Paul Magne Haakonsen Oddly enough I have never gotten around to watching "Green Snake" (aka "Ching se") before 2016, despite being a huge fan of Maggie Cheung. But with hand on heart, then I can say that I hadn't been missing out on a masterpiece. Sure "Green Snake" was entertaining enough for what it was, but it just wasn't outstanding or particularly memorable.The story is about two female snake spirits aspiring to become humans, and they are mingling with humans in order to learn how to become human. And a monk comes across the two snakes, learning about their nature and behavior, he must rectify their behavior in the eyes of Buddha.The storyline was adequate, but I think you must be Chinese in order to fully appreciate the story and be familiar with the legend upon which director Tsui Hark based his movie. For a Westerner then "Green Snake" seemed a silly action comedy more than anything else.What makes "Green Snake" work out on the screen is the acting talents that they had recruited for the movie. Joey Wang (playing White Snake) and Maggie Cheung (playing Green Snake) were really carrying the movie quite nicely and they were well-cast for the roles of the snakes-morphed-into-human-shape. Hsing-Kuo Wu (playing the scholar) was also adding a good amount to the movie with his performance. However, personally, then I can't claim to think that Wenzhuo Zhao (playing the monk) really had any good acting skill in this movie.The effects in the movie were adequate for what the movie was, and taking into consideration that the movie is from 1993, then don't get your hopes up too high. The snakes were adequate, but the summoned fiery dragon was ludicrous to look at.What did work for the movie was the transition between human and snake that the sisters had going on. There was a great sense of them actually being snakes in human bodies. And thumbs up to Tsui Hark, Maggie Cheung, Joey Wang and the special effects team on their accomplishments in order to make this believable.If you are expecting a grand martial arts drama, then "Green Snake" will leave you sorely disappointed. This is not a martial arts movie, despite having some fighting sequences here and there. This is a fantasy drama movie based on a Chinese legend.This 1993 movie is not really amongst the more impressive of movies to have been directed at the hand of Tsui Hark.

Adam k (cromm-2) I was very much entertained, then touched and finally saddened by the movie. It was very beautiful, despite some technical shortcomings and lack of good fights. Definitely the CG and magic could seem funny and outdated, they are not important though and do not detract from the overall quality and value. The music seems very good as well, at least to my not very discerning ear, I liked it a lot.The movie was very interesting to watch for a few reasons. Obviously, the two actresses were very pretty and there were many really pleasant scenes in the movie involving them taking the clothes off. There are enough silly and funny scenes as well.I would not say this is a martial-arts or Kung Fu movie, definitely not a typical one. There is litte going for the martial arts and the movie concentrates on the love life of the two heroines and their naive teacher, with some interruptions from a crazy blind taoist monk ghost-hunter. For me it was deep enough to think about and entertaining at the same time, with an unfortunate but (maybe)typical pessimistic ending.What is important in the movie, is the moral story of Buddhist improvement and the circle of life and death. Two snake spirits, sisters most likely, are training to become humans to be able to advance their spiritual position, the way I understand it, in order to achieve nirvana? Or maybe because they think the emotions of humans are very important and beautiful, it is difficult for me to say. I did definitely find this story touching. One of the sisters, the white snake (wifey says white is the color of wisdom), has been training twice as long as the Green (Blue) Snake and is very powerful. She gets herself a man and they fall in love. Part of the movie is about her falling in love with him, with the sister being doubtful if human emotions are worth it. This is indeed a very light and beautiful part of the movie, I did love it. The Blue is trying to understand the emotions, but she is a bit lazy and likes being a snake so is not training hard enough. Additionally, she is an erotic dancer, to add a bit spice to the movie, the initial scene where the two appear is worth watching for sure. She is also trying to get the man of her sister, maybe out of jealousy, were it not too human a feeling.After the first part of the movie, there is the second where the sisters live together with the man, who starts noticing that they are a bit strange and suspects they are indeed "evil" snake spirits. In fact, he is absolutely terrified, the more noble to be later when, despite terror, he refuses to poison them. He obviously loves both of them and cannot help the monk who is after themThe Monk... I really truly despise this persona. He did seem noble, besides incredibly powerful. He is a Buddhist monk, living his belief 110%, holier than thou. He seemed to understand that the spirits are not all to be hunted. However he has a terrible fault in his character, a typical universal, trans-cultural "hamartia" where he cannot see that he has human emotions and that he is a man who cannot escape desire. He is fighting those feelings and though the refusal to accepts them, develops hatred, pettiness, vengefulness, PRIDE , and forgets about mercy and compassion. He does realize it at the end but it is too late for some of the main characters... I hate when it happens.It is too much to describe the movie in its totality. However, it is difficult to stop writing about this movie too. I need to finish saying that the last part of the movie is spent despising the proud monk and hoping he realizes the mistake. In other words, the hallmarks of good tragedy. Beautiful but sad, with the lasting feeling that by changing a minute of the ending, we would be able to finish with a more positive and heartwarming outcome. I understand this would not be as cathartic but catharsis is often and overpriced commodity.If you are inclined this way, you could consider the ending more positive, with some characters having a chance to meet in future lives, having achieved the humanity they sought, others realizing the mistakes and being burdened with the feelings and unwelcome pain.Hated the ending and loved the movie.

