The recent success of former child star Ke Huy Quan and his Oscar winning return to the big screen with Everything Everywhere All at Once has led to renewed interest in his work following his initial success with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. Of particular interest was the 1993 Taiwan television drama that he starred in with the provocative title The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter. Thankfully, the Taiwan Television network (TTV) has uploaded every single episode on YouTube, giving fans a chance to see the sort of performance Quan provides once he has left his child star status.
Quan plays Ba Da-jia, the Little Carpenter in our tale. In the final years of the Ming dynasty, Ba Da-jia was a carpenter that just happened to be fixing a roof in a square where the playmate for the Crown Prince was to be selected. The selection led to a riot among the young eunuchs. In the midst of this chaos Ba Da-jia ended up falling off the roof right in front of the officials making the selection. He wound up getting picked, and managed to enter the palace as a eunuch while avoiding castration. Thus he finds himself in the middle of a political battleground where he winds up coming face to face with the Crown Prince turned Tianqi emperor, the ruthless Wei Zhong-xian (the Big Eunuch in the story), Madame Ke, and members of the intellectual Donglin Movement as well as the militant White Lotus Sect. Everybody has their own motivations, and Ba Da-jia's is just to survive.
The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is a television drama lasting 40 episodes, with each hour-long episode a part of the overall story. Even subtracting the commercial breaks and the opening and ending theme still leaves about 29 hours worth of material, Naturally, the progression of the story is divided into arcs, or different situations that Ba Da-jia has to deal with. The quality of the arcs are fairly varied. Some of the arcs are very well written, such as the first major storyline involving the attempted coup by the concubines of the former emperor. Others aren't quite so riveting, usually because they get thrown to the wayside before reaching a conclusion.
All of this backcourt dramatics may sound quite serious, especially in a medium called the "TV drama." Yet as one might expect from the title The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is purely a comedy. The entire series is pretty much played for laughs. While several other comedies end up becoming quite serious near the end as the stakes are higher, the jocular nature persists in The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter. The forms of comedy are fairly diverse. There are slapstick moments, and also puns and other wordplay, sometimes involving Ba Da-jia's name (which translates literally into Big House, but it can also mean Everyone.) And yes, as one might expect in a show about eunuchs there are jokes involving castration as well. However, the majority of the humor comes from situational comedy. Throw a character with absolutely no decorum into an environment where modesty and respect is almost mandated and let the laughter flow.
Ke Huy Quan shines in his performance as Ba Da-jia. His performance was burdened with the fact that Ba Da-jia is a very annoying and unlikeable character. He is lazy, stupid, lecherous, and greedy. He is quick to deflect any responsibility, yet also quick to soak up credit for any praise. Some of these negative traits get toned down fairly early on and by the second half he actually does some some honorable things, but he's still largely the same useless fellow by the end of the series. He isn't even allowed to use his own voice to do so. Quan is certainly capable of speaking Mandarin Chinese. He proved it in his performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. However, he does speak with a thick Cantonese accent. As a result the producers felt it better if his lines were dubbed over.
Thankfully, Quan does have a special skill, and that is that he is a master at physical acting. Each of his actions are quite exaggerated, but it helps to highlight Ba Da-jia's characteristics. He sits with his feet hanging over the side of the chair, showing off his lack of court decorum. He struts when he's feeling haughty and shrinks when he cowers at the sight of Wei Zhonxian and Madame Ke. And of course there is his trademark look of surprise, when his mouth an eyes open up wide and he yells "Wah!" Unfortunately Quan isn't given an opportunity to show off his martial arts skills as there are a few action scenes, but he is never shown to participate in any of them. Nevertheless, Quan does manage to make the most of the opportunities he is given.
