Review of The Bride With White Hair

This is another movie that all media-concious gamers should watch at least once in their lives. Why should you see it? Because it's a bloody beautiful film in its own right. Because it has believable, flawed heroes in a China that's as fantastic as anything a Western fantasist ever created. Because it's a wonder example of how the two polarities of adventure role-playing--the action junkies and the real role-players--can get what they want out of the same adventure. It doesn't hurt that it's also a good guide for running over-the-top fantasy campaigns, be they Eastern or Western.

This film is available in the US through Tai Seng Marketing. My copy is subtitled; the film is letterboxed, and the subtitles are in yellow for easy reading. (Most Hong Kong films are subtitled in white, and those are sometimes impossible to read due to the preponderance of white-on-white in the film; an example is "Drunken Master II".) You can get an English-dubbed copy if you don't have the balls to watch a foreign film properly, and there's no price difference between the two. All copies are letterboxed.

The film is tragic romance between two warriors on opposite sides of a war. Leslie Cheung is the tragic hero, and Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is the heroine mentioned in the title. The story follows the general archtype, but the ending doesn't involve either of them dying- but you may wish that they did. You might want to beat the crap out of a few of the characters when it's over; it is that good of a film.

For gamers, pay attention to plot elements and to the difference between what you watch and how most Western films made with this sort of subject matter operate. (You'll also see where Sam Raimi stole Xena's beating scene when she turned into a heroine; it's almost a complete shot-for-shot ripoff.) For HKAT!, Feng Shui, and anime gamers pay attention to the particular genre conventions involved as well as how this film complies with or defies those conventions.

Warriors in this film, and in most Chinese fantasy films, who are more than cannon fodder usually wear little or no armor. Instead, their prowess at swordplay or kung-fu is more than enough protection for their needs. They often exhibit abilities that, to most, are magical; the titular character can and does use her hair as a lethal weapon, and she does so at range.

That's the basis for the differences between Eastern and Western fantasy. It gets much more involved from there, and that's why there are games and forums dedicated to just this sort of topic. This film is a good place to start, and it's also a quality film that manages to entertain as well as awe the viewer. See it as soon as you can.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)