Beautiful film and its soundtrack's excellence greatly impressed me

Enchanting tales abound in the world that people can treasure and impart to others. Here is one of those stories, straight from China and about a century old. I also thought the legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, a beautiful, doleful, and moving love story set in China's Eastern Jin Dynasty, was beautiful. Various adaptations have turned the story into stage plays, operas, TV series, and movies, including this beautifully animated film that I watched online. And after watching it, I love it.

The film begins with a beautiful, intelligent young woman named Zhu Yingtai from Shangyu, Zhejiang, who is the only daughter of the wealthy noble Zhu family. Of course, in the original story, Yingtai is the youngest of nine siblings-eight boys and one girl. Well, anyway, after much effort, she convinced her father to let her disguise herself as a young man and travel to Hangzhou to study, because back then, women weren't allowed to go to school. With a servant girl named Xin Yin (disguised as a servant boy), Yingtai set off to school. During her journey, she encountered Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji (now known as Shaoxing), in the same province, and his servant boy named Xi Jiu. They felt like old friends at the first meeting. Therefore, they took a vow of brotherhood by the river. Over the months, Yingtai spends her school days with "Brother Liang," and she develops an infatuation for him.

So her love for Liang grew to consume her, and she thought of nothing else. Soon, Yingtai's mother began to send letters to her, asking her to come home. In the fifth letter, Yingtai relented and planned to tell Brother Liang her real identity before she left school. Meanwhile, a wealthy (and unattractive) rival, Ma Wen Tsai, suspected Yingtai's real identity the whole time after their school's play, where Yingtai actually put on her dress and let down her hair to play the part of the girl who is being sacrificed to the River God, while everyone in the school thought she was an effeminate man. Well, anyway, Ma snuck up on Yingtai, who thought Ma was Liang and foolishly told him her confession that she was a girl. Ma told her then that he liked her and would like to marry her. He also told her that she should give up any dreams of marrying Liang Shanbo. Eventually Liang arrived, and after her confession, Liang and Yingtai promised one another that they would be together forever, this time as man and wife.

I can't tell you, folks, anymore. Once you fully view the film, you will see the final act in its entirety. It's on a Region 1 DVD. Let me make it clear: I love this movie, and its soundtrack's excellence greatly impressed me.

Mandarin-language cinema across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore explores historical reflection, cultural identity, and personal sacrifice, often expressed through poetic visuals and sweeping narratives. In Mainland China, this takes the form of allegory and large-scale epics that reflect on national history. Taiwan emphasizes intimate modernist realism, generational change, and the search for identity. Singapore contributes stories of migration, multiculturalism, and the negotiation of tradition in a globalized city.

Animation is a form of visual storytelling that involves creating visual art and motion through the use of various techniques and technologies. In animation, images are manipulated to create the illusion of movement, bringing characters, objects, and environments to life. Animation can encompass a wide range of styles, themes, and intended audiences, making it a diverse and versatile form of storytelling.

Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The family genre features stories specifically created to be suitable for a wide range of age groups within a family. Family-oriented content is designed to be enjoyed by both children and adults, often providing entertainment that is wholesome, relatable, and appropriate for all members of a family to watch or experience together.

Drew Barrymore and Pat Welsh in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The romance genre features the theme of romantic relationships and emotional connections between characters. These stories focus on the development of love, desire, and intimacy between protagonists, often exploring the challenges, conflicts, and triumphs that arise in their relationships.

Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)

An animated re-telling of the classical Chinese story of two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Zhu Yingtai was a girl born into an upper-class family during China's Eastern Jin Dynasty. Since women were not allowed to attend school, she begged her family to let her go, and they consented as long as she pretended to be a young man. There she met a handsome young upper-class man named Liang Shanbo. They instantly became friends and vowed to be sworn brothers forever. Yingtai hid her real identity from "Brother Liang" through the three years they studied together at Hangzhou. Her love for him grew to consume her, and she thought of nothing else but spending all of her days with Brother Liang.

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