The film stars Chinese actor Huang Xuan (left) and Japanese actor Sometani Shota. [Photo provided to China Daily]

With his latest epic, Legend of the Demon Cat, Chen Kaige, a leading figure among "China's fifth-generation filmmakers", has revived his reputation after a decade of flops. Xu Fan reports.

Many European filmmakers say Chen Kaige is one of their favorite Chinese directors. But the man widely recognized for his Palme d'Or win for Farewell My Concubine has struggled for over a decade with a series of flops.

But with his latest epic, Legend of the Demon Cat, the leading figure among "China's fifth-generation filmmakers" has revived his reputation.

The film released on Dec 22 has so far raked in nearly 500 million yuan ($76.9 million) at the box office and received 6.9 points out of 10 on Douban.com, the Chinese equivalent of IMDb.

The fictional story, adapted from a best-selling novel by Japanese author Yoneyama Mineo, is about a Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet teaming up with a Japanese Buddhist monk to probe the mysterious death of Yang Yuhuan, the beloved concubine of Emperor Li Longji.