werdnahall Sorry for the silly title -- though it's true (my notions about Chinese would have it called 'White Snake, Green Snake'.) OK, now that I've outed myself as a bit of a HK-geek, I'll just say that I enjoyed this one quite a bit. If you're the type you likes the quirky, wonderful comedy/supernatural/action genre perfected by Hong Kong cinema you won't be disappointed. (Of the action it's more magic and wires than kung-fu, but still action to be sure). The main draw for me though, besides the well-played and attractive leads (and interesting tension in knowing they're both snakes) was the originality of the story, and relative unpredictability as to where it was going. Nice details throughout told me this was the work of a thoughtful director, despite the odd moment of unintentional comedy.

Onderhond From time to time I like to dabble in a pool of older genre films. I don't find many masterpieces there, but some films are pretty entertaining. And once in a while, something really neat pops up. Green Snake is one of those films, ranking among the top films the early 90s Hong Kong period has to offer.Green Snake is a strange blend of genres, but not at all uncommon for those type of films. If you want to compare it to anything (that is remotely known) I guess A Chinese Ghost Story comes closest.The film's main focus are two demon snakes that have traveled to the human world to live a better life. They act as dames and try to find a husband, as they can secure their lives in the human world by getting a human child. This might sound a bit silly, but in essence it differs little from many Roman or Greek legends we know (and accept them for what they are).Of course, no HK film from that period is complete with at least some flashes of martial arts thrown in. So a traveling monk and Buddha priest are added to make the lives of our snakes a bit harder. Both are trained in the more magical areas of the martial arts field, resulting in many magical spells and little hand to hand combat.What sets this film apart from his peers is the visual brilliance. It won't be to everyone's liking, but the abundant use of color is simply superb. Every shot in the film looks lush, be it through it's impressive, colorful set design or through the many filters that are used. The editing gives you little time to absorb all this beauty, but every new shot is impressive enough not to care.Also typical for these type of films is the type of editing used. Because the means and budgets were not high enough to create the effects required in a believable way, many magical scenes are often shot up close and edited in such a way that the viewer will fill in the blanks. It can become a bit confusing this way, but all in all it's a splendid solution. Some scenes still look pretty cheap, but overall the effects never take away from the film.Another thing worth mentioning is the music. Although probably hit and miss for many, I liked the music Hark has chosen for this film. Especially the song with the Indian (?) dancers stayed long after the movie had finished. Pretty strange, not everyone will far for it but I think it worked wonders here.Of course, there's also the quirky acting and silly humor that are ever present in these HK films. It comes with the territory and I don't mind one single bit, but it's another factor that will turn off some people from films like Green Snake. Their loss I guess.It's pretty easy to love or hate these kind of films. But if you're a fan of this kind of cinema, Green Snake is one of the best films to pick. It's Tsui Hark at his best, the film is lush in its visuals and score, is entertaining to the core and wastes no time on unnecessary things. Very likable and extremely well-made. 4.0*/5.0*