The Cave of the Silken Web (Pan Si Dong) a.k.a. Journey to the West - the Spiders Cave a.k.a. Spiders is a 1927 Chinese film directed by Dan Duyu and starring Yin Mingzhu as the first spider spirit. It is based on an episode of the shenmo fantasy novel Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic written in the Ming Dynasty. It is argubly the first ever extant media-based adaptation of Journey to the West.

The ten-reel silent film was produced by Shanghai Yingxi Company.

It was thought to be a lost film, until 2013, when an original copy of The Cave of the Silken Web was discovered in the archives of the National Library in Mo i Rana, Norway. The film was presented at the Films from the South 2013 festival in Oslo. Roughly three quarters of the film is preserved, the first reel and a section in the middle is lost. The Norwegian copy has retained the original Chinese intertitles, but includes additional jokes in Norwegian written for the local audience.

The film was followed by a sequel in 1930: The Cave of the Silken Web II a.k.a. Spiders II, also directed by Dan Duyu and starring Yin Mingzhu. The sequel is currently believed to be a lost film.

Cast:

• Yin Mingzhu as First Spider Spirit
• Xia Peizhen as Second Spider Spirit
• Wu Wenchao as Sun Wukong
• Jiang Meikang as Tang Sanzang
• Zhou Hongquan as Zhu Bajie
• Dan Erchun as Sha Wujing
• He Rongzhu as Man In White
• Chen Baoqi as Yellow Flower Daoist Spirit

Watch trailer HERE

A post-discussion will be moderated by Jeff M. Giordano.

$6 all-day parking at St. Mary’s Square Garage