painted skin

[doug maverick]

from what i hear Wilson is no longer the director of this film. the
fights will be handled by tung wai (he was the kid bruce lee slapped in
the head in enter the dragon) gordon chan is the new director (my
source is very reliable) i think. story is donnie plays a demon hunting
taoist sorta like lam ch ying in mr. vampire i don't have to more info
past this as yet

[doug maverick]

I tried to post this under a different heading but I rushed it for some reason and it looked confusing. Anyway I’m talking about Donnie yens new film-

Painted Skin, which from what I hear is a homage to the old mr.vampire movies, the film was suppose to be directed by Wilson yip (which would’ve marked the fourth time both he and yen worked together) but its now being handled by Gordon chan and the choreography is being handled by tung wai(you may remember tung wai as the boy who bruce smacks in the head in ETD) story is pretty much like the mr.vampire films Donnie plays a ghost busting Taoist stoping evil it’s a fantasia film. Except for seven swords I’ve never seen Donnie in fantasia movies and I’m not to sure how this is going to look if its handled right it can be the start of a new series of movies. I think the director should look toward those Chinese graphic novels that they publish at HK comics. If they make the film like that it’ll be cool anyway your thoughts?

[GeneChing]

There's a vid on the website, but it crashed when I tried to view it...


All-star film "Painted Skin" begins shooting (http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20071210/101413.shtml)
Source: CCTV.com
12-10-2007 09:20

Filming is underway on "Painted Skin", the screen adaptation of a supernatural tale of ancient China. The original novella, "Painted Skin," was adapted as a screen thriller in Hong Kong, back in the 1980's. It won rave reviews.

Hong Kong director Gordon Chan rallied six stars for the latest adaptation: Mainland actresses Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Sun Li, Mainland heartthrob Chen Kun, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and Singaporean actor Qi Yuwu.

The film has a budget of 10 million yuan. It's a period piece about a love-hate relationship between a vixen spirit and a group of humans. The story originates from the series of Chinese classics; "Strange Tales of Liaozhai".

Chan says the film will be abundant with splendid visual effects but he plans to remain true to the original story line.

Ghosts feature prominently in Chinese literature but they're rarely seen in Chinese films. Censors tend to frown on ghost stories; fearing tales of disembodied spirits will upset people of nervous disposition. Chan says the new film focuses more on the portrayal of love between human and ghost and does not place heavy emphasis on classic horror elements.

[doug maverick]

i don't really like gordon chan. as for the fights i hope their at least decent.

[GeneChing]

I'm very eager to see this one. Nothing like good Chinese horror. Donnie & Vicky? I'm all in.

Hong Kong, China unveil Oscar submissions (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/awards_festivals/news/e3ia0422b50eade04b5b55c9502231c6b2f)
'Painted Skin,' 'Dream Weavers -- Beijing 2008' chosen
By Karen Chu and Alex Dai
Sept 25, 2008, 08:07 AM ET

HONG KONG - Hong Kong action fantasy “Painted Skin” and Chinese Olympic documentary “Dream Weavers -- Beijing 2008,” have been selected as official entries for the 2009 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film.

The $15 million “Painted Skin” is a Hong Kong-China co-production shot in China but produced by a Hong Kong team led by director Gordon Chan (“The Medallion”). Starring Donnie Yen (“Flash Point”), Zhou Xun (“Perhaps Love”) and Zhao Wei (“Red Cliff”), the film will open on Friday in China and Oct. 2 in Hong Kong.

With no U.S. distributor yet secured, “Painted Skin” will be showcased at the upcoming American Film Market by its international sales agent Eastern Mordor.

Meanwhile, “Dream Weavers -- Beijing 2008,” the official documentary on the Beijing Olympics was submitted to the Academy by China’s State Administration of Film, Radio and Television as China’s official Best Foreign Language Film entry.

Seven years in the making, the Jun Yu-directed documentary recorded preparations for the Beijing Olympics, including showing footage of the construction of the National Stadium, and the personal stories and efforts of the workers, volunteers and athletes at center stage during the Games.

Its entry marks the first time China has submitted a documentary for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Producers of the film are currently in talks with U.S. distributors for the film’s U.S. release, a spokesperson of China Central Newsreel and Documentary Studios told the Hollywood Reporter.



When Love Goes Horribly Wrong (http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/09/25/1461s408891.htm)
2008-09-25 06:32:21 Shanghai Daily

Chinese horror films are not known for being particularly terrifying, but in a new release out Friday, director Gordon Chan pushes the boundaries. The spooky thing is, it's a love story, writes Xu Wei.