Of course it helps that Quan is surrounded by a strong ensemble cast. Actresses Ming-chie Kuang and Chin Chi are very good as Ba Dajia's love interests Yuan Xiao-yu and Zhang Qian respectively. Kuang's Xiao-yu has more of a kind and patient type of chemistry, but Chi's Zhang Qian and her abusive tendencies is more humorous. Meanwhile veteran actors Shao-feng Cheng (who also serves as the director of the series) and Ming Chiang are also solid as Xiaoyu's grandfather Yuan Bu-fan and Zhang Qian's father Zhang Ben-ru respectively. Their treatment of Ba Dajia hilariously run counter to that of Xiaoyu and Zhang Qian, with Yuan Bu-fan treating the little carpenter with stern disapproval while Zhang Ben-ru constantly showers Dajia with praise.
Meanwhile two-time Golden Horse winner Feng Ku shines as the real-life figure of Wang An. His strict, no-nonsense control of the administration under the Tianqi emperor runs counter to the lust for power of Wei Zhong-xian. At 25 years old, Shin-chih Chiu is probably a little too old to play the Tianqi emperor, who was only a teenager for most of his reign, but even so he does a great job portraying the weak-minded emperor whose blind mistrust in Ke and Wei led to the political chaos, yet infuses him with a sympathetic air. Comedic actor Jing Fang is terrific as Ba Da-jia's sleazy uncle Ba Da-zhu, whose greed dwarfs that of his hapless nephew to the point that he ingratiates himself towards Ke and Wei, yet manages to remain hilariously charming in spite of his slimy personality.
Even some of the characters with more limited roles are fantastic. The veteran Mongolian actress Siqin Gaowa is very good as the scheming Consort Li, one of the concubines lusting for power following the death of the previous emperor. Her cold cunning early on serves as a contrast for Ke and Wei who outdoes her in every way later in the series. Actor Tai He makes a strong impression as Ba Da-jia's one-time boss Bao Da-chun. His curt way of speaking and his lack of tolerance for Ba Dajia's antics is such a breath of fresh air it's a shame he was written out so quickly. Vicky Hsiao Hsuan Chen is also solid as one of Tianqi's concubines who feeds information to Wei Zhong-xian. Her courageous stand against Wei is inspirational even if it would end up costing her life.
Of course every show has to have its share of antagonistic characters, and the villains of The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter are all very memorable. Ping-chun Cheng is the very definition of intimidating as the military leader Ke Guanxian, especially as the Bas and the Yuans struggle for survival late in the series. Te-men Kan also phenomenal as the titular Big Eunuch Wei Zhong-xian. He has his share of intimidating moments, yet has enough bumbling to make it a memorable performance. Heng Yu is possibly even better as Wang Ti-qian. The old eunuch is initially portrayed as a funny old homosexual pervert, yet quickly proves to be much more ruthless and cunning than anybody could have imagined.
Yet the series MVP ends up being Man-ning Hsi as Madame Ke. She makes her glorious entrance in an action-packed fight scene near the end of the first episode. She is cold and calculating, and proves herself to be the mastermind in the Ke-Wei collaboration, She is always quick to provide guidance and can even stop even Wei Zhong-xian and Ke Guang-xian with just one little glance. Yet she also shows tenderness towards the emperor. Initially it seems like her fealty towards the emperor is only to help her gain power, yet by the end of the series it becomes clear that her care for him is genuine. It almost makes you feel sorry for her in her defeat, a feeling you don't quite get with the other antagonists.
Being a high-profile costume TV drama, you'd expect the production values to be quite high, and for the most part it is. The costumes are all quite exquisite, even if the characters rarely ever seem to change. The sets are a little bit more varied. The indoor sets within the palace are all pretty exquisite. However, some of the outdoor sets leave more to be desired, especially one later on in a series of underground tunnels. The music is fairly nice. Much of the music is an instrumental remix of the opening theme, titled "I was Hip Checked by Youth". Of course, the Studio Ghibli fan in me quickly recognized two songs from the Kiki's Delivery Service soundtrack, namely "I Can't Fly" and "Jeff."
I have no idea if The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter ended up being a rating success for TTV. I do know that when the television awards in Taiwan, the Golden Bell Awards, announced its nominees for the year the show aired, The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter only picked up one nomination, within the Sound Mixing category, which it didn't even win. Nevertheless, The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is a highly entertaining series. If you're a die-hard fan of Ke Huy Quan, and you're in the mood for some comedy, and you have a passing knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, then the show is definitely worth watching.
