Top: Peking Opera performer Shang Changrong (middle) poses for a picture at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on May 30, 2014. Photos: CFP

 

A scene from Mei Lanfang Classics Photos: CFP

Prize-winning 3D movie Farewell My Concubine: The Beijing Opera debuted at the Tokyo Film Festival on Tuesday to waves of applause from local cultural figures and opera lovers.

Based on the relationship between ancient Chinese warlord Xiang Yu and his concubine Yu, the movie is the first to capture Peking Opera using modern 3D technology.

An innovative attempt to combine Chinese opera with modern film technology, the movie allows audiences to experience this 200-year-old art form in a brand-new way.

Featuring performances by Peking Opera actress Shi Yihong and 76-year-old lead actor Shang Changrong, the film has been called "impressive" and "magnificent" in reviews.

Guo Yan, minister of the Chinese Embassy in Japan, praised the film at the premiere for "telling a good Chinese story and playing a monumental part in spreading Chinese culture to the world."

At the end of the event, the Tokyo Film Festival awarded the film a special certificate to honor its contribution to exploring new avenues of modern film-making.

"Even though the two films use the same title, we focus more on the story as performed by Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang 90 years ago," said the film's director Teng Junjie in a 2014 interview with mtime.com when comparing the new film with the 1993 classic Farewell My Concubine by Chen Kaige.

The film made its Hollywood debut at the Dolby Theatre in 2014, and became the first Chinese movie to be bestowed the award for "Best Live Broadcast Music Entertainment" by the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society last year.

Following its Tokyo tour, the film crew is expected to bring the film to countries including South Korea and New Zealand.