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Sinnui yauman, is without
a doubt one of the best ghost
stories ever made into film.
Written by Songling Pu and
directed by Siu-Tung Ching,
A Chinese Ghost Story has
it all. Ling Choi Sin played
by Leslie Cheung is a young
man down on his luck who goes
in search of a monastery for
lodging, deep in the woods,
a place the villagers seem
very afraid to go near. The
trek alone is perilous with
wolves, and a crazy taoist
monk lives at the temple.
Ling Choi Sin meets Tsing,
a beautiful and mysterious
young girl who also lives
nearby in a deserted temple.
She is forced to seduce men
for her evil mistress, but
when she meets innocent Ling
Choi Sin they fall in love.
Ling Choi Sin is sort of
a bumbling fool but his heart
is in the right place, while
Tsing tries to protect him
from the other spirits in
the woods, he tries to protect
her from the monk who is trying
to kill the spirits in the
woods. There's great martial
arts, even a monk that breaks
out into drunken song as he
performs ritual taoist sword
forms. The movie does alot
of traditional old martial
art films acrobatics, with
magic and flying through the
air, leaping from tree to
tree, with elegant long gowns
and scarves, but the movie
genuinely flows, and everything
is effective.
Tsing is to be married to
a evil tree monster, which
cant be good, and we feel
her plight in her home where
we meet her sisters and stepmother
who is truly not nice.
In the end they must fight
a tree witch with a deadly
tongue, and go with Yin deep
into the heart of hell to
fight a thousand year old
evil to save their souls,
and bring Ling's ashes back
to her home for a proper burial
so she may have a chance at
reincarnation.
A beautiful story that truly
pays attention to details.
One is touched in many ways
by this movie, you'll laugh,
cry, and just have fun with
the great martial arts and
cinematography. And though
at the end, Yin and Ling Choi
Sin ride off into the morning
sun under a enchanting rainbow,
we never know if Tsing was
afforded a reincarnation,
but we do know her |
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