A Chinese Ghost Story (1987): Is this Hong Kong's Princess Bride?

A Chinese Ghost Story is said to be a beloved Hong Kong film, one that's lasted generations, especially for those born in the 1980s.

And as a romantic adventure fantasy comedy film, it's easy to see a parallel between it and the West's The Princess Bride.

But the actual films are not that similar. A Chinese Ghost Story leans into the horror and martial arts genres, creating a romantic folk-lore-based adventure that occasionally gets slightly scary but is always darkly magic.

Join me for this discussion of billowy white dresses of cute ghost girls, stop motion without the herky-jerky, and whether there's one whoosh too many in a very whooshy film.

When a somewhat accident prone young tax collector named Ling Choi San falls in love with a beautiful, captivating woman, Lip Siu Sin, he's delighted. But when he learns his new young love is a ghost, he's pulled into a battle to rescue her from captivity.

With the help of priest/swordsman Yan Chixia, can Ling Choi San rescue Lip Siu Sin from her fate?

Directed by Ching Siu-tung
Produced by Tsui Hark
Starring:
Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, Wu Ma

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