A Chinese Ghost Story: Parts I, II, and III
What can you say about A Chinese Ghost Story that hasn't been
said? A certified Hong Kong Cinema classic, the film would still probably be
playing Midnight Movie fests nationwide if it weren't for the obligatory
Miramax/Disney embargo. A Chinese Ghost Story features many of Hong Kong
Cinema's celebrated hallmarks, including over-the-top action, a wild mix of
genres, and overwrought emotions that prove surprisingly compelling. Nowadays,
the movie may seem slapdash and overeager-to-please, but there's no denying its
impact on Hong Kong Cinema's global reputation.
Leslie Cheung stars as Ning, a meek tax collector who finds himself
involved in a wacky supernatural romance. He's slated to become a victim to
enchanting ghost Nie (Joey Wong), who's bound to an evil tree demon (Lau
Siu-Ming) who feed on men's souls. Ning's soul is slated for consumption, but
due to a variety of circumstances, he's prevented from becoming soul food. Even
more, the comely Nie grows to care for Ning, and vice versa. Then roving
ghostbuster Wu Ma shows up to take down spirits with his nifty Taoist methods.
There's also impomptu singing, sumptuous production design, and a tree demon
with an extraordinarily long tongue. What a great film!
Reviewing A Chinese Ghost Story as an actual film is probably
useless by now, as its international repuation has been all but etched in
stone. It's not hard to see what made the film such a festival hit. Not only
does it possess Hong Kong's unique mixture of comedy-action-drama-romance, but
it's also genuinely compelling in its hyperemotional excess and - at the time -
willingness to defy the Western filmmaking rules of the super happy ending. The
potpourri of film techniques (i.e., slow motion, dutch angles) provides extra
zip to the proceedings, and the production design is amazing in its sheer
manufactured beauty. And Ching Siu-Tung's action is beautifully choreographed
and energetically staged.
However, the most compelling thing about A Chinese Ghost Story
is probably its sheer cinematic energy. People fly, jump, and engage in
situation comedy with little pause for breath, and whatever pauses that do
occur are usually there to linger on Joey Wong's lovely face. That everything
seems incredibly fake and staged is irrelevant. A Chinese Ghost Story is
primo eighties Hong Kong Cinema, which means a complete disregard for any
attempt at realism. Everything here is so hyperrealistic and over-the-top that
it makes Hollywood musicals look like the very model of restraint.
Sadly, they don't make movies like this anymore. Even back then,
Hong Kong audiences viewed this sort of slapdash, anything-goes filmmaking as
borderline crap. And in a way, they're sort of correct. A Chinese Ghost
Story - and much of its eighties ilk - are really not much more than
glorified B-movie stuff. And most people view B-movies as the very definition
of crap. Well, if that's the case then A Chinese Ghost Story is the
greatest crap ever made.
Chinese Ghost Story II is good fun, if not
entirely necessary. After losing Sian (Joey Wong) in the first film, Ning
(Leslie Cheung) bumps into dead ringer Windy (also Joey Wong), who’s trying to
save her dad (Lau Siu-Ming) from evil government bastards.
Plot devices occur when Windy and her compatriots believe Ning to be
a wise elder; Ning plays along to discover just why Windy looks exactly like
his departed ghost love. Jacky Cheung appears as Autumn, a Taoist monk who aids
Ning, and the amazingly beautiful Michelle Reis is Moon, Windy's sister. Waise
Lee manages to luck into a great role as the military general chasing Windy and
company.
Overall this is an entertaining flick that provides the same type of
action, comedy and romance that made the first film so popular. As such, it isn't
as good, mostly because it can't mach the first film's originality or ability
to surprise. Still, it's worth checking out for those who dig this sort of
thing. Joey Wong isn’t a ghost in this film, so the title must be referring to
the rotted corpses that attack them along the way.
A few hundred years after Chinese Ghost Story 1, the evil
tree demon is still at it. Instead of Leslie Cheung’s bumbling tax collecter,
we get Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as a bumbling novice monk who befriends a
kind-hearted ghost (Joey Wong again) who wants out of her deal with the tree
demon. She’s watched closely by her evil sister (Nina Li Chi), so she can’t be
too overt about her new friendship with the monk. Of course the bad guys
discover it and then all hell breaks loose. Lau Shun plays the monk's master
and Jacky Cheung is around as an avaricious swordsman.
The second sequel to the original Chinese Ghost Story lacks
the spark of the original but still manages to be somewhat entertaining. Ching
Siu-Tung once again gives us equal doses of comedy and action. The originality
is gone but formula is formula: it works. Tsui Hark's pawprints are all over
this thing, as it retains his dizzy, wacky sensibilities. Fans of the series
probably won't be disappointed.