Stephen Chow revisits Journey to the West

As Stephen Chow Sing-chi strolls through his hotel suite, he casts an eye to the right and over a movie poster his public relations team has placed next to the window, and breaks into a wide smile. Yes, he admits after sitting down to talk, an obsession with Journey to the West continues to course through his veins.

This will be obvious to anyone who has seen the extended trailer for the star's latest big-screen adaptation of the famous tale, as it shows repeated scenes of Chow, with director's hat firmly in place, cajoling cast members Huang Bo, Wen Zhang and Shu Qi, and jumping around as though his inner actor is about to burst out and dominate the production.

There's also the poster, featuring an off-set shot of Chow again gesticulating, passionately, to Shu Qi. And, lastly, if any doubt remains at all, a few days after our interview a telephone call comes from out of the blue from Chow, who says he just wants to make sure - really sure - that we fully understand just how important Journey to the West is to him.

"I still scratch my head when I read it and wonder what were they eating way back then," Chow says, laughing down the line. "What did they eat that could make one man so creative? There is so much going on in this book and its themes are still universal today, even though it was written so long ago. As a filmmaker, the opportunities it gives you are almost endless."

The fruits of Chow's latest labours will be seen when Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons - which he co-directs with Derek Kwok Tsz-kin - hits the big screens in time for the Lunar New Year. It is, of course, not the first time Chow has turned to Wu Cheng'en's classic novel for inspiration. Back when his career was still on the rise, A Chinese Odyssey parts one and two (1994) helped spread his brand of moleitau (or nonsense) comedy across the region - and into the mainland, in particular, where the films became a sensation and helped establish Chow as arguably Chinese cinema's biggest star.

That Chow's flame continues to burn - even though he hasn't made a movie since the fantasy CJ7 five years ago - is reflected in that day's local newspapers, which feature coverage of his first appearance as a delegate to Guangdong's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference the day before and of the court case he is embroiled in with a former partner. As an ongoing concern, the latter is off limits, but Chow is happy to talk about his move to the fringes of the Chinese political scene - mainly because he is still not 100 per cent sure why he is there.