Chinese Ghost Story 1987
Legendary Hong Kong producer/director Tsui Hark and filmmaker Ching Siutung combine forces in this high-flying supernatural romance classic. Ning Caichen (Leslie Cheung) is a lowly tax collector who takes refuge for the night at the spooky Lam Ro temple. There he encounters and promptly falls in love with a beautiful ghost named Nie Xiaoqian (Joey Wang). Unfortunately Xiaoqian is damned to serve the evil hermaphroditic tree spirit Lao Lao, who (thanks to an extraordinarily long tongue) feasts on the souls of amorous young males. Usually Xiaoqian, along with her comely sister Qing, tempts would-be Lotharios to their arboreal doom, but she too is smitten with the downtrodden wanderer. Soon afterwards, Caichen meets Master Yan , a Taoist hermit, martial arts master, and a sworn enemy of Lao Lao, who tells him of Xiaoqian's true, otherworldly nature. Nonetheless, true love proves to be strong.
Caichen promises Xiaoqian that he will help spring her from her dubious employment and Xiaoqian protects her love from the evil wood sprite. Later, things grow more complicated for the lovers when they learn that Xiaoqian has been betrothed to a demon warlord.
Ning Choi-san (played by Leslie Cheung) is a debt collectorwho travels through the Chinese plains and visits local towns. Unfortunately,he is also plagued by misfortune as his account book is destroyed, so he has nomoney to pay for shelter.
As a result, he spends a night in a haunted templeoutside of the town. There, he encounters an enchantingly beautiful womancalled Nip Siu-sin (Joey Wong).
Little does he know that Siu-sin is a ghost wholures travellers with her body so that the Tree Demoness (Lau Siu-ming), a1000-year-old monster who can eat men inside out. Nevertheless, Ning Choi-sanfalls for the ghost and protects her from dangers, in turn Choi-san protectshim from other flesh-eating ghosts. With the help of a Taoist monk, Yin Chik-ha(Wu Ma), Choi-san descends into the deepest levels of hell to save Siu-sin fromthe grasp of the Tree Demoness.
A Chinese Ghost Story was actually inspired by the ShawBrothers drama film The Enchanting Shadow from 1966 (both movies share the sameChinese title), but Ching Siu-Ting and Tsui Hark reinvented the story to suchan extent that it bears little resemblance to its original. The two creatorshad very different visions about the film. Namely, Siu-ting wanted it be morean action/horror story, whereas Hark opted for a romance/love story. The finalresult is somewhat the middle ground between these visions. With regard to performances, Leslie Cheung is at his besthere. Instead of being a predictable, comical/flamboyant type, Leslie creates arelatable everyman caught in the middle of a spiritual war he cannotcomprehend. It comes as no surprise that the 2011 theatrical re-release of thefilm as well as the remake were to dedicated to his memory.
On the other hand,Joey Wong is outstanding as the ghostly spectre who desires to free herselffrom the firm grasp of the Tree Demoness. Interestingly, Joey would go on torepeat this role not only in the sequels, but also in many remakes andretellings of this classic film. Naturally, Wu Ma must also be praised for hismemorable performance of a ghost-fighting Taoist monk.
Chinese Ghost Story 1987 Download
Priests from TheExorcists should watch and learn how a pro obliterates demons in a trueDragonball-like style. I safely recommend this film to anyone who is interested indiscovering the hallmarks of Hong Kong cinema. The movie is entertaining andfast in terms of action set pieces, but also poetic in its inventive subtlety.What is more, there is absolutely no CGI but only practical effects. I alsosuggest that you try to grab a remastered dvd or blu-ray version in order tofully enjoy the film and the wonders it provides. All things considered, AChinese Ghost Story is a cinematic tale unlike any other.