In the absence of a movie rating system, Chinese movie buffs generally have mixed feelings about domestic horror films.

Perhaps it's because most scary films in China have failed to create a really bone-chilling atmosphere in cinemas.

Maybe that has something to do with the fact that parents take their children to see these shows, resulting in excessive elements of the supernatural and horror being watered down by movie makers.

In that sense, shooting the costume thriller "Painted Skin" certainly presented a tough challenge for Hong Kong director Gordon Chan.

The US$15 million budgeted film starring Hong Kong action idol Donnie Yen, mainland heartthrob Chen Kun and actresses Zhou Xun, Sun Li and Vicki Zhao is set for release on Friday throughout China, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

"This film is not made specifically for the sole purpose of terror," says Chan, known for police films like "Beast Cops" and "The Medallion." "Instead, you will find more tears than fears."

Chan's aim was to lead the audience through a tragic yet beautiful love story set in ancient China, a story based on a popular ghost tale by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) writer Pu Songling.

Pu is famous for his novel "Liaozhai Zhiyi," ("Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio"), a Qing-era collection of supernatural stories.

One of them, "Painted Skin," centers on a vampire-like woman who eats the skin and hearts of humans.

Zhou plays the fox demon in painted human skin trying to eat humans. However, she falls in love with General Wang Sheng (Chen). Wang's wife (Zhao) then resorts to ghost-catchers to save her husband.

"In my eyes, the love triangle involving the two women and a man is the soul of the story," Chan says. "Pu's original novel is not all about ghosts. It provides an insight into personalities, ethics and delicate human relations."

Throughout the film, Zhou appears in dozens of different costumes to show off her charm and witchcraft.

Sun, who is better known for playing tender females, challenges Zhou in her role as a swordswoman.

"I take on a more masculine look in a black hat and coarse cloth," Sun says with a grin. "My former training in dancing helped me to master the martial arts scenes."

Sun notes that Chan managed to explore her potential for some other roles. Her ghost-catcher character experiences the hard psychological process from hatred to forgiveness.

As for Zhou, the challenge was to grasp the emotions, reactions and posture of a fox demon.

"I had to imagine myself being an animal," Zhou says. "Moreover, the demon is not absolutely evil. She has a juvenile attitude about love. I am glad that the ending of the movie is hopeful, not that cruel. The character finally gives up something for the sake of her lover."

Zhou's impressive performance in the new romance film "The Equation of Love and Death" has also brought her wide acclaim. In the offbeat love story, Zhou plays an ordinary cab driver who spends four years searching for her missing fiance.

The cinematography for "Painted Skin" was handled by award-winning Hong Kong cinematographer Arthur Wong, best known for his work in "The Warlords" and "Temptation Of A Monk."

Unlike many other ghost films, Wong bravely applies striking and lively color to create an eery and "inauthentic" ambience. "What we're trying to present is a non-traditional thriller," he says.

Chinese Fairy Tale, Documentary Films Hope for Oscars (http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/09/24/1221s408839.htm)
2008-09-24 22:35:38 CRIENGLISH.com

Two Chinese films, "Dream-building 2008" and "Painted Skin," were announced on Tuesday as the official entries to the Annual Academy Awards representing the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong respectively.

Hung Cho Sing, chairman of Hong Kong's Motion Picture Industry Association, told the Beijing Times newspaper that they had also considered the martial arts epic "Warlords," which stars Jet Li, and "Connected," a remake of the Hollywood blockbuster "Cellular," to represent Hong Kong. But finally "Painted Skin" was selected as its Chinese fairy tale theme may win more support from international judges.

The star-studded thriller, directed by Gordon Chan, was released in Chinese cinemas on September 24th.

The Chinese mainland will vie for the Best Foreign Language Award with a documentary for the first time.

"Dream-building 2008" features China's star hurdler Liu Xiang and chronicles Beijing's preparations for the Olympics. It took seven years to make the film, as director Gu Jun offered a panorama of a nation on track for the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Liu Xiang's success story is featured in one of the film's five independent stories. Other stories include the construction of the Bird's Nest, the main venue for the Beijing Olympics; the everyday life of a local family; the training of three young gymnasts; and the training of a security guard team.

Gu Jun said she is proud and hopes the film can be popular throughout the world, giving more opportunities for the overseas audiences to better understand the Beijing Olympics and China's economic development, the Morning Post reports.

The documentary, released in June, has received high critical acclaim but a poor box office income.

The award ceremony of the 81st Annual Academy Awards will be held on February 22nd, 2009. All countries and regions applying for a golden statue in the category of Best Foreign Language Film Award are required to submit their entries before October 1st. Nine short listed entries will be named in January 2009 and only five of these will earn a nomination for the final competition.

"The Knot," the Chinese mainland's contender for the 80th Academy Awards last year, was eliminated in the first round.

[GeneChing]

painted skin trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lr7mg_0PQc)
painted skin previews (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXrFH14fgNs&feature=related)

Note that the khmer dubbed clip on youtube is the Sammo Hung film of the same name.

[GeneChing]

Click below for news vid

"Painted Skin" smashes box office records (http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20081013/101870.shtml)
Source: CCTV.com
10-13-2008 09:31

Only thirteen days in cinemas and the horror flick "Painted Skin"'s has surpassed 170 million yuan at the box office. That's about 24 million US Dollars. The director and leading cast members celebrated the milestone in Beijing. Director Gordon Chan, actors Donnie Yen, Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, Sun Li and Zhou Xun attended.

The box office for the "Painted Skin" broke 100 million yuan, or 14 million US Dollars six days after its premiere. That sets a new milestone in Chinese film.

The first day's box office of the movie was 15 million yuan, or 2 million US Dollars. That surpassed the epic films the "Assembly" and the "Warlords". Producers say there is no suspense about the inevitable result, the film's box office will surpass 200 million yuan, or about 30 million US Dollars.

Even the leading actors have no expectation of the huge success. Many who attended the event were asking if there will be a sequel. Gordon Chan says no.

At the wrap up of the party, cast and crew used hammers to smash an ice sculpture shaped in the form of the numerical milestone, 200-million.


Painted Skin heads record-breaking holiday week in China (http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=41315&Category=)
Sen-lun Yu in Beijing
09 Oct 2008 05:46

Box office during the seven-day National Day holiday period in mainland China reached a record $24.85m (RMB170m), according to figures released yesterday, which is a 220% increase on the same period last year.

Gordon Chan's fantasy drama Painted Skin, Benny Chan's action thriller Connected and 3D movie Journey To The Centre Of The Earth stand out as the three top-grossing films during the week Sept 29-Oct 5.

Painted Skin grossed $16m (RMB110m) during the seven days marking a new record for National Day holiday box office. Connected grossed $3.16m (RMB21.6m) during the holidays, which is seven times that of its first-weekend gross.

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth took in $3.07m (RMB21m) during the holidays, also a new record for 3D movies in mainland China.

Painted Skin has also become one of the fastest films to break the RMB100m threshold in China. The film grossed over RMB100m on its sixth day of screening, which ties with Curse Of The Golden Flower in 2006 and is second to the performance of Red Cliff which broke the RMB100m benchmark in four days.

In total, Painted Skin has grossed $24.85m (RMB170m) up until Wednesday night. In Hong Kong, the film took in around $900,000 (HK$7m) and in Singapore and Malaysia the box office gross is estimated at just under $1m, according to Michael Lai, sales manager of Eastern Mordor, which handles international sales of the film.

This means that the pan-Asian gross of the film stands at around $26.5m. The film will open in Korea on October 23 on more than 240 screens, with Art Service handling Korean distribution, according to Lai.

Analysts attribute the 220% growth to two factors. Firstly, films released during the holidays had higher print release and screen counts than in previous years. Painted Skin was released on around 1,200 screens (611 film prints, plus more than 500 digital screens). Connected was released on more than 400 prints and 300 digital screens.

The recent increase in digital screens has helped to boost the scale of releases in China. As of the end of August 2008, there were 800 2K digital screens in mainland China, according to the Film Bureau under the State Administration Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

Secondly, this year's October holidays have seen the release of more diverse genres of films. In addition to fantasy and action genres such as Painted Skin and Connected, audiences could see French adventure comedy Astérix Aux Jeux Olympiques, German animation Hui Buh: The Castle Ghost and Chinese contemporary comedy Set Off.

Each of these smaller releases grossed between $360,000 (RMB2.5m) to $730, 000 (RMB5m) during the holiday period.


"Painted Skin" (http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7118/1/)
Written by Derek Elley
Saturday, 04 October 2008

A Golden Sun Films (in Hong Kong)/Eastern Mordor (in China) release of a Golden Sun Films (H.K.)/Ningxia Film Studio, Shanghai Film Group (China)/MediaCorp Raintree Pictures (Singapore) production, in association with Dinglongda Intl. Media, Beijing Eastern Mordor Film Co., Wuhan Hua Qi Film & TV, Beijing New Film Assn. (International sales: Eastern Mordor Film Co., Hong Kong.) Produced by Gordon Chan. Executive producers, Kathy Lan, Yang Hongtao, Ren Zhonglun, Daniel Yun. Co-producers, Wang Ruojun, Wang Baoxia, Liu Guangmei, Wei Jian. Directed by Gordon Chan. Co-directed by Andy Chin, Danny Ko. Screenplay, Lau Ho-leung, Abe Kwong, Chan, based on the short story in the collection "Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio" by Pu Songling.

