Five Flavours Festival: Green Snake
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TypeGrand Hall
Two demons take on the form of beautiful women and settle among humans in a house they conjure themselves. When the White Snake falls in love with a local scholar, the Green Snake becomes jealous, and the situation grows complicated. Especially as a Buddhist monk, who knows their true nature, begins to pursue them.
Green Snake is an adaptation of Lilian Lee’s novel (Lee also wrote the source material for Stanley Kwan’s”Rouge”), which draws on an old Chinese folk tale. In the lens of Tsui Hark, at the height of his powers, this story about the essence of humanity becomes a fairytale adventure filled with colour and sensuality, as well as dynamic action scenes. The director, who revolutionised modern action cinema with his energy and imagination, was a master at casting female roles. Joey Wang and Maggie Cheung as the White Snake and the Green Snake have never looked more dazzling, particularly in the newly restored 4K version. They simply don’t make films like this anymore - audacious, balancing beauty and kitsch.
GREEN SNAKE, dir. Tsui Hark, Hong Kong 1993, 99’
subtitles: Polish and English
