Dee and the Legend of the Four Heavenly Kings was released .

action

The film begins with the destruction of a Chinese navy in the East China Sea by an unknown sea monster. Wu Zetian, who has taken charge of the emperor's business, has given the chief of the Supreme Court agents, Yuchi Zhenjin, an investigation into the mysterious attack, giving him ten days. Shortly afterwards, the young Di Renjie arrives in the capital Chang'an , where he is supposed to work for the Supreme Court on the recommendation of a minister. The attack of the sea monster caused unrest, which is why the courtesan Yin Ruiji is said to be sacrificed to appease the people . Through lip reading, Di succeeds in learning of the plans of some mysterious men who apparently want to kidnap Yin. He is able to pursue her and in the temple where the courtesan is, a fight breaks out between Di and the kidnappers. A fearsome creature from the water intervenes and disappears with yin when the agents of the Supreme Court arrive. While Yuchi and his men keep the attackers at bay, Di can rescue Yin from the water.

Yuchi has Di arrested for his arrogant interference, while Yin is placed under surveillance in the "Swallow House". In prison, Di wins over the young assistant doctor Shatuo, who helps him simulate a contagious disease. Together they secretly leave the prison and go to the swallow house. There, Yin suddenly receives another visit from the creature from the water. She can convey her true identity with a hairpin and a few awkward attempts at writing: her lover, the poet Yuan Zhen. A group of masked men attack the swallow house; Di and Shatuo intervene and save Yuchi from drowning. When the creature attacks Di and Yin takes her side, Di tries to mediate, but the frightened Yuan flees again and disappears into the water.

Di is now allowed to enter the service of the Supreme Court despite his prison break. During a conversation with Yin, he learns the creature's identity and notices that the hairpin that Yuan has returned to it has faded unusually much. He also receives the piece of cloth with Yuan's illegible attempts at writing. Yuchi, whose deadline for the investigation is running out, hopes to find out the identity of the attacker through torture by a mask manufacturer. Di prevents him from doing this, however, as he has already found out from the mask material and the language used that the masked people are likely Dondoer, members of a fishing people who lived between the Fuyu Empire and the Tang Dynasty Empire. With Yuchi's help, it is possible to decipher Yuan's hard-to-read hint on the piece of fabric: “Bird's Tongue”, a tea from the Yuan Zhen tea house popular at the imperial court. For Di it is certain that the Dondoer were in truth not after Yin but after Yuan.

When the agents visit the tea house, they find it abandoned. Di sees his suspicion confirmed that a traitor must have sneaked into the Supreme Court, which is why Shatuo secretly brings Yin to safety. Di now also learns from Shatuo that Yin's hairpin must have come into contact with the rare dye Shaxi. With this, the three manage to find Yuan's whereabouts. Yin finally succeeds in persuading him to come with them to Shatuo's former teacher, the imperial doctor Wang Pu, who is supposed to heal him from his terrible transformation. But both the Dondoer and Yuchi and his men pursue them. When the persecutors clash at Wang's house, the others use a drugged yuan to get to safety. Wang performs a complicated operation and is able to cure Yuan from his monstrous transformation. Di can now reconstruct the background of the events: The Dondoer wanted to buy the secret recipe for bird's tongue tea from the tea house and, after refusing, took revenge on Yuan by poisoning him with parasites in the tea. Then he turned into a monster and was captured by the Dondoer, from which he was only able to escape after a long time. As part of a conspiracy against the Tang dynasty, the Dondoers gradually poisoned the bird's tongue tea with parasites in order to shut down the entire imperial court.

Yuchi, whose ultimatum for the investigation has already expired, does not believe Di's explanations, but agrees to warn Wu Zetian and use an antidote to convince Wang of the truth of the story. The angry ruler threatens Di and Yuchi with execution, but has the antidote tested on a member of her court who regularly drinks the bird's tongue tea. Only at the last moment, when Di is about to be beheaded, does the remedy take effect and bring the parasites to light. Wu Zetian is convinced and orders that the entire court be supplied with the antidote. She also appoints Di Renjie to head the operation against the Dondoer and thus to be Yuchi's superior. Together, the two unmask the spy at the Supreme Court and have a first encounter with the sea monster, who is apparently connected to the Dondoer. Yuan tells Di that he was held captive for a while by the Dondon on an island where the sea monster was also bred; when he managed to escape from the island, the monster was also released and attacked the imperial fleet. When it turns out that Yin comes from Fuyu, the ruler has her arrested as an enemy of the country; So Di bet Wu Zetian against Yin's release that he would defeat the Dondoer in just one day.