With: Donnie Yen, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Vicki Zhao, Sun Li, Qi Yuwu, Jiu Song.
(Mandarin dialogue)

Dubiously billing itself as "the first Eastern supernatural movie from China" -- what about "The Promise," for starters? -- costumer "Painted Skin" weighs in as an off-the-shelf drama-actioner that would have seemed much better 20 years ago. Assembled by a largely Hong Kong tech crew, but starring mostly Mainland thesps, yarn about a mysterious femme who's actually a flesh-eating fox-devil is the third and weakest pic version of the famous classical short story in the past 40 years. Opening across East Asia in late September, film scored good opening numbers in China but likely will be an ancillary item in Western markets.

Surprisingly selected as Hong Kong's submission for the foreign-lingo Oscar category, pic was originally slated for helmer Wilson Yip but ended up in the hands of vet Gordon Chan, plus journeymen co-directors Andy Chin and Danny Ko. Hong Kong star Donnie Yen, as a general-turned-ghostbuster, is eclipsed by his Mainland femme cast (Zhou Xun, Vicki Zhao, Sun Li), though the raggedy script and by-the-numbers direction don't give the thesps much chance to shine.

Story is one of hundreds collected by Qing dynasty scribe Pu Songling, best known in English as "Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio" but also as "Strange Stories of Liaozhai." (King Hu's "A Touch of Zen" came from the same collection.)

Original short story features just three characters -- husband, wife, mysterious house guest. It was best adapted in the 1966 Hong Kong production "The Painted Skin." A 1993 version by Hu, like the present item, stirred in a whole host of added material to enlarge its scope.

Setting is the Yuan dynasty: Soldiers rescue beautiful orphan Xiao Wei (Zhou) from desert bandits. This baffling opening, only explained much later in flashback, also sketches the character of Gen. Pan Yong (Yen), who's resigned his post and ended up a drunken vagrant.

Film starts to gain focus as Xiao Wei is taken in by Gen. Wang (Chen Kun) and his wife, Peirong (Zhao), who both dote on the excessively courteous young woman. But three months after she is adopted, the city is terrorized by an unknown killer who rips out human hearts.

Peirong, who's become less enamored of Xiao Wei than her hubby, suspects she may be a demon in human disguise, and asks Pan, who served with her husband, for his help. Meanwhile, Pan has become buddies with tomboy ghostbuster Xia Bing (Sun, in pic's most larky perf), who's been on the trail of Xiao Wei for years for killing a relative.

One of China's most versatile actresses, Zhou ("Suzhou River," "The Banquet") is good at switching between Xiao Wei's evil and goody-goody sides, but the jerky script, which shows signs of cutting, doesn't develop any dramatic steam between the characters, apart from a minimal face-off between Xiao Wei and Peirong near the end. As Peirong, Zhao seems constricted, though not as much as Chen, as her husband, again miscast in a macho role.

Action sequences are '80s-style Hong Kong fare, with an opening desert battle and a nighttime rooftop chase that are just OK. Visual effects are ditto. Color on print caught had a washed-out look.

Camera (color, Panavision widescreen), Arthur Wong; editor, Chan Ki-hop; music, Ikuro Fujiwara; production designer, Bill Lui; art director, Liu Jiuping; costume designer, Ng Po-ling; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Lu Ke, He Wenfu; sound designer, Kinson Tsang; action director, Tung Wai; visual effects supervisors, Ng Yuen-fai, Stephen Ma; assistant director, Janet Chun. Reviewed at APM Broadway Cinema 7, Beijing, Sept. 26, 2008. Running time: 103 MIN.

[GeneChing]

So, who's seen it yet?


'Skin' has legs at Chinese box office (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994158.html?categoryid=19&cs=1)
Film takes in $29 million in 19 days
By CLIFFORD COONAN

BEIJING -- "Painted Skin," the pan-Asian co-production that is Hong Kong's contender for the 2008 foreign-language Oscar, has taken 200 million yuan ($29 million) in just 19 days of release.