Quan plays Ba Da-jia, the Little Carpenter in our tale. In the final years of the Ming dynasty, Ba Da-jia was a carpenter that just happened to be fixing a roof in a square where the playmate for the Crown Prince was to be selected. The selection led to a riot among the young eunuchs. In the midst of this chaos Ba Da-jia ended up falling off the roof right in front of the officials making the selection. He wound up getting picked, and managed to enter the palace as a eunuch while avoiding castration. Thus he finds himself in the middle of a political battleground where he winds up coming face to face with the Crown Prince turned Tianqi emperor, the ruthless Wei Zhong-xian (the Big Eunuch in the story), Madame Ke, and members of the intellectual Donglin Movement as well as the militant White Lotus Sect. Everybody has their own motivations, and Ba Da-jia's is just to survive.
The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is a television drama lasting 40 episodes, with each hour-long episode a part of the overall story. Even subtracting the commercial breaks and the opening and ending theme still leaves about 29 hours worth of material, Naturally, the progression of the story is divided into arcs, or different situations that Ba Da-jia has to deal with. The quality of the arcs are fairly varied. Some of the arcs are very well written, such as the first major storyline involving the attempted coup by the concubines of the former emperor. Others aren't quite so riveting, usually because they get thrown to the wayside before reaching a conclusion.
All of this backcourt dramatics may sound quite serious, especially in a medium called the "TV drama." Yet as one might expect from the title The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is purely a comedy. The entire series is pretty much played for laughs. While several other comedies end up becoming quite serious near the end as the stakes are higher, the jocular nature persists in The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter. The forms of comedy are fairly diverse. There are slapstick moments, and also puns and other wordplay, sometimes involving Ba Da-jia's name (which translates literally into Big House, but it can also mean Everyone.) And yes, as one might expect in a show about eunuchs there are jokes involving castration as well. However, the majority of the humor comes from situational comedy. Throw a character with absolutely no decorum into an environment where modesty and respect is almost mandated and let the laughter flow.
Ke Huy Quan shines in his performance as Ba Da-jia. His performance was burdened with the fact that Ba Da-jia is a very annoying and unlikeable character. He is lazy, stupid, lecherous, and greedy. He is quick to deflect any responsibility, yet also quick to soak up credit for any praise. Some of these negative traits get toned down fairly early on and by the second half he actually does some some honorable things, but he's still largely the same useless fellow by the end of the series. He isn't even allowed to use his own voice to do so. Quan is certainly capable of speaking Mandarin Chinese. He proved it in his performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. However, he does speak with a thick Cantonese accent. As a result the producers felt it better if his lines were dubbed over.
Thankfully, Quan does have a special skill, and that is that he is a master at physical acting. Each of his actions are quite exaggerated, but it helps to highlight Ba Da-jia's characteristics. He sits with his feet hanging over the side of the chair, showing off his lack of court decorum. He struts when he's feeling haughty and shrinks when he cowers at the sight of Wei Zhonxian and Madame Ke. And of course there is his trademark look of surprise, when his mouth an eyes open up wide and he yells "Wah!" Unfortunately Quan isn't given an opportunity to show off his martial arts skills as there are a few action scenes, but he is never shown to participate in any of them. Nevertheless, Quan does manage to make the most of the opportunities he is given.
Of course it helps that Quan is surrounded by a strong ensemble cast. Actresses Ming-chie Kuang and Chin Chi are very good as Ba Dajia's love interests Yuan Xiao-yu and Zhang Qian respectively. Kuang's Xiao-yu has more of a kind and patient type of chemistry, but Chi's Zhang Qian and her abusive tendencies is more humorous. Meanwhile veteran actors Shao-feng Cheng (who also serves as the director of the series) and Ming Chiang are also solid as Xiaoyu's grandfather Yuan Bu-fan and Zhang Qian's father Zhang Ben-ru respectively. Their treatment of Ba Dajia hilariously run counter to that of Xiaoyu and Zhang Qian, with Yuan Bu-fan treating the little carpenter with stern disapproval while Zhang Ben-ru constantly showers Dajia with praise.
