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Tragic but tuneful

Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe has made the tale of Gongsun Zidu, a Chinese Macbeth or Othello, into a film that hit mainland theaters on Wednesday.

Gongsun Zidu is about a story that happened in China in 712 BC. It is considered to have the flavor of one of Shakespeare's tragedies. It revolves around Gongsun Zidu, a general who stabbed his friend in the back on the battlefield and was tortured by deep remorse for the rest of his life. The protagonist, who shares a tragic fate, is well known among Kunqu Opera fans and is played by Lin Weilin, the country's top Kunqu actor and head of the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe.