The Bride with White Hair
Reviewed by YTSL
This winner of the Grand Prize at the Fantastica
film festival in Paris is one of the most visually striking and astounding
movies to have come out of Hong Kong. Its sets and costumes come
across as works of art. The choice and use of colors is inspired
and sophisticated. This fantasy mood piece also possesses a most
enthralling musical score (It is, frankly, a travesty that no soundtrack
album has apparently ever been issued as a film tie-in and that only a
limited number of photo books were published).
Along with a top notch crew (of whom art director
Eddie Ma, cinematographer Peter Pao, composer Richard Yuen and costume
designer Emi Wada definitely deserve mention), director Ronnie Yu is also
blessed by having his cast led by the bewitching Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia
and Leslie Cheung. This duo's performances ensure that there is soul
and depth as well as style to THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR. It
is they who make one believe in and feel for their larger-than-life characters
and the(ir) highly dramatic story.
The tale itself is a familiar one of two star-crossed
lovers a la "Romeo and Juliet" and "The (Butterfly) Lovers" (both
of which have been made into more than one movie). The variation
here lies in the protagonists being: A fierce, whip-wielding woman
who, for some time, had been the number one killing machine of a cult led
by an outcast pair of Siamese twins (who come in the form of Francis Ng
and Elaine Lui); and a reluctant heir to a powerful alliance of eight mainstream
martial clans. Complications come from the imperial Chinese government
ordering the clans to go to war against the kind of unorthodox sects that
are threatening the country from within and the Siamese twins actually
being banished members of the clans on which they seek revenge. Other
obstacles to the love between Cho Yi-Hang (Leslie Cheung) and Lien Ni-Chang
(Brigitte Lin), the formerly nameless wolf-girl -- really! -- who happily
had one bestowed on her by Yi Hang, include: An ambitious clan rival
of Yi Hang's coveting the man as well as his position; and the male half
of the Siamese twins salivating after Ni-Chang even as the female half
mocks her brother for doing so.
Among the other things that sets apart that which
has been described by many as "an adult fairy tale" is that the two protagonists
ARE adults (unlike the youthful Romeo, Juliet, Ying-Toi and Tsan-Pak);
albeit those whose first glimpse of each other came when the flute-playing
girl called a pack of wolves away from a boy who had been trying to do
a good deed by rescuing a goat. Other "adult" elements evident in
this movie have prompted the authors of "Sex and Zen & A Bullet in
the Head" to describe it as "darker and more erotic than most" (Hammond
and Wilkins, 1996:17). Above all, what distinguishes THE BRIDE WITH
WHITE HAIR for me -- as well as underlies its maturity -- is its emphasizing
that trust is as important as mutual attraction, passion and sacrifice
in intimate relationships.
Lest it be thought otherwise, I would like
to make clear that this romantic tragedy is not at all without elements
and moments of humor, charm, swashbuckling action and fancy. Still,
I would caution that there are portions of the movie that lose their potency
if one were to see humor rather than drama in them. I (also) must
admit to feeling that the film's finale would have benefited from less
bouncing off walls and columns and other manic action. Even so, this
is a very fine production, which has made -- and will undoubtedly continue
to make -- many Hong Kong movie fans of its viewers.
N.B. The latest Tai Seng release of THE BRIDE
WITH WHITE HAIR comes with a very interesting "making of" documentary that
ought not to be missed as well as larger and clearer subtitles.
My rating for the film: 9.