A chinese ghost story

(2nd try to post this)

Recently I was browsing through my DVDs to select films to lend to
colleague who has to stay home for a few weeks with his foot in plaster.
I stumbled upon one of my favorite movies, which I had almost forgotten
about; "A Chinese Ghost Story". I bring it up here because I think that
many people in this group might love it.
Released in 1987, "A chinese ghost story" is one of the first movies of
the "new wave" of Hong Kong cinema that brought us talents such as John
Woo and Tsui Hark. I saw it not much later, lending a tape from an
asian fellow student and I loved it immediately. This movie hooked me
immediately on the better Hong Kong movies, these showed a pure joy of
storytelling that was absent from most Hollywood productions. By now
Hollywood action movies often seem like homages to the Hong Kong style
of film making, but the style was truly refreshing at the time. I mean,
I saw John Woo's The Killer way back on a film festival; that was
really different. But I am getting distracted. Back to "A chinese Ghost
story".
So visually it looks a bit like an older, more primitve version of
modern wire-fu and swordsplay movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon and the recent (and great!) House of the flying daggers. But it
still has a manic energy (some camera movements remind of the Evil
Dead) and originality.
This is the story about a young and naive tax collector (Leslie Cheung,
asian superstar singer/actor who sadly committed suicide last year) who
has to spend the night in a haunted temple. And there he meets a
lovely, lovely girl. Of course we know that she's a ghost, only he
doesn't. It's probably best that I don't tell you anything more about
the plot. It IS definitely over the top but also a very charming movie.
Oh and it has by far the best kiss I have ever seen in the movies.
You'll know it when you see it.
So, in short: if you don't know this movie I recommend you to try to rent it.
I will close with a good tip: if your DVD player can handle discs from
other regions (which I believe you are morally obliged to ensure, never
rmind what the MPAA says...), then you can find this and many other
excellent asian movies for good prices on www.dddhouse.com

enjoy,

Tom

It is an excellent film--the 2 sequel are worth viewing as well
(although not as good). I'm certainly a fan of Asian horror/ghost
films--from the Japanese classics of the 50s upto a variety of stuff
coming out of China, Japan, Korea & even Thailand today. The Hong
Kong 80s stuff can be campy but also quit beautiful in its own way.
If you liked this one I would recommend Tsu Hark's Green Snake--I
just ordered his first film Butterfly Murders which is also horror and
am looking forward to that one. One has to be careful though--there
are some really crappy horror films from Hong Kong, etc. as well,
especially the ones that rely heavily on slapstick comedy.

Max

On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 00:33:09 +0100, Tom Alaerts
<camembert.TakeThisOut@eudoramail.com> wrote:

 >(2nd try to post this)
 >
 >Recently I was browsing through my DVDs to select films to lend to
 >colleague who has to stay home for a few weeks with his foot in plaster.
 >I stumbled upon one of my favorite movies, which I had almost forgotten
 >about; "A Chinese Ghost Story". I bring it up here because I think that
 >many people in this group might love it.
 >Released in 1987, "A chinese ghost story" is one of the first movies of
 >the "new wave" of Hong Kong cinema that brought us talents such as John
 >Woo and Tsui Hark. I saw it not much later, lending a tape from an
 >asian fellow student and I loved it immediately. This movie hooked me
 >immediately on the better Hong Kong movies, these showed a pure joy of
 >storytelling that was absent from most Hollywood productions. By now
 >Hollywood action movies often seem like homages to the Hong Kong style
 >of film making, but the style was truly refreshing at the time. I mean,
 >I saw John Woo's The Killer way back on a film festival; that was
 >really different. But I am getting distracted. Back to "A chinese Ghost
 >story".
 >So visually it looks a bit like an older, more primitve version of
 >modern wire-fu and swordsplay movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden
 >Dragon and the recent (and great!) House of the flying daggers. But it
 >still has a manic energy (some camera movements remind of the Evil
 >Dead) and originality.
 >This is the story about a young and naive tax collector (Leslie Cheung,
 >asian superstar singer/actor who sadly committed suicide last year) who
 >has to spend the night in a haunted temple. And there he meets a
 >lovely, lovely girl. Of course we know that she's a ghost, only he
 >doesn't. It's probably best that I don't tell you anything more about
 >the plot. It IS definitely over the top but also a very charming movie.
 >Oh and it has by far the best kiss I have ever seen in the movies.
 >You'll know it when you see it.
 >So, in short: if you don't know this movie I recommend you to try to rent it.
 >I will close with a good tip: if your DVD player can handle discs from
 >other regions (which I believe you are morally obliged to ensure, never
 >rmind what the MPAA says...), then you can find this and many other
<font color=purple> >excellent asian movies for good prices on <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.dddhouse.com</font" target="_blank">www.dddhouse.com</font</a>>
 >
 >enjoy,
 >
 >Tom<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->