AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Lawbolisted Powerful

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Chao Anya The movie was a big hit when I was a little girl. At that time, I was more into the love story, however when I watched Ching Se (Green Snake) again, something suddenly struck me and finally, I get a glimpse of the true meaning of the film.As some may have already knew, the story was adapted from ancient Chinese mythology. The original story was about love and humanity: the monk Fahai did not understand love, he believed that all monsters are born to be evil and broke up the couple of the white snake and the man. The movie was quite different though, as the true love couple in this film was meant to be the white snake and the green snake.The green snake (Qing),as can be seen from the tile of the film, is the main character. She went all the way trying to find what love and human emotions are, and to no avail. When the white snake (Bai) fell in love with the human (Xian Xu), Qing copied Bai's moves and try to seduce Xian Xu. Bai has known Qing for a very long time, therefore she knew that Qing is doing this only to test if Bai cares about her. Qing's jealousy was forgiven, but Bai suggest that Qing go back into the forest because she was carrying the man's baby at that time. Fahai found Xian Xu and insisted that he was blinded by his desire, lost morality and that he should go to be a monk, throwing away all the emotions and reaching a new level of understanding to the world. Qing and Bai went to save Xian Xu and were engaged in a fight with Fahai, using their magic they brought flood to the Jinshan temple. In the middle of the fight, Bai gave birth to her baby, indicating that she was already a human and no longer a snake. Fahai was shocked by the fact that all this time he has been battling with a human, and to save them he drove the flood to another way, but killed dozens of monks in Jinshan temple accidentally. Bai asked Qing to save her husband, she pleaded and it broke Qing's heart. The best line of the movie lies here, Qing said:"You always talk about love and being human, but what is love? I don't even think the human understands. You and me, we sisters have been together for 500 years, isn't this love between us? Have you ever thought about me as a human and consider my emotions?" Qing went to save Xian Xu, only to find that the man has agreed to become a emotionless monk in order to stop Fahai from hurting the snakes. She laughed and said Xu betrayed Bai's love, and he was not worth it. She brought Xu outside, but at that time Bai has already gone. Now heartbroken, Qing killed Xu for the purpose of him accompany Bai in the other world and finish her last wishes. She was in such grief that she was about to kill herself; but then she remembered that she had no right to -- she was not the one Bai loved.Fahai was going to punish Qing for murdering, but Qing just laughed and asked if he made no mistake. At the beginning of the story, Fahai was seduced by Qing to test if he was really noble and has no desire (there were metaphor and symbolic techniques used, but the director was meant to say that they had already have sex therefore the monk has sin). It is true, as Fahai hurt a human pregnant woman (Bai) and killed several monks by accidents and he is evil too. Qing was dead inside, she left and said she will come back if the human really has the answer to "What is love".Like any other Chinese film (especially mythology and tales), the story was told in a indirect way and many symbolic clips were used. The atmosphere and use of light, smoke and color are amazing, there are novel with same title and it was even darker than the movie. The ancient Chinese mythology is not like those in any other countries, but they too talk about humanity and the never ending topic of love. This is a masterpiece and is really worth watching.

JoeB131 Not being a Chinese cinema fetishist like many of the posters here, I can't see what the attraction is...The movie is this bizarre about two snake demons who try to find love with human men. This brings them into conflict with a Bhuddist Monk and a Taoist priest. (Is there some weird interplay between Bhuddism and Daoism I am missing here...) The movie acts as though there is real power behind these faiths, and the Demons are real as well...but the holy men seem to be cast as the bad guys. Imagine The Exorcist told from Pazuzu's point of view...The two actresses are hot, particularly in the early scenes, but beyond that, everything seems quite repetitive and slow moving.

BA_Harrison Tsui Hark's magical fantasy Green Snake is such a tour de force of stunning visuals and expertly crafted moments of cinema magic that one can easily forgive the occasional dodgy special effect or lapse in narrative cohesion.Maggie Cheung plays the beautiful titular character, one of a pair of benign female snake demons who have mastered the ability to transform themselves into humans. Her companion, White Snake (Joey Wang), is far more experienced than Green at altering her appearance, and has also managed to acquire human emotions, falling in love with a young scholar Hsui Xien (who is quite unaware that his girl is actually a scaly serpent in disguise).Desperate to experience the same feelings as White, but unable to control her desires, Green also attempts to seduce Hsui Xien (the lucky old so-and-so), and even tries to seduce a powerful monk, Faat Hoi, whose mission it is to trap demons; this naturally causes all kinds of problems which eventually result in Hsui Xien discovering White's secret.For the majority of its running time, the lyrical beauty of Hark's tale is more than enough to retain one's attention; even when there isn't much happening story-wise, the film is shot with such style that it is totally captivating. For example, the scene in which Green gatecrashes a Bollywood dance routine while a rain-drenched White slithers off to spy on the scholar might not add much to the plot, but with its lush colours, amazing soundtrack, and Cheung's impossibly sexy performance, it's one of the most memorable cinematic sequences that I've seen.Towards the end of the film, events do start to become slightly wearisome, and perhaps the film is a little too long for its own good; some viewers may find Hark's leisurely pace a little too slow, whilst others might laugh at the sometimes less-than-effective special effects (the CGI magic crane is certainly very weak). However, the film's positives far outweigh its negatives, and fans of Asian fantasy should definitely seek it out.

cyberwinds It is a really good movie. Both teal snake and white snake are charming and deadly attractive. Xu Xian is a everyday Joe male character. No man won't envy his good luck with beautiful women! ;) The monk--Fa Hai--is stubborn and prejudiced in his attitude towards human and non-humans. In the end, he seems to regret what he has done to the snake sisters. The story stresses the sexual desire of human beings. ;) Even the monk, who has reached the prestige of human-buddie, cannot deprive himself of sexual imagination and impulse.The pace of the story telling is fast; the structure of the story plots is compact; the special visual effect of magic casting and fighting is eye catching; and the music and singing is touching and resonant with the progress of the story.