A masterpiece! But newcomers to the genre beware...
Added 7/30/2009
This film is a classic example of the glory and impenetrability of Hong Kong cinema. It is a movie of pure genius whose gifts are so wedded to its esoteric and bizarre nature, its cultural specificity, and its low-budget limitations, that it is almost unwatchable for a viewer not properly prepared for appreciating it.
First, a few words to prepare you for, or, alternately warn you away from, this film and others of its genre. The print itself looks bad--blurry, grainy, and with some snap, crackle, and pop. This is typical of HK films of this time period. For some reason they even looked like this when shown in theaters.
The subtitles are awful. Most Tai Seng releases re-use the subtitle translation that was inserted by the film studio at the time of production, which was mandated by British Colonial law. In Bride, the subtitles are not only poor translations, they are pasted over the picture of the film, instead of being under the letterbox, and obscure a lot of the shots. Also, at the time, most HK films were shot without sound, which was then recorded later and dubbed in, which produces a slightly off lip-syncing effect, and is very jarring if you are not used to it. For those considering the English dub, it isn't quite as bad as those 70's chop socky flicks they ran on Sundays on Channel 20, but it's close.
Lastly, in terms of caveats, this movie, like others at the time, was produced on a budget that wouldn't get a decent half-hour TV show made in the States. The special effects are crude, to say the least.
That's just the technical stuff that may keep you from enjoying this movie. The other news is that the story, characters, style of filming, costumes, and other assorted elements are so over-the-top and bizarre as to be almost insane by Western standards. However, that is part of this film's great and enduring charm!
The basic story is sort of a fairy tale or legend, and it needs to be viewed as such. The characters and situations are larger than life and in many cases, completely berserk. This film lacks the impressive martial-arts demonstrations of a Jet Lee film, but that doesn't mean it is not enjoyably action-packed. It is just stylized action of a different type. The action is frenetic, swirling, and at some points, ridiculously blunt and bloody.
One of the main joys of the movie is the incredibly stylized art direction: the the colors, lighting, sets, costumes, and camera compositions are delirious and other-worldly, and stunningly beautiful.
Finally, the sheer screen presence and charisma of the star, Brigitte Lin, is an indispensable element of this film's magic.
If you can properly prepare yourself for this exotic experience, you will find one of the true treasures of international cinema: a crazed fairy tale, with an operatic sensibility and an incomparably visceral mixture of the beautiful and grotesque.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Typical Pre-2000 Wuxia, Which Means It Sucks
Added 2/6/2009
I've seen over a dozen wuxia films, but the only ones that are worth watching were released after the new millennium: House of Flying Daggers (2004), Hero (2002), and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).
Everything else I've seen has been an utter waste of my time: The Bride With White Hair (1993), A Man Called Hero (1999), Storm Riders (1998), Ashes of Time (1994), A Chinese Odyssey Part 2 (1994), Butterfly Sword (1993), and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) to name a few. There have been some bad films made post-2000 (e.g., 2005's The Promise), but the pre-2000 wuxia library is thoroughly horrible. Even more disturbing is that these films are hideous for the same exact reasons:
1) Awful screenplay. 2) Atrocious action choreography. 3) Dreadful editing.
The Bride With White Hair is not exempt from these common wuxia pitfalls. The screenplay simply fails to properly develop the romantic relationship between the two leads. They spoon each other in a mini waterfall for 10 minutes, and the viewer is supposed to be convinced that they care for each other. It's not convincing in the least. In fact, the script writers contradict themselves near the end of the film when the two leads do everything in their power to desert one another. Their actions are beyond stupid, as they inexplicably begin to doubt one another on speculative events that are promulgated from the institutions and persons that they initially abandoned for the sole purpose of being together. There is no reason for them to give a rat's arse about these people anymore, yet the male lead sides with them without hesitation. At that point, I wanted both leads to die for counterfeiting the very idea of love.
The action choreography is non-existent in The Bride With White Hair. A character waves their sword or whip at the camera, which immediately cuts to show an enemy instantly die. Repeat ad infinitum. The final fight is laughable when two siamese twins (connected at the back) grab hold of one of the protagonists and bounce around the room like a superball. Interestingly, the sub-par editing is directly related to the fight scenes themselves. It's much easier to cut up the movie on an ad hoc basis to gloss over the unimaginative character interactions in combat, instead of mapping out fight scenes and brainstorming over fresh combinations of moves and maneuvers. There's really nothing else to say other than the obvious fact that no effort was put into the action set pieces, and it shows.
It would seem that filmmakers within the wuxia genre showed almost no development or improvement before the year 2000. It is thus important that this review exists to inform readers of the futility inherent in watching wuxia films released during that period of time. A majority of reviews of this film are overwhelmingly positive, but the reasoning behind these high ratings is dubious at best. The pre-2000 wuxia camp seems to consist solely of fanboys who will eat up anything and everything released under that particular genre's banner.
As a fan of East Asian cinema, I think that this is a disservice to new viewers who are attempting to make the transition to better cinema. They may hit a pre-2000 wuxia film and go running (perhaps screaming) back to Hollywood.
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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as described
Added 1/10/2009
was a good film, however not quite what i expected.
i would rate as 3.5 but that's not possible.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Martial Arts
Added 3/22/2008
An exciting movie about Chinese martial arts and how true love is value. A good movie with plenty sword fights with nice love scene.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Lower your expectations
Added 1/5/2008
The story is good and the screenplay has the right idea, but the low-grade technical aspects are terrible. The considerations one must make for this is too much. The movie on this DVD is primitive stuff! (too bad for South City) If Ronny Yu did it today with access to all the technical devices and support it would be worth the money.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A masterpiece! But newcomers to the genre beware...
