“A Chinese Ghost Story”, means “The Ethereal Spirit of a Beauty”. It is a 1987 Hong Kong romantic comedy horror film produced by Tsui Hark. The plot is essentially based on a short story about Nip Siu-sin, from Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling's “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio”. The 1960 edition of Li Hanxiang was just a short story of the protagonists from acquaintance to exile. But the 1987 edition from Tsui Hark and Tony Ching was passed through revision and manufacture and to a certain extent was inherited and developed into the 1960 version so that the simple story became more fascinating and more popular.
It is talking about a love story between a scholar, Ning Choi-san (Leslie Cheung), and a female ghost, Nip Siu-sin (Joey Wong). Nip is controlled by the Tree Demoness (Lau Siu-ming) and is forced to seduce humans. Ning and Nip fell in love with each other, but the Tree Demoness forced Nip marry to the old demon of Montenegro. So Ning asked for help from Yin Chik-ha (Wu Ma). They eventually repelled the tree demon and sealed it for a hundred years, the old demon of Montenegro was also eliminated, and Nip was able to reincarnate and become human.
2. Feelings
I knew it is a famous movie since I was young. I didn't appreciate its wonderful value until I watched it in class at my secondary school. When I was watching the movie, I was shocked by the beauty of Leslie and Joey. They have wonderful faces with unique graceful bearings from that era that people nowadays seldom possess. I also read the original story from 'Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio”, and I was amazed by it. The edition of the story in the way of filming also brushes out a new look in different performances. How could Pu Songling write such an enchanting story that people were still fascinated with it and produced a series of works? Although I was not born in the era of Hong Kong film was glorious, I am glad that we can retain the things of the past, enhance our knowledge and enjoy the old style today. Such as I could watch “A Chinese Ghost Story” with my classmates in school class, was because of the school-based assessment in the diploma exam of the theme of Chinese film novel adaptation.
3. Reflections
In the first place, this film has a wide impact till now. After being released in Hong Kong, it received an extended favorable review and has a great influence on future-generation movies. First of all, in the past, horror films always focused on men, such as the 'Zombie' series, and 'Encounters of the Spooky Kind' series, all talking about male ghosts or male exorcism. After this movie, it changed to the trend to focus on female and female ghosts. Next in importance, it started the trend of filming horror films. To cite an instance, “Rouge” and “Picture of a Nymph” were horror films in the past. 'Tales from the Dark series' and “My Left Eye Sees Ghosts” were horror films in the Contemporary. This phenomenon continued the glory of Hong Kong films at that time. Once more, “A Chinese Ghost Story” became a classic movie that the storyline is used in many aspects by later generations. Including two sequels of itself (“A Chinese Ghost Story II&III”), an animated film (“A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation”), TV series (“Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story”), a 2011 edition (“A Chinese Fairy Tale”), mobile game, dancing theme, etc. The film won the 16th French Science Fiction Film Festival Jury Special Award, the Portuguese Science Fiction Film Festival Best Film Award, the 24th Taiwan Film Golden Horse Award Best Adapted Screenplay, and other awards. Therefore, we can see how successful the film did.
In the second place, the audience began to appreciate the “Ghost Story” series as “Cult Film” later. A cult film commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their fans, who are dedicated, passionate fanbase, an elaborate subculture that engages in repeated viewings, quoting dialogue, and audience participation. As “A Chinese Ghost Story” became a classic movie among young people in Hong Kong and the mainland, especially the generation born in the 1980s. It attracts a lot of fans to become devoted fans, so “A Chinese Ghost Story” became a cult film, to last the glory of Hong Kong filming.
In the third place, both protagonists are shot to fame in this movie. They became well-known in several Asian countries including South Korea and Japan. The nickname of Leslie, “brother” has come from the film. Because Nip called Ning with the word 'brother'. People nowadays still use this nickname to represent Leslie. The theme song of the film “A Chinese Ghost Story”, sung by Leslie became one of his famous songs. Joey went off with a bang because of her performance in the film. The Nip version of Joey was so-called to be the only unique Nip in the public. She got a huge success with such a high evaluation. The characters played by the protagonists became classic and left a deep impression on the audience.
Last but not least, “A Chinese Ghost Story” also is a good way to miss Leslie. People always remember the images of Ning Choi-san’s scholarly look, the touching love story of Ning and Nip, also the theme song ' A Chinese Ghost Story '. These images are vivid and profound for the audience.
4. Conclusions
No matter how many editions of “A Chinese Ghost Story” were released or no matter how the qualities were, the 1987 edition always is the best and classic version for everyone.
Reference material:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/倩女幽魂/10118475
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/邪典电影