Saving General Yang

Saving General Yang

Official poster
Traditional 忠烈楊家將
Simplified 忠烈杨家将
Mandarin Zhōng Liè Yáng Jiā Jiàng
Cantonese Zung1 Lit6 Joeng4 Gaa1 Zoeng3
Directed by Ronny Yu
Produced by Raymond Wong
Written by
  • Edmond Wong
  • Liu Shijia
  • Ronny Yu
Starring
Music by Kenji Kawai
Cinematography Chan Chi-ying
Edited by Drew Thompson
Production
company
Pegasus Motion Pictures
Pegasus Film & TV Culture (Beijing)
Huayi Brothers
Henan Film & TV Production Group
Henan Film Studio
Distributed by Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution Limited
Release dates
  • 4 April 2013 (2013-04-04)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country Hong Kong
Language Mandarin
Cantonese
Box office HK$6.3 million[1]

Saving General Yang is a 2013 Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu. The story is based on the legendary Generals of the Yang Family. The film was selected as part of the 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival.[2]

Plot

It is early Northern Song dynasty, AD 986, in Northeastern China. The film starts as Yang Ye (Adam Cheng), the leader of the Yang Clan and General for Song, executes 30 whiplashes to his youngest and second youngest child. They participated in a kung fu tournament which caused the death of a rival clan's son. The following morning, the two clan leaders meet with the emperor about the issue when the signaling stations (used for warning an oncoming invasion by their neighboring country) ignites.

It was the Khitan army invading, hoping to take its revenge on Yang Clan for a past massacre that killed the former Khitan general. It was noted that the leader of the oncoming Khitan army is led by the son of the former Khitan general. Due to politics and the recent death of rival clan's son, the rival clan leader is awarded with 50,000 troops to welcome the Khitan army. As punishment, General Yang is awarded to lead the charge and be the scout for Song Dynasty. When the two armies meet, the lack of leadership by the rival clan leader causes chaos among the Song army as Khitan takes a decisive victory. All the while, General Yang is trapped behind enemy lines as the retreat horn sounds.

The chaos causes General Yang Ye to be trapped in an abandoned town in front of Wolf Mountain, as the Khitan army surrounds the town, allowing no one to leave. Song's army, now led by the clan rival, refuses to help and rescue Yang Ye (assumed to be politics again among the clan rivals). This leaves Yang Ye's wife devastated as she sends her seven sons to rescue him. It is later revealed that this is exactly what the Khitan general wanted, and the seven sons fall into their deadly trap.

Led by the eldest son (Ekin Cheng), the seven brothers - the two youngest whom have never been to battle - set out with a small band of Yang clan's elite soldiers to fight through an army of thousands to reach to the Wolf Mountain. Upon getting there, the Khitan army starts bombarding the town with catapults and unleash their attack. The seven escape with their father, but are the only ones of the clan to escape. In the escape the father is wounded with a poisoned arrow and he dies after the escape. The sons decide to bring his body home to their mother, Now, they must find the way back alive - all to bring their father's body home.

Before sending off the seven sons, the mother visits a fortune teller. The teller writes a slip of paper saying: "Seven will set off, six will return". By the end of the film, the second youngest is the only survivor, proving the assumed message of the fortune teller wrong. However, the message was correct, just assumed in a different manner as the only survivor is 6th brother, the number 6 in the fortune and the one who would return. He returned with the body of his father (General Yang died on the way back from Wolf Mountain due to heavily sustained battle injuries), the weapons of all his brothers (who died to the Khitan general), and the head of the Khitan general. He soon married his longtime crush from childhood and redeemed not only his actions from the beginning of the film but also his father's failure to stop the Khitan army. The Khitan queen had to halt her assault on the Song empire due to the loss of her general. Because of the son's actions, the Yang clan developed a very popular reputation, still told in Chinese folklore today.

Cast

References

  1. ↑ 2013年4月22日 - 2013年4月28日 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  2. ↑ "HKIFF Review: Saving General Yang". HK Neo Reviews. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
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