Added 7/30/2009
This film is a classic example of the glory and impenetrability of Hong Kong cinema. It is a movie of pure genius whose gifts are so wedded to its esoteric and bizarre nature, its cultural specificity, and its low-budget limitations, that it is almost unwatchable for a viewer not properly prepared for appreciating it.
First, a few words to prepare you for, or, alternately warn you away from, this film and others of its genre. The print itself looks bad--blurry, grainy, and with some snap, crackle, and pop. This is typical of HK films of this time period. For some reason they even looked like this when shown in theaters.
The subtitles are awful. Most Tai Seng releases re-use the subtitle translation that was inserted by the film studio at the time of production, which was mandated by British Colonial law. In Bride, the subtitles are not only poor translations, they are pasted over the picture of the film, instead of being under the letterbox, and obscure a lot of the shots. Also, at the time, most HK films were shot without sound, which was then recorded later and dubbed in, which produces a slightly off lip-syncing effect, and is very jarring if you are not used to it. For those considering the English dub, it isn't quite as bad as those 70's chop socky flicks they ran on Sundays on Channel 20, but it's close.
Lastly, in terms of caveats, this movie, like others at the time, was produced on a budget that wouldn't get a decent half-hour TV show made in the States. The special effects are crude, to say the least.
That's just the technical stuff that may keep you from enjoying this movie. The other news is that the story, characters, style of filming, costumes, and other assorted elements are so over-the-top and bizarre as to be almost insane by Western standards. However, that is part of this film's great and enduring charm!
The basic story is sort of a fairy tale or legend, and it needs to be viewed as such. The characters and situations are larger than life and in many cases, completely berserk. This film lacks the impressive martial-arts demonstrations of a Jet Lee film, but that doesn't mean it is not enjoyably action-packed. It is just stylized action of a different type. The action is frenetic, swirling, and at some points, ridiculously blunt and bloody.
One of the main joys of the movie is the incredibly stylized art direction: the the colors, lighting, sets, costumes, and camera compositions are delirious and other-worldly, and stunningly beautiful.
Finally, the sheer screen presence and charisma of the star, Brigitte Lin, is an indispensable element of this film's magic.
If you can properly prepare yourself for this exotic experience, you will find one of the true treasures of international cinema: a crazed fairy tale, with an operatic sensibility and an incomparably visceral mixture of the beautiful and grotesque.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Typical Pre-2000 Wuxia, Which Means It Sucks
Added 2/6/2009
I've seen over a dozen wuxia films, but the only ones that are worth watching were released after the new millennium: House of Flying Daggers (2004), Hero (2002), and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).
Everything else I've seen has been an utter waste of my time: The Bride With White Hair (1993), A Man Called Hero (1999), Storm Riders (1998), Ashes of Time (1994), A Chinese Odyssey Part 2 (1994), Butterfly Sword (1993), and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) to name a few. There have been some bad films made post-2000 (e.g., 2005's The Promise), but the pre-2000 wuxia library is thoroughly horrible. Even more disturbing is that these films are hideous for the same exact reasons:
1) Awful screenplay. 2) Atrocious action choreography. 3) Dreadful editing.
The Bride With White Hair is not exempt from these common wuxia pitfalls. The screenplay simply fails to properly develop the romantic relationship between the two leads. They spoon each other in a mini waterfall for 10 minutes, and the viewer is supposed to be convinced that they care for each other. It's not convincing in the least. In fact, the script writers contradict themselves near the end of the film when the two leads do everything in their power to desert one another. Their actions are beyond stupid, as they inexplicably begin to doubt one another on speculative events that are promulgated from the institutions and persons that they initially abandoned for the sole purpose of being together. There is no reason for them to give a rat's arse about these people anymore, yet the male lead sides with them without hesitation. At that point, I wanted both leads to die for counterfeiting the very idea of love.
The action choreography is non-existent in The Bride With White Hair. A character waves their sword or whip at the camera, which immediately cuts to show an enemy instantly die. Repeat ad infinitum. The final fight is laughable when two siamese twins (connected at the back) grab hold of one of the protagonists and bounce around the room like a superball. Interestingly, the sub-par editing is directly related to the fight scenes themselves. It's much easier to cut up the movie on an ad hoc basis to gloss over the unimaginative character interactions in combat, instead of mapping out fight scenes and brainstorming over fresh combinations of moves and maneuvers. There's really nothing else to say other than the obvious fact that no effort was put into the action set pieces, and it shows.
It would seem that filmmakers within the wuxia genre showed almost no development or improvement before the year 2000. It is thus important that this review exists to inform readers of the futility inherent in watching wuxia films released during that period of time. A majority of reviews of this film are overwhelmingly positive, but the reasoning behind these high ratings is dubious at best. The pre-2000 wuxia camp seems to consist solely of fanboys who will eat up anything and everything released under that particular genre's banner.
As a fan of East Asian cinema, I think that this is a disservice to new viewers who are attempting to make the transition to better cinema. They may hit a pre-2000 wuxia film and go running (perhaps screaming) back to Hollywood.
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
as described
Added 1/10/2009
was a good film, however not quite what i expected.
i would rate as 3.5 but that's not possible.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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