Based on one particular storyline from The Water Margin, Three Sinners weaves an intriguing story of romance, treachery, and death, all within the context of the traditional Huangmei Opera. Yan Jun casts his real-life wife, the elegant Li Li Hua, star of such Shaw Brothers films as The Goddess of Mercy and Vermillion Door, as one of the title characters, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a stormy love triangle involving her controlling husband (director Yan Jun serving double duty in a starring role) and a passionate lover (Chen Yan Yan).
Acting
Li Li-Hua's devastating stillness between explosive arias.
Costume
Saturn-worthy headdresses that wobble with emotional weight.
Direction
Yan Jun directs his own marital discord. Awkward genius.
Director
Yan Jun
Li Li-Hua
Yan Xi Jiao (Yen Hsi-Chiao)
Yan Jun
Master Song Jiang (Sun Chiang)
Chen Yanyan
Old Mrs. Yen
Kao Pao-Shu
Yi Li-Chiao
Li Kun
Tang Niu
Tang Ti
Red Head Devil Liu Tang
Hao Li-Jen
Jiang's colleague
Yi Fung
Jiang's colleague
Gam Tin-Chue
Onlooker of Jiao's begging
Lee Ying
Magistrate
Lan Wei-Lieh
Constable
Cheung Hei
Drunk teasing Yuan
Tam Ying
Crier at Jiao's wake
Fuk Yan-Cheng
Priest
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Li Li-Hua was Shaw Brothers' highest-paid actress when she made this; her husband Yan Jun allegedly took a pay cut to direct her.
Adapted from Chapter 21 of Water Margin, but the opera form softens the original's brutal femicide into something almost romantic—almost.
HK
