Film Screening - Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is a 2013 fantasy-comedy film directed by Stephen Chow and Derek Kwok(co-director).

Comedy masters Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle) and Derek Kwok (Gallants) teamed up to direct this irreverent comic adventure. Inspired by a Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West features elaborately choreographed physical comedy, Chow’s trademark nonsense wordplay, and parodies of everything from Peking Opera to Shaw Brothers kung fu movies. It tells the tale of Xuan Zang (Wen Zhang), a naïve monk who tries, and mostly fails, to defeat demons through nonviolent means, much to the amusement of his rival, the rambunctious and beautiful Duan (Shu Qi).

This “thoroughly entertaining action comedy” (Edmund Lee, Screen International) broke box office records in China. Chow also stars in A Chinese Odyssey 1 and 2, which are also inspired by Journey to the West and screen on August 17. (Dir.: Stephen Chow and Derek Kwok, China/Hong Kong, 2013, 110 min., D-Cinema, Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles)