Handlung

Human and spirit worlds intersect in an ancient story of timeless love which challenges the order of the universe. SNAKE WHITE is a contemporary cinematic presentation of an immensely popular legend, faithfully preserved by Cantonese opera, and enhanced with modern music.

SNAKE WHITE is a contemporary cinematic presentation of a timeless Chinese love fable, faithfully told and perfected by traditional Cantonese opera with a touch of modern music.

The film is the remembrance of protagonist Snake White - Lady White, a snake spirit, while she is imprisoned in Thunder Peak Pagoda.

The origin of their love, (which you discover in the later part of the film during Snake White's flashback) begins with an act of kindness by a young man, XU Xian, who rescues a small white snake from the imminent attack of a hawk, by collecting her into a lotus flower in his hands, then gently placing the flower on the surface of a pond. As the white snake emerges from the lotus, she sinks safely into the water and a love for XU is profoundly seeded in her heart.

Snake White spends the next one thousand years cultivating herself to become a snake spirit and gains supernatural power and magic. She can fly and alter the weather. She can even transform into human form. However, she has limitations. For example, if she drinks "realgar" wine, she will turn back into a snake, revealing her real identity.

After her one thousand year wait, Snake White choreographs an encounter with XU by visiting West Lake. There she introduces herself as Bai Shuzhen or Lady White, with her sister snake Maiden Green, the green snake-spirit by her side. Over the Broken Bridge, Lady White and XU meet and fall in love, and wed. For a brief period of time, they happily live as a human couple, and they even conceive a child.

However, the snake activities alarm Fahai, the abbot of Jinshan Temple, who is a guardian of Dharma, the law of the universe. He maintains and enforces of the order separating human world and spirit world. He rigorously interferes with any inter-realm union.

On the night of the Dragon Boat Festival, XU asks Lady White to drink wine with him, to celebrate their union and her pregnancy. Although Lady White knows that her drinking the wine will cause calamity, her love for XU compels her to drink the realgar wine that her husband offers. Thereafter, the effect of the wine exposes her true nature as a snake. Seeing Lady White in her true form, XU suffers a great shock, and immediately falls dead.

In order to bring her husband back to life, Lady White travels to Kunlun Mountains to find Lingzhi, the mushroom of immortality. The sacred herb has two guardians, whom she battles to collect the herb. After she revives XU, in order to protect their love union, Lady White challenges Fahai, who had persuaded XU to leave her and take refuge in the temple. When Lady White enters the temple to reunite with XU, a battle ensues, culminating with a spectacular feat of magic in which the two snake sisters flood the Temple.

As a result of this battle, XU is released and returns to Lady White. But she is immediately captured and taken away by Dharma for her violations and Dharma imprisons her in Thunder Peak Pagoda . But Dharma is not without mercy. Lady White is allowed to remain in her human form and bear her child in the Pagoda, and the child is sent out to be raised by XU. With no regrets, Lady White and XU are prepared to wait for another thousand years to be reunited.