#Lighting Up the Stars

[moonlightsdream]

Mom, dad, thanks for everything.

Lighting Up the Stars 人生大事 (2022) — dir. liu jiang jiang

[wenella]

May 21 Weibo: Adorable moments between Sange & Xiaowen 🥹 The film is doing a rerun from May 25-Jun 24, 2024.

[sketching-shark]

I was curious to know, is there a specific adaptation of JTTW that you particularly enjoy? Whether its good or accurate isnt important but more like in your personal taste

AUGH going to be honest @seasonalsummers in that I don't feel like I can pick just one...there's so many excellent retellings! But I will take this opportunity to present some of my favorites.

So first up we have the 1986 Journey to the West tv series. It is in many ways very goofy and gaudy, but there's just as many reasons why it's considered one of the best retellings out there, from its genuine heart to the adherence to the og classic. And needless to say its Sun Wukong really set a standard for cheeky scheming monkey behavior. You can start watching it here:

Next up is 2016s The Monkey King 2. While this film is one of those retellings that gives the White Bone Demon a lot more prominence than she has in the og classic--and definitely has its own silly stupid moments--it also stands as one of the very few retellings that directly addresses the paradox of Tang Sanzang's mission: that he's trying to get the sutras to help mortals achieve a state of peace all while abhorring violence, and yet its only because of the violence of his disciples, especially Sun Wukong, that he's able to right a number of wrongs or simply go from day to day uneaten. You can watch it here:

And now it's time to give kudos to 2015's Monkey King: Hero Is Back. While this film is FAR from a faithful retelling and (usual refrain) has its own silliness, pretty simple plot, and gross-out humor, it also has so much heart and stands as a wonderful embodiment of the dad Wukong characterization. One also has to give it credit for its main child character, Jiang Liuer, being a genuinely charming kid who's wonder at the world and desire to do good drives the story forward in a sincerely lovely way. You can watch it here:

More recently--and in a work that is at best only loosely following the plot of Xiyouji--is 2022's Lighting Up the Stars. This film follows the story of a Li Nezha coded little orphan girl Wu Xiaowen and a Sun Wukong coded funeral director Mo Sanmei as they go from a very tense relationship to a genuinely loving father-daughter relationship. While there are moments of this film that feel kind of overwrought, it's an honestly wonderful exploration of what goes into dealing with death and the importance of love in all its many forms during life. I also have a soft spot for Mo Sanmei, who from what I've seen is the very peak of explicitly shitty cringefail loser who then genuinely works hard to become a better person Sun Wukong out there. It can be watched here:

Turning away from film and animation for a moment, I simply have to give proper kudos to Chaiko Tsai's comic The Monkey King. Between the gorgeous art, fun character designs, a good sense of how to translate many of the stories of Xiyouji into comic format, and a resolution to the Sun Wukong vs. Niu Mowang fight that I actually prefer above that in Journey to the West itself, this is definitely a comic worth going through! You can purchase it here for about $30.00

And last but certainly not least, one simply has to give due credit to 1964's Uproar in Heaven. It's an absolute gem of stylized Chinese animation, a work with the very rare allowance on the Monkey King getting to go full grandpa for tons upon tons of monkeys at Mt. Huaguoshan, and it's very faithful to the first half of the og classic with the difference that here Sun Wukong does his havoc in heaven and gets away with it. All around its a really fun work to watch and does have a lot of importance from both an animation and a historical perspective. You can watch it here:

So those are my favorite adaptations of Journey to the West! It's but a fraction of the adaptations out there, but I hope other people found these as fun as I do.

[ahneunjin]

“My dad's name is Mo Sanmei. My home is Up Sky, No. 73, Huai'an Road, Yuhua District, Yanjiang City. I won't get lost.” ZHU YI LONG as Mo Sanmei and YANG EN YUE as Wu Xiaowen in LIGHTING UP THE STARS 人生大事

[avaantares]

The sheer range of this man. I just can't.

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Zhu YìLóng 朱一龍

Harper's Bazaar China - April 2022 (1/2)

Have another wet XiâoSanYé while I'm at it.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Lighting Up The Stars (2022) 人生大事

Director: Liu Jiangjiang Screenwriter: Liu Jiangjiang Starring: Zhu Yilong / Yang Enyou / Wang Ge / Liu Lu / Luo Jingmin / Wu Qian / Zheng Weili / Chen Chuang / Li Chunai / Zhong Yusheng / Liu Yajin / Xiao Ai / Han Yan Genre: Drama / Family Country/Region of Production: Mainland China/Hong Kong, China Language: Mandarin Chinese / Wuhan Dialect / Sichuan Dialect Date: 2022-06-24 (Mainland China) Duration: 112 minutes Also known as: Funeral Family / Life Events IMDb: tt15801594 Type: Appropriation

Summary:

Mortician Mo Sanmei (played by Zhu Yilong ) met orphan Wu Xiaowen (played by Yang Enyou) during a funeral shortly after his release from prison. Xiaowen became entangled with Mo Sanmei, which caused trouble for Mo Sanmei, who was already in trouble. Sanmei brought a series of life problems. After a lot of laughter and separation, this special father and daughter who were involved in the funeral industry collided and developed a wonderful friendship, which also changed Mo Sanmei's attitude towards career and life.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/35460157/

Link: https://nunuyingyuan.com/movie/137550

[xiermifen]

2022

[zhu-yilong-laying-on-things]

[moonlightsdream]

FILMS in 2024: 25 | Lighting Up the Stars 人生大事 (2022) — dir. liu jiang jiang

[wenella]

EN subbed vid (Aug 4): Yang Enyou received the Best Lead Actor Award on behalf of Zhu Yilong at the 37th Hundred Flowers Awards and did a call out to him. Zhu Yilong is filming Dongji Island on an island and was unable to attend the ceremony today.

[sketching-shark]

And now he got stabbed in the ass by the Li Nezha coded character. This is genuinely going great.

[ahneunjin]

watched in 2023:

LIGHTING UP THE STARS 人生大事 (2022) dir. Liu Jiang Jiang

[mjsakurea]

Lighting Up the Stars is on Japanese Netflix???? Well I know what I'm watching tonight! But also since when? I have been pining after this movie forever, just wistfully seeing all my dash post about it

[xbethelight]

Lighting Up the Stars 人生大事 (2022)

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Zhu YiLóng 朱一龍

Little tour in Annecy, Geneva and around the lake. (2/3)

ZYL Studio Wb updates 2024.04.15,16

04.16 Happy birthday!!!