With several ships, Di, Shatuo and Yuchi set off with the troops to bat island, where they suspect the Dondoer. With the help of a ruse they can surprise and defeat the enemy; the leader is also killed in a crevice after a long battle. When returning from the island, the ships are attacked by the sea monster; after a fierce battle, they can finally kill it with poisoned fish. The men can step victoriously in front of the imperial court and Di receives the symbolic dragon sword from the emperor. Yuan and Yin secretly flee the city on Dis's advice.

In a mid-credit scene, Di, Yuchi, and Shatuo are offered tea by Wu Zetian. They drink hesitantly, only to learn that it was the poisoned tea. They then have to share the fate of the court in swallowing the foul-tasting antidote.

Production and publication

After the great success of the predecessor, which was co-produced from Hong Kong, the prequel was produced entirely by Huayi Brothers in the People's Republic of China. Tsui Hark announced first plans to film the prehistory in 2011; Dee's personal story has so far been neglected. As in his film The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate , he used 3D cameras for the prequel, a relatively new development for the martial arts genre . While Carina Lau its role as Wu Zetian took over again broke Mark Chao as a young title character Di Renjie the 23-year old Andy Lau from.

Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster was released in Chinese theaters on September 28, 2013. The rights for international rental were u. a. sold to France and large parts of Asia. In Germany, the film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 22, 2014, like its predecessor by Koch Media . The first German-language TV broadcast took place on May 9, 2015 on Tele 5 .

The third film in the Detective Dee series has been announced for 2018, Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings ( Chinese  狄仁杰 之 四大 天王 , Pinyin Dí Rénjié zhī sì dà tiānwáng ). It will be a sequel to the prequel, with Mark Chao, Carina Lau, Lin Gengxin and Feng Shaofeng taking over their roles again.

synchronization

The German dubbed version was created by Think Global Media in Berlin, under the dialogue direction and with a dialogue book by Karin Lehmann . In this film, Carina Lau is no longer spoken by Sanam Afrashteh as in the predecessor .

role actor speaker
Detective Dee Mark Chao Markus Pfeiffer
Wu Zetian Carina Lau Antje von der Ahe
Shatuo Lin Gengxin Jan Makino
Yin Riji Angelababy Shandra Schadt
Yuchi Zhenjin Feng Shaofeng Alexander Doering
Yuan Zhen Kim Bum Ozan Unal
Huo Yi Dong Hu Gerald Paradise
Wang pooh Chen Kun Rainer Doering
Minister Ding Yuanda Gao Yulin Rainer Gerlach
Zhao Kuang Jie Yan Tino Kießling

reception

Mark Jenkins compared the film in the Washington Post to the previous one and saw "an improvement". He is "livelier and more coherent", even if Mark Chao does not come close to Andy Lau's portrayal of the main character. Only the effect of the action scenes is "blunted" by the heavy use of CGI and is "less thrilling" than in Tsui Hark's earlier films, albeit "cocky and entertaining".

Variety's Maggie Lee also found the prequel "more conclusive than its overloaded predecessor". The film is "a gigantic feast of 3D spectacle, daring martial arts, a gargantuan feast of 3D spectacle, high-wire martial arts, magnificent historical aesthetics and an ancestor of the kaijū from Pacific Rim ". The younger cast gives the film energy, Mark Chao with his "brilliant, playful and boyishly complacent" portrayal of Dee is a clear improvement over Andy Laus "sober seriousness". Although the film could be shortened, the scriptwriters would have shown "greater discipline in creating a largely linear plot". "More subtle and macabre than known for him", Tsui Hark also weave in "political subtext". The technology behind the action sequences is “well thought out”, but the fight scenes “drag themselves along a bit”, making the movements appear “repetitive”. Nonetheless, the production value is extremely expensive, the camera work is "thrilling" and the design of sets and costumes is "brilliant".