Meanwhile two-time Golden Horse winner Feng Ku shines as the real-life figure of Wang An. His strict, no-nonsense control of the administration under the Tianqi emperor runs counter to the lust for power of Wei Zhong-xian. At 25 years old, Shin-chih Chiu is probably a little too old to play the Tianqi emperor, who was only a teenager for most of his reign, but even so he does a great job portraying the weak-minded emperor whose blind mistrust in Ke and Wei led to the political chaos, yet infuses him with a sympathetic air. Comedic actor Jing Fang is terrific as Ba Da-jia's sleazy uncle Ba Da-zhu, whose greed dwarfs that of his hapless nephew to the point that he ingratiates himself towards Ke and Wei, yet manages to remain hilariously charming in spite of his slimy personality.
Even some of the characters with more limited roles are fantastic. The veteran Mongolian actress Siqin Gaowa is very good as the scheming Consort Li, one of the concubines lusting for power following the death of the previous emperor. Her cold cunning early on serves as a contrast for Ke and Wei who outdoes her in every way later in the series. Actor Tai He makes a strong impression as Ba Da-jia's one-time boss Bao Da-chun. His curt way of speaking and his lack of tolerance for Ba Dajia's antics is such a breath of fresh air it's a shame he was written out so quickly. Vicky Hsiao Hsuan Chen is also solid as one of Tianqi's concubines who feeds information to Wei Zhong-xian. Her courageous stand against Wei is inspirational even if it would end up costing her life.
Of course every show has to have its share of antagonistic characters, and the villains of The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter are all very memorable. Ping-chun Cheng is the very definition of intimidating as the military leader Ke Guanxian, especially as the Bas and the Yuans struggle for survival late in the series. Te-men Kan also phenomenal as the titular Big Eunuch Wei Zhong-xian. He has his share of intimidating moments, yet has enough bumbling to make it a memorable performance. Heng Yu is possibly even better as Wang Ti-qian. The old eunuch is initially portrayed as a funny old homosexual pervert, yet quickly proves to be much more ruthless and cunning than anybody could have imagined.
Yet the series MVP ends up being Man-ning Hsi as Madame Ke. She makes her glorious entrance in an action-packed fight scene near the end of the first episode. She is cold and calculating, and proves herself to be the mastermind in the Ke-Wei collaboration, She is always quick to provide guidance and can even stop even Wei Zhong-xian and Ke Guang-xian with just one little glance. Yet she also shows tenderness towards the emperor. Initially it seems like her fealty towards the emperor is only to help her gain power, yet by the end of the series it becomes clear that her care for him is genuine. It almost makes you feel sorry for her in her defeat, a feeling you don't quite get with the other antagonists.
Being a high-profile costume TV drama, you'd expect the production values to be quite high, and for the most part it is. The costumes are all quite exquisite, even if the characters rarely ever seem to change. The sets are a little bit more varied. The indoor sets within the palace are all pretty exquisite. However, some of the outdoor sets leave more to be desired, especially one later on in a series of underground tunnels. The music is fairly nice. Much of the music is an instrumental remix of the opening theme, titled "I was Hip Checked by Youth". Of course, the Studio Ghibli fan in me quickly recognized two songs from the Kiki's Delivery Service soundtrack, namely "I Can't Fly" and "Jeff."
I have no idea if The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter ended up being a rating success for TTV. I do know that when the television awards in Taiwan, the Golden Bell Awards, announced its nominees for the year the show aired, The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter only picked up one nomination, within the Sound Mixing category, which it didn't even win. Nevertheless, The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter is a highly entertaining series. If you're a die-hard fan of Ke Huy Quan, and you're in the mood for some comedy, and you have a passing knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, then the show is definitely worth watching.
