TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

GazerRise Fantastic!

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Chao Anya The movie was a big hit when I was a little girl. At that time, I was more into the love story, however when I watched Ching Se (Green Snake) again, something suddenly struck me and finally, I get a glimpse of the true meaning of the film.As some may have already knew, the story was adapted from ancient Chinese mythology. The original story was about love and humanity: the monk Fahai did not understand love, he believed that all monsters are born to be evil and broke up the couple of the white snake and the man. The movie was quite different though, as the true love couple in this film was meant to be the white snake and the green snake.The green snake (Qing),as can be seen from the tile of the film, is the main character. She went all the way trying to find what love and human emotions are, and to no avail. When the white snake (Bai) fell in love with the human (Xian Xu), Qing copied Bai's moves and try to seduce Xian Xu. Bai has known Qing for a very long time, therefore she knew that Qing is doing this only to test if Bai cares about her. Qing's jealousy was forgiven, but Bai suggest that Qing go back into the forest because she was carrying the man's baby at that time. Fahai found Xian Xu and insisted that he was blinded by his desire, lost morality and that he should go to be a monk, throwing away all the emotions and reaching a new level of understanding to the world. Qing and Bai went to save Xian Xu and were engaged in a fight with Fahai, using their magic they brought flood to the Jinshan temple. In the middle of the fight, Bai gave birth to her baby, indicating that she was already a human and no longer a snake. Fahai was shocked by the fact that all this time he has been battling with a human, and to save them he drove the flood to another way, but killed dozens of monks in Jinshan temple accidentally. Bai asked Qing to save her husband, she pleaded and it broke Qing's heart. The best line of the movie lies here, Qing said:"You always talk about love and being human, but what is love? I don't even think the human understands. You and me, we sisters have been together for 500 years, isn't this love between us? Have you ever thought about me as a human and consider my emotions?" Qing went to save Xian Xu, only to find that the man has agreed to become a emotionless monk in order to stop Fahai from hurting the snakes. She laughed and said Xu betrayed Bai's love, and he was not worth it. She brought Xu outside, but at that time Bai has already gone. Now heartbroken, Qing killed Xu for the purpose of him accompany Bai in the other world and finish her last wishes. She was in such grief that she was about to kill herself; but then she remembered that she had no right to -- she was not the one Bai loved.Fahai was going to punish Qing for murdering, but Qing just laughed and asked if he made no mistake. At the beginning of the story, Fahai was seduced by Qing to test if he was really noble and has no desire (there were metaphor and symbolic techniques used, but the director was meant to say that they had already have sex therefore the monk has sin). It is true, as Fahai hurt a human pregnant woman (Bai) and killed several monks by accidents and he is evil too. Qing was dead inside, she left and said she will come back if the human really has the answer to "What is love".Like any other Chinese film (especially mythology and tales), the story was told in a indirect way and many symbolic clips were used. The atmosphere and use of light, smoke and color are amazing, there are novel with same title and it was even darker than the movie. The ancient Chinese mythology is not like those in any other countries, but they too talk about humanity and the never ending topic of love. This is a masterpiece and is really worth watching.

Onderhond From time to time I like to dabble in a pool of older genre films. I don't find many masterpieces there, but some films are pretty entertaining. And once in a while, something really neat pops up. Green Snake is one of those films, ranking among the top films the early 90s Hong Kong period has to offer.Green Snake is a strange blend of genres, but not at all uncommon for those type of films. If you want to compare it to anything (that is remotely known) I guess A Chinese Ghost Story comes closest.The film's main focus are two demon snakes that have traveled to the human world to live a better life. They act as dames and try to find a husband, as they can secure their lives in the human world by getting a human child. This might sound a bit silly, but in essence it differs little from many Roman or Greek legends we know (and accept them for what they are).Of course, no HK film from that period is complete with at least some flashes of martial arts thrown in. So a traveling monk and Buddha priest are added to make the lives of our snakes a bit harder. Both are trained in the more magical areas of the martial arts field, resulting in many magical spells and little hand to hand combat.What sets this film apart from his peers is the visual brilliance. It won't be to everyone's liking, but the abundant use of color is simply superb. Every shot in the film looks lush, be it through it's impressive, colorful set design or through the many filters that are used. The editing gives you little time to absorb all this beauty, but every new shot is impressive enough not to care.Also typical for these type of films is the type of editing used. Because the means and budgets were not high enough to create the effects required in a believable way, many magical scenes are often shot up close and edited in such a way that the viewer will fill in the blanks. It can become a bit confusing this way, but all in all it's a splendid solution. Some scenes still look pretty cheap, but overall the effects never take away from the film.Another thing worth mentioning is the music. Although probably hit and miss for many, I liked the music Hark has chosen for this film. Especially the song with the Indian (?) dancers stayed long after the movie had finished. Pretty strange, not everyone will far for it but I think it worked wonders here.Of course, there's also the quirky acting and silly humor that are ever present in these HK films. It comes with the territory and I don't mind one single bit, but it's another factor that will turn off some people from films like Green Snake. Their loss I guess.It's pretty easy to love or hate these kind of films. But if you're a fan of this kind of cinema, Green Snake is one of the best films to pick. It's Tsui Hark at his best, the film is lush in its visuals and score, is entertaining to the core and wastes no time on unnecessary things. Very likable and extremely well-made. 4.0*/5.0*

widescreenguy WOW.Chinese film makers have definitely made great strides since the days of the shaw brothers cookie cutter chop socky genre.this film is based on a legendary story but clearly takes the story line and presentation to a remarkable and very entertaining spot.sexuality is explored and well as the gamut of emotions humans experience. these are explored in the context of the snake beings learning how to behave as humans.I am dazzled by Maggie. I wish I had known she was in Hamilton doing 'Clean' maybe I could have gotten an autograph.honestly, I've never seen a film with such a wondrous fantasy setting that still presented some moral lessons and thought provoking ideas about human interaction.

eraceheadd This film was wacky, weird, and just plain nutty. It absolutely amazes me how Hong Kong Cinema, and Asian cinema in general, tries to pull off such lavish and fantastic movies on such small budgets. I can only imagine how much money a Hollywood exec. would think of throwing into a picture like this. When some guy is China is saying, "Hmmm, you need a giant talking snake, huh? Give me $20 and a new bicycle and u got it by next week."What a wild ride, (got lucky and saw it on the big screen) but what would you expect from Tsui Hark. The guy is just awesome with the camera, its so kinetic, it can make the weak sick. The story line of this movie is also kinetic - part myth, part fantasy, part romance, part comedy, with a little bit of kung-fu thrown in as well. I loved the setting; the canal town, it was really beautiful. The effects wern't bad either.The whole move is basically about the struggles of female sexuality in a male world. I think the points of the story are great, but the action is just so nuts, its almost hard to watch. Seeing Maggie Cheung and her co-star slither around on their bellies was really funny. The two were quite sexy together, and there were some fantastic scenes in the movie, but, I think it was just a little too much for me to take. I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping for a little more action than the silly comedy. Fans of the fantasy genre should get a kick out of it. But, I'd rather see some Wu-tang clan stuff, or just watch Maggie Cheung for 2 hours. (oh - the title song will haunt you!)