Nominations

price category Nominee result
Hong Kong Film Awards 2014 The best supporting actress Carina Lau Nominated
Best new actor Lin Gengxin Nominated
Best art direction Kenneth Mak Nominated
Best costumes and makeup Kwan Lee of Spades, Bruce Yu Nominated
Best action choreography Bun Yuen Nominated
Best soundtrack Kenji Kawai Nominated
Best sound design Kinson Tsang Nominated
Best visual effects Wook Kim Nominated
Golden Horse Awards 2014 Best visual effects Wook Kim, Soo-young Park Nominated
Best costumes / makeup Bruce Yu, Pik Kwan Lee Nominated
Best action choreography Bun Yuen, Lin Feng Nominated
Best art direction Kenneth Mak Nominated
Best soundtrack Kenji Kawai Nominated
Asian Film Awards 2014 Best production design Kenneth Mak Nominated
Best visual effects Wook Kim, Soo-young Park Nominated
Best costumes Kwan Lee of Spades, Bruce Yu Nominated
Golden Rooster Awards 2015 Best tone Kinson Tsang Nominated

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2014 (PDF; test number: 144 496 V).
  2. ↑ a b Patrick Brzeski: Cannes: Tsui Hark's 'Detective Dee' Prequel Sells Wide. In: HollywoodReporter.com . May 22, 2013, accessed August 5, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Tsui Hark plans 'Detective Dee' prequel. China Daily , February 28, 2011, accessed August 5, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Joyce Lau: Bringing a Wealth of Cinematic Knowledge to the Screen in 3-D . In: The International Herald Tribune . July 12, 2011 ( nytimes.com [accessed August 5, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster. In: Filmdienst.de . Retrieved August 5, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Patrick Frater: Cannes: IM Global Picks Up Chinese Crowd-Pleasers 'Youth,' 'Detective Dee'. In: Variety.com. May 9, 2017, accessed August 5, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Detective Dee and the curse of the sea monster in the German dubbing index
  8. ↑ Mark Jenkins, 'Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon' movie review. In: Washingtonpost.com. September 27, 2013, accessed on August 3, 2017 (English): “The new movie is a prequel, and an improvement. It's more agile and coherent, even if man who plays the younger Dee, Mark Chao, lack Lau's presence… But the rise of CGI has taken the edge off his style… Amusingly flamboyant as it is, however, that stunt is less rousing than the gravity-defying work Tsui did with stunt men and women in such romps as 'Peking Opera Blues' and 'Once Upon a Time in China II.' "
  9. ↑ Maggie Lee: Film Review: 'Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon'. In: Variety.com . September 18, 2013, accessed on August 5, 2017 (English): “lays out a gargantuan feast of 3D spectacle, high-wire martial arts, splendiferous period aesthetics, intelligent sleuthing and even an ancestor of 'Pacific Rim's' kaiju… this mystery -actioner-costumer is energized by a youthful cast and proves more cohesive than the overwrought original… Tsui also draws on the era's corruption and political tyranny to hold up a mirror to contempo realities, while his use of political subtext here is subtler and more macabre than usual… Though the film could be trimmed down from its 133-minute running time, Tsui and co-scribe Chang Chia-lu… have exercised greater discipline in crafting a mostly linear narrative… Coming off as brilliant, playful and smug in a boyish way, Chao turns out to be a major asset in Tsui's fledgling franchise, and reps an improvement on Lau's drily earnest Dee ... For all the elaborate technique on display, the fight scenes do drag a little, enough to make the move s look repetitive. Production values ​​are lavish. Heady crane shots abound in Choi Sung-fai's sweeping cinematography, while the richly wrought sets, costumes and murals look radiant throughout. "
  10. ↑ Hong Kong Films Awards (2014). In: YesAsia.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Golden Horse Awards 2014. In: Focustaiwan.tw. November 22, 2014, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  12. ^ Asian Film Awards (2013). In: YesAsia.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
  13. ↑ 第 30 届 金鸡 奖 提名 名单 在 京 公布. In: Chinafilm.com. August 19, 2015, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved August 6, 2017 (Chinese).