Pic, a fantasy yarn about a woman who eats the hearts of her lovers, has really struck a chord with Chinese auds. It took $2.2 million on its opening day in China, given a wide release during the Golden Week holiday, and is going from strength to strength, with a forecast B.O. of $37 million within 40 days.

This makes helmer Gordon Chan the fifth member of the Chinese elite group of directors who have passed the psychologically significant 200-million-yuan threshold, alongside Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Peter Chan and John Woo.

"Painted Skin" is a China, Hong Kong and Singapore co-production, with international sales repped by Eastern Mordor.


Movie spurs debate on Chinese infidelity (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/17/content_10210430.htm)
2008-10-17 15:10:31

BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) --The popular Chinese movie, Painted Skin, not only scored big at the box office, but also sparked a nationwide debate about marital morals on the Internet.

The storyline is about a handsome warrior having an extramarital affair. In Painted Skin, Wang Sheng must choose between his loyal wife and beautiful lover.

China Youth Daily, a Beijing-based newspaper, launched an on-line survey after the movie debuted asking, "If you were Wang Sheng, who would be your choice?"

Around 1,093 netizens responded. Almost half, or 49.4 percent, said they would choose the wife. But interestingly, 30.7 percent would like to have both women.

"The survey, by some degree, revealed people's real attitudes toward extramarital affairs," said Zhou Xiaopeng, a consultant with the China Marriage Society.

Infidelity happens more often in China than people might think. Of the divorce cases Zhou handles, 90 percent are caused by affairs.

In the Internet survey, 44.7 percent said extramarital affairs were quite common among couples they knew. Almost as many people, 41.5 percent, said they knew of occasionally affairs. Only 3.3 percent said they have never come across infidelity.

"Many people involved in extramarital affairs are in a dilemma," Zhou said. "On one hand, they want to keep the marriage and on the other hand, they want their lovers, just as those netizens in the survey want to have both."

A comment from a netizen, surnamed Cheng, supported Zhou's opinion.

"Quite often my clients request other entertainment, such as prostitutes, after inviting me for a dinner," said Cheng who works for a state-owned enterprise. "Extramarital affairs are understandable, as long as you still remember to go back to your wife."

Chen Xiaomin, director of the Women's Studies Center in Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Chinese society has a dangerous tendency to link the number of lovers outside marriage to a person's financial capability or social status.

"I know some young girls who are willing to trade themselves for money. They want to be some rich man's lover because it is a quick and easy way to live a life of luxury," Chen said.

Nearly half of those surveyed attributed high numbers of extramarital affairs to poor morals. It explains why half of those questioned would have chosen their wife, just as the hero does in the movie.

Painted Skin is adapted from one of China's most famous ghost stories, The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai. Written in the late 1600s, the book won readers over because of its compelling love story.

The same appears to be true of the movie. In the past three weeks, Painted Skin pulled in about 190 million yuan (28 million U.S. dollars).

[GeneChing]

Mirrors - Now there's a film that I completely forgot about. :rolleyes:


"Mirrors" is fairest of them all at HK box office (http://varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7289/1/)
Written by Marcus Lim
Wednesday, 22 October 2008

HONG KONG – New release, "Mirrors" took top spot at another quiet weekend Hong Kong box office. The Kiefer Sutherland-starring horror pic took $230,000 from 31 screens in its first week of release.

Without any public holiday or any standout movies, the weekend box office totaled only $1.14 million, down $300,000 from the previous week, and was almost equally split between foreign imports and local productions.

The Ridley Scott-helmed thriller "Body of Lies" kept its No.2 spot going into its second frame with $189,000 from 32 screens, while Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," also in its second week, showed staying power, dropping only one spot to 6th with $83,000 from 16 prints. Both pics increased their takes.

Other foreign imports that made it to the top ten were the Hayden Christensen medical thriller "Awake," debuting at No. 8 with $48,000 from 10 screens, and the global phenomenon "Mamma Mia", showing ongoing legs going into its 6th frame at No.9 with $24,000, taking its Hong Kong cume to $1.5 million.

The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th spots were taken by local films "Butterfly Lovers," "Painted Skin," "The Vampire Who Admires Me" and "Connected."

"Lovers" dropped two spots in its second week with $165,000 from a mid-sized 34 screen release. The Donnie Yen-starring actioner "Painted Skin" continued its strong showing in the territory by taking $114,000 for a three week cume of $1.03 million, while "Vampire" took a respectable $112,000 in its first week. "Connected," a Hong Kong remake of Hollywood thriller "Cellular," managed a further $78,000 gross in its fourth frame. Pic has since taken $1.5 million.

[GeneChing]

There