A key film of the Hong Kong new wave of the eighties, during which filmmakers like John Woo and Tsui Hark achieved their breakout work. A CHINESE GHOST STORY (Sien nui yan wan) was produced by Hark, and an enormously successful release, although I’ve never been all that impressed by it.
Tsui Hark can be viewed as Hong Kong’s answer to Steven Spielberg, an indefatigable hitmeister who directed many of the key Hong Kong films of the eighties and nineties (including PEKING OPERA BLUES/Do ma daan and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA/Wong Fei-Hung) and produced many more, including Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW/Ying hung boon sik (1986) and the 1987 film under review. It’s very much in the mold of the Hark directed ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN/Suk saan: San suk saan gim hap (1983), a fantasy epic that was quite influential (being a major influence on 1986’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA). A CHINESE GHOST STORY, a remake of Shaw Brothers classic THE ENCHANTING SHADOW/Ching nu yu hun (1960), proved extremely influential itself, inspiring two sequels in 1990 and ‘91 by the same creative team behind part one, an animated version in 1997 and a 2011 remake–plus there was Ronnie Yu’s classic BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR/ Bak fat moh lui zyun (1993), which owes more than a little to the present film.
It stars Leslie Cheung as Ling, a humble tax inspector who arrives in a town infested by spooks. Among those spooks are an evil sorceress who drains peoples’ bodies with her giant tongue, leaving dried-out skeletons in her wake.
Taking shelter in a local temple, Ling meets Yin (Wu Ma), a supernaturally endowed monk, and Lip (Joey Wang), a beautiful ghost woman with whom he falls in love. Lip was killed years earlier, but her spirit fell under the sorceress’ power when the latter dug up her corpse. Lip begs Ling to steal back her bones so she can be free of the sorceress’ spell, but this is easier said than done. After several battles with the sorceress’ minions (and her giant tongue) Ling and Yin decide the only way they can save Lip and conquer the sorceress is to enter the spirit world themselves.
Many Asian film buffs consider this film a masterpiece. I’m lukewarm on it, largely because the formula was done better in the fast and furious ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN and the more ethereal BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR. This film is much slower than ZU and not nearly as ethereal as BRIDE.
That’s not to say A CHINESE GHOST STORY is entirely without worth. It’s perky and energetic as only a 1980s Hong Kong movie can be, and adroitly mixes gravity defying martial arts with romance and special effects fantasy. The breathless climax, incorporating ghosts, inter-dimensional warfare, explosions and flying heads, rivals the insanity of Hong Kong cult movie classics like THE BOXER’S OMEN/Mo (1983) and the aforementioned ZU. Even the hard-to-follow narrative can be excused as a Hong Kong genre moviemaking staple (ZU, let’s not forget, wasn’t entirely coherent either).
But I’m still not very high on this movie. Entertaining though A CHINESE GHOST STORY is, virtually everything in it has been done in other films, and done better.
Vital Statistics
A CHINESE GHOST STORY (SIEN NUI YAU WAN)
Cinema City Film Productions
Director: Siu-Tung Ching
Producer: Tsui Hark, Claudie Chung Chu
Screenplay: Gai Chi Yuen
(Based on a novel by Songling Pu)
Cinematography: Poon Hang Seng, Sander Lee, Tom Lau, Wong Wing Hang
Editing: David Wu
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang, Wu Ma, Dawei Hu, Jin Jiang, Wai Lam, Siu-Ming Lau, Elvis Tsui, Jing Wong, Zhilun Xue