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Lee Broughton returns with a critique of Hong Kong filmmaker Ronny Yu’s magical, mystical and martial arts-laden reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Relocating the Bard’s tale to ancient China results in our star-crossed lovers from warring clans being suitably redrawn: one is a super warrior while the other is a deadly assassin. Stylish cinematography, grand looking sets, stylised interludes, good fight choreography and an abundance of excellent wire work effects result in a very classy looking period action piece.

The Bride with White Hair

Region B Blu-ray

Eureka Entertainment

1993 / Color / 2.35: 1 / 89 min. / Bak fat moh lui zyun / Street Date, 9 November 2020 / Available from Amazon UK / £22.99

Starring: Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Francis Ng, Elaine Lui, Yammie Lam, Joseph Tay, Eddy Ko, Fong Pau, Leila Tong.

Cinematography: Peter Pau

Film Editor: David Wu

Production Designer: Eddie Ma

Original Music: Richard Yuen

Written by David Wu, Jason Lam Kee-To,...

There is cult and then there is “The Bride with White Hair”. Ronny Yu took the 1957 wuxia novel “Baifa Monu Zhuan”, added some major elements from “Romeo and Juliet”, much sensualism, and a Siamese Twin as the major villain and ended up with a film that is epic as it is cult.

The story takes place during the Ming Dynasty, where the leader clan among the eight major ones is the Wu Tang. Cho Yi Hang is the top swordsman of the clan, but also a rebellious young man, who frequently goes against the orders of the court to help the poor and the week against the rich and powerful, in a series of actions that brings him in trouble with the emperor, particularly since the leader of another clan is always keen to bring him to justice, despite the fact that his daughter seems to have feelings for him.

After several years in television and the release of three romantic comedies including “Seven Years Itch” (1987), Johnnie To comes up with his first Action Movie “The Big Heat”. The extremely rare movie, famously known for its DVD release that falls short in terms of synchronization and subtitling, holds the blueprint of many later films of the director.

“The Big Heat” centers around the policemen John, played by Waise Lee also known as the bad guy from “A Better Tomorrow” (1986) and “Bullet in the Head” (1990), who has to solve the murder of his former partner before he can retire. Like many other of To’s heroes John has a disability. Due to a nerve damage, his hand is temporarily paralyzed.

Speaking of Johnnie To, one cannot dismiss the aspect of the auteur. Johnnie To is a prime example of a director that changed the nature of a genre...

Long before “Made in Hong Kong”, Fruit Chan made his debut with “Finale in Blood”, a film based on a popular classic of the Cantonese narrative singing art form Naamyam, originally set in the Qin Dynasty era. Fruit Chan transferred the story to post-war Hong Kong, retaining, though, the basic elements of the original story.

After a rather intense intro, where a woman is killed after falling from a window from a block of flats, we are introduced to the protagonist of the film, Cheng, a radio host mainly announcing food prices. His life seems to head to nowhere, but when an acquaintance of his asks him to deliver illegal western medicine to a man, his fate changes completely. A series of unfortunate events leads him drowning in the sea, but is eventually saved by a ghost hidden inside an umbrella. The ghost is soon revealed to be Fong Yan,...