Dream of the Red Chamber (traditional Chinese: 紅樓夢; simplified Chinese: 红楼梦; pinyin: Hónglóu mèng) (also known as Dream of the Red Mansions and The Red Chamber Dream) is a 1944 Chinese film directed by Bu Wancang. It is an adaptation of the classic 18th century Qing-era novel by Cao Xueqin. The film follows Yue Opera tradition of casting a female actor in a male role.
It is the third known film adaptation of the novel. The earliest was a short film made in 1924 starring male Peking Opera singer Mei Lanfang as Lin Daiyu, and the second a silent film made in 1927, directed by Ren Pengnian and Yu Boyan.
Contents
Cast
Yuan Meiyun as Jia Baoyu (cross-gender acting)
Zhou Xuan as Lin Daiyu
Wang Danfeng as Xue Baochai
Bai Hong as Wang Xifeng
Ouyang Sha-fei as Hua Xiren
Release
The film was released into the public domain 50 years after it was published, under copyright laws in the People's Republic of China.
It was distributed as a double feature with Empress Wu Zetian by Cinema Epoch in 2008, as part of their Chinese Film Classics Collection.