Liang Shanbo and Zhu Intai (film, 1963)

The plot of the film, with slight differences, is based on the legend of the Western Jin dynasty (4th century), also known as “ Lovers-Butterflies ” and compared with the European story “ Romeo and Juliet ” ^[2] . In the annotation for the re-release of the film on DVD by its distributor and current copyright holder IVL / Celestial Pictures, the plot of the film was also compared to some extent with Yentl .

Thirsty for teaching, the 16-year-old daughter of a wealthy family in Shanyu, Zhu Intai, tricks her parents into letting her go to school in Hangzhou , on condition that she go under a masquerade face . On the way to school, with a faithful handmaid (also dressed up), Intai meets 17-year-old Liang Shanbo, who is going to the same schoolboy from Guiji (now Shaoxing ). Almost immediately feeling deep sympathy for each other, young people swear an oath as the named brothers and continue on their way together. During the three-year study, side by side, love for Shanbo gradually grows in Intai, however, the “read-out” young man ignores all Intai’s oversights, betraying that she is a girl.

After three years at school, Zhu Intai receives a letter from her parents and is forced to leave her urgently. Before leaving, the girl reveals her incognito to the wife of the teacher and gives her a jade pendant with a request to transfer her Shanbo later as a sign of love and betrothal. Liang Shanbo himself escorts his "brother"; during the 18 years of the joint journey, Intai gives Shanbo many hints, already intentionally, about his love, but the young man manages to remain in ignorance. In the end, Intai is satisfied at least with the consent of a friend to get acquainted with the “sister of his named brother” as a potential bride and his promise to come to visit soon.

Returning to school, Shanbo for months can not concentrate on studying without a friend; seeing this, the teacher’s wife reveals the secret of Intai to him and conveys a sign of her love. Overjoyed, the young man strives for his beloved, but when he gets there, he receives an unexpected blow - Mr. Zhu has been grabbing his daughter for the son of another rich and influential family, Ma Wencai, for several months now. Returning home, hopeless Liang Shanbo falls ill with grief and soon dies.

Having learned about this, Intay, forced to agree to marriage, makes the wedding procession stop at the Shanbo tomb on her way to the ceremony and prays to heaven to let her unite with her beloved, if not in life, then in death. A rising storm opens the tomb and Zhu Intai rushes into it. Two butterflies fly out of the mound formed at the burial site and fly to the sky-high ...

The mass production of this film also became one of the first filming of young Chen Gansheng, who then used the name Yuen Lau, and in the future glorified under the pseudonym Jackie Chan ^[3] .

• Production company: Shaw Brothers .
• Producer: Shao Renlen .
• Director and screenwriter: Li Hanxiang .
• Operator: Tadashi Nishimoto (aka He Lanshan), Tai Kaitai.
• Composer: Zhou Lanping .
• The language of dialogue and vocals: Chinese putonghua ("Mandarin") ^[4] , presumably - the Anqing dialect, traditional for the opera huanmei .
• Film and film format: Eastmancolour 35 mm, shot in Shawscope format (proprietary version of CinemaScope ) 2.35: 1. The sound is mono.
• Location: Japan ^[4] .
• Premiere date: April 3, 1963 (Hong Kong) ^[4] .

Since its inception, the film has gained immense popularity in almost all of Southeast Asia , especially in the central region of Taiwan, where the film at that time blocked the success of all the other films of several countries combined, breaking record fees ^{[1] [2]} . The producer of the film and one of the founders and co-owners of the studio, Shao Renlen, recalled the excitement of the film in Taiwan:

When we shot Eternal Love , I remember that there were people in Taiwan who came to watch the film a hundred times. I ordered the manager: “More than 100 times! Let him come in and look. Do not take money from him! ”

Original text

When we made 'Eternal Love', I had, in Taiwan, people who came to see the picture 100 times. So I gave instructions to the manager, 'Over 100 times! Let him come in and see. Don't take money from him!

- Sir Run Run Shaw, Signature, March 1990 ^[5]

The degree of popularity of this film was also independently testified, in particular, by the well-known film director Ang Lee , who made the rental of The Love Eterne in Taiwan at the age of 9:

The film became so popular in Taiwan that some claimed to have watched it 500 times ... Cues from it came into everyday use ... People took lunch boxes with them, went to the cinema and watched it all day. My parents also watched this movie often. I remember when they walked on him for the third time - a typhoon was approaching, and they just left us alone at home: “OK, we went to watch this film, bye!” ... The film was popular with everyone - from children and housewives to university intellectuals.

Original text

The film became so popular in Taiwan that some claimed to have seen it 500 times ... Lines of its dialogue became part of everyday conversation ... People would take two box lunches, go the theater and watch it all day long. My parents were watching it often. I remember the third time they went to see it, there was a typhoon coming, and they still left us at home. 'OK, we're going to see this movie, bye.' ... The film was popular with everyone, from children to housewives to university intellectuals.

- WATCHING MOVIES WITH / ANG LEE; Crouching Memory, Hidden Heart
(Interview for The New York Times, March 9, 2001) ^[6]

From the time the film was shown to the present, Ivy Lin Poe (who played in the films of huanmei and a number of other male characters) has remained famous in Taiwan under the nickname "Brother Liang" coming from this film ^[7] .

The popularity of the film, as well as the next picture of the same genre and with the same main "star" about Hua Mulan , was not limited to the Chinese-speaking region; both tapes were soon well received in the west, for example, in the USA ^{[8] [9]} .

Despite the fact that The Love Eterne is far from the only production according to this legend (examples include all varieties of Chinese opera, a number of films and television series, cartoons, even symphonic works and ballet), this version remains the most famous of them and is considered the quintessential style film huanmei ^[10] .

The duet from this film “Seeing Off to 18 Li” ( 十八相送 ) remains one of the popular concert numbers of this style in the repertoire of a number of performers, including Ivy Lin Po herself, together with younger singers in the Zhu Intai part.

2nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (1963) - Six awards in the following categories:

• Best movie
• Best Director - Li Han Han
• Best Actress - Betty Lo Tee
• Best Film Music - Composer Zhou Lanping
• Best Editing - Jiang Xinglong
• The jury’s special award for an outstanding game is Ivy Lin Poe (since her title role was obtained both “best female” and “best male”) ^{[5] [7] [11]} .

7th (1963)

• Show ^[12] and certificate of honor ^[4]

10thAsian Film Festival (1963)

• Best Color Filming - He Lanshan (Tadashi Nishimoto)
• Best Art Directing - Chan Keiyu
• The best music
• Best Recording - Wang Yonghua ^{[4] [12]}

In addition, the film was nominated from Hong Kong for the Academy Award in the category " Best Foreign Language Film ", but did not get on the short list of the nomination ^[13] .

Later, the film was selected at least 2 times in the selected movie lists:

• No. 38 in the list of 100 best films for the history of cinema of the Chinese region according to the Hong Kong Film Awards selection committee, presented at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards (May 27, 2005) ^[14] .
• No. 1 on the 100 Years of Hongkong Cinema, compiled by Chinese movie magazine Movieview. ^[ten]

• The Love Eterne on the Internet Movie Database
• The Love Eterne on the AllMovie website
• The Love Eterne on HK Cinemagic
• The Love Eterne ( Chinese) at Hong Kong Movie Database
• Performance of the episode “Seeing Off at 18 Li” with a duet of Ivy Lin Po and Jenny Zhen at a concert in 2000 on YouTube .