Movie Review: A Chinese Ghost Story/倩女幽魂

A lot of people were incensed that Wilson Yip would ‘remake’ a HK cinema classic. But he says that its a re-telling of the story and not a remake of the film.

If the Coen brothers can do the same with True Grit (staying much closer to the original novel than the 1969 film), then just maybe we should cut Wilson a little slack.

Maybe.

I expected to loathe this film, and went to see it only because I figured you would enjoy watching me lose my sh*t over it.

A Chinese Ghost Story/倩女幽魂 has fared dismally in Hong Kong. I think its a case of snobbery, which in most cases I would support; it’s nice to see people refusing to watch something made for China.

At the same time, people are missing out on a decent film.

It’s actually called A Chinese Fairy Talein the PRC.

Which, at first, smacks of SARFT-knobbing; there are no ghosts in the workers paradise.

Other than the 40+ million ones from Mao’s reign of terror, dumbness and misery, but what do I know?

Not to mention that the Chinese title appears to be the frigging same.

But if we are to be honest, and fair, the original film changed the story from animal demons to ghosts, so the new version is more faithful to the original story, and its title reflects that.

I am not sure how the rules work in the PRC such that fairies/demons are okay but ghosts are not.

I am not demonizing homosexuals.

It would be nice to find out exactly how that little bit of semantic gymnastics works, but I’m not holding my breath.

Yu Shaoqun gets the Thankless Task award here, reprising a role that Leslie Cheung played in the original, as Ning Caichen (寧采臣). So no matter what he did, people would dismiss him. He’s not as charismatic as Leslie Cheung, but then who is?

Still, I felt that he managed to play the role of the timid official well, and was at least competent, and occasionally funny.

“我有陰道恐懼症!”

Liu Yifei plays Nie Xiaoqian (聶小倩), the titular ghost/fairy. In fairness to her, she’s dubbed into Cantonese (at least in the print I saw), and the role is not necessarily dialogue-heavy. But she does well.

Let’s face it, a big part of the role (on film anyway) is to just be eye-candy, though in this case the intended reaction being heartache more than hardening of the arteries (so to speak). Like Joey Wang in the original, Li u  Yifei manages to create (at least for this male viewer) a character with whom one can find great sympathy and affection.

Thank God this isn’t an outtake fromForbidden Kingdom.

At their best, Hong Kong cinema’s romantic films could always inspire truly romanticfeelings, showing us people we would love to love (or be loved by), not just people we would like to bump uglies with.

In A Chinese Ghost Story 3, Joey Wang watches a frightened Tony Leung Chiu Wai run through a dark forest, in fear for his life. She smiles, and the first time I saw it (and every time since), I felt as though it would be a wonderful thing to be the subject of that smile. If a woman ever smiled that way about me, my life would be a significant bit more complete.

But movies aren’t real, so instead I’m just a bitter divorcee. And f@#$ you.

Louis Koo takes over the Wu Ma role as Yan Chixia (燕赤霞). I really enjoyed Koo’s acting in this role, and his ability (not to mention willingness) to play an older role was both refreshing and entertaining. His gruff mutterings were highly entertaining.

“我沒有陰道恐懼症!”

Fan Siu Wong doesn’t fare as well, since he is relegated to a very small supporting role, which is a shame. He could be a great supporting actor, and like Lam Suet, he is one of those actors whose work I will support simply by virtue of his presence.

Which is how I ended up watching The Moss. But I forgive him.

But one of the smallest male roles in the film is the best reason to go see it. Elvis Tsui returns to the big screen in HK, and he is brilliant.

He plays the mayor of a small town beset by evil spirits and evil doings. His character is by turns engaging, outrageous, and hilarious.

Much like Wai Ying Hung, it was a sheer joy to watch him on screen again.

When I buy this DVD, it will be because of him.

I wonder how Wai Ying Hung feels taking on a role that was originally essayed by a (badly) cross-drressing man. She seems to have a lot of fun here, chewing scenery with great gusto. Any time she’s in a HK movie, it’s a good thing.

The other three women in the film, Wang Danyi Li as Xia Bing (夏冰), Gong Xinliang as Green Snake (青蛇), Lin Peng as White Snake (白蛇), are, how to say, less than stellar.

Wang Danyi Li shows the only possible way these three got their roles.

They’re not cute, they can’t act, and they’re utterly disposable.

In other words, perfect candidates for pop stardom.

Unlike the original film, there is a love triangle between the three main characters. It wasn’t a bad thing, but I don’t feel it really added anything to the film. Other than an excuse for more scenes like these:

They’re watching Elvis Tsui bathe.

The cinematography is often evocative of the original, which frankly is much more appealing in the night shots than the daytime. At night, the strong blue tint managed, for me, to wipe away 25 years and put me right back in the feeling of the original. The daytime scenes did the same, but instead simply reminded me how washed out and bad a lot of movies looked back then. I wouldn’t have minded a little nicer look during daylight.

I really wanted to hate this film, and it did on occasion give me reason to. That said, I just couldn’t do it. It’s in no danger of measuring up to its predecessor, but by the same token its nothing to really be ashamed of for anyone involved in it.

Considering some of

the films  these actors have made, that really is saying something.