Kiu Fung and Hui Juk: a lousy way to start a brotherhood.

[Ken Cheng]

When you think about it, Kiu Fung and Hui Juk's deep friendship and sworn brotherhood was pretty implausible. Consider the events surrounding their first meeting: could their relationship have gotten off to a worse start?

On the day that Kiu Fung and Hui Juk first met (before they had been formally introduced to one another, in fact), Kiu Fung learned that Hui Juk's father had been a part of the plot that killed Kiu Fung's mother (and had been part of the subsequent coverup that had led Kiu Fung to even more suffering, including the death of Ah Chu). Naturally, Kiu Fung couldn't bring himself to forgive Hui Juk's father for what he had done. In DGSD '81 (and I'd be surprised if this were not in the novel as well), Hui Juk actually begged Kiu Fung to forgive the disgraced Chief Abbot of Shaolin, to which Kiu Fung regretfully replied, "I'm sorry, but do you understand how the events at the Gate of Ah Mun affected my life?" Hui Juk's father was subsequently beaten to death per Shaolin regulations (well, the beating was per regulations; the "to death" part was incidental) for his transgressions.

Kiu Fung and Hui Juk were both great men. I don't put it beyond them to not blame each other for their respective fathers' transgressions. Nevertheless, Kiu Fung and Hui Juk were both human. Somewhere in the back of Kiu Fung's mind, he should have had a difficult time looking at Hui Juk and not thinking, "this guy's father helped murder my mother and ruin my life." At the same time, how could Hui Juk not look at Kiu Fung and not think, "although my father did wrong and deserved punishment, this man would not forgive him even though I begged him." Maybe Kiu Fung and Hui Juk were great enough men that they wouldn't decide to seek bloody vengeance on each other, but to become great friends and sworn brothers? That seemed to be a stretch. Considering all the bad blood between their fathers, how could they even stand to hang around with each other? Seeing each other must have brought up bad memories. Even if they didn't hate each other, it's hard to imagine them enjoying each other's company enough to become friends, let alone sworn brothers.

[PJ]

This is another instance of not-so-bright TV adaption divergence. In the novel, Xiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan did not blame Abbot Xuanci; they blamed Murong Bo 100%. Immediately after Murong Bo's identity was revealed, he ran away as fast as he could, and the Xiao's chased after him. THEN, after Xiao Feng left the scene, Bao Butong provoked Shaolin to punish Abbot Xuanci. That's when he received the beatings (at his own desire as well). It had nothing to do with Xiao Feng.

I think the novel version is the best way to display Xiao Feng's heroism: to distinguish and punish the true evildoer, since it is Murong Bo's fault by far... as opposed to the depiction DGSD 1982 where he went after Abbot Xuanci.

[Ken Cheng]

That explains much. Thank you, PJ.

I always did find it weird how Kiu Fung and Hui Juk could have become friends after the way they were "introduced" to each other in DGSD '81.

[R!chard]

DGSD 81 was a joke. I just watched an episode of it yesterday and it literally made me laugh. What happened to SM? He was like cursing at XF and MRF for no apparent reason and seemed to be pissed off all the time...

[Ken Cheng]

DGSD 81 was a joke. I just watched an episode of it yesterday and it literally made me laugh. What happened to SM? He was like cursing at XF and MRF for no apparent reason and seemed to be pissed off all the time...

I just watched that scene yesterday too, and the Janitor Monk didn't curse at anybody. The old actor who played him did give the character a bit of an attitude, though, which I kind of liked.

[PJ]

DGSD 81 was a joke. I just watched an episode of it yesterday and it literally made me laugh. What happened to SM? He was like cursing at XF and MRF for no apparent reason and seemed to be pissed off all the time...

Way to critique a 50-episode TV series based on one episode.

[R!chard]

I just watched that scene yesterday too, and the Janitor Monk didn't curse at anybody. The old actor who played him did give the character a bit of an attitude, though, which I kind of liked.

Cursing probably was too strong of a word there but in Cantonese, what he said was closer to 'piss off' rather than simply saying 'go away'. And not to mention, SM basicy tried to 'force' XZ to clean up the room. This is certainly not how i'd depict the demeanors of an enlightened monk.

And PJ, I'd truly hope tha the rest of the series are much better because that episode was appalling. Its not that one particular scene was but everything about the show seemed poorly executed, starting from the acting to the plotline. Yes, I know its from almost 25 years back but TVB has made some quality series back in the 80s and this, as far as I am concerned, certianly isn't one of them.

[Ken Cheng]

Cursing probably was too strong of a word there but in Cantonese, what he said was closer to 'piss off' rather than simply saying 'go away'. And not to mention, SM basicy tried to 'force' XZ to clean up the room. This is certainly not how i'd depict the demeanors of an enlightened monk.

It doesn't, and DGSD '81 certainly didn't characterize the Janitor Monk as much of anything. Nevertheless, I did kind of enjoy this characterization of the monk even if it wasn't exactly the way the novel depicted him. I found the DGSD '81 Janitor Monk oddly comical.

And PJ, I'd truly hope tha the rest of the series are much better because that episode was appalling. Its not that one particular scene was but everything about the show seemed poorly executed, starting from the acting to the plotline. Yes, I know its from almost 25 years back but TVB has made some quality series back in the 80s and this, as far as I am concerned, certianly isn't one of them.

I thought it was pretty good. Not necessarily accurate, particularly in the final 1/3 of the story, but entertaining. When it comes to adapting wuxia novels for television, I prefer the series to be entertaining rather than a rote reproduction of the novel. If the production company can manage to be entertaining and accurately reproduce the novel, then all the better, but I'll trade in complete accuracy for entertainment value any day.

Without DGSD '81, I'd never have discovered the wonderful world of Jin Yong or wuxia in general. This was where I got in.

[Ken Cheng]

I watched the scene again, R!ch, and while the Janitor Monk did have a bit of an attitude, he wasn't particularly rude...especially not to Kiu Fung. He did seem a bit impatient, but hardly nasty. To Mo Yung F'uk, he was a little more contemptuous, but again, not in quite as nasty a way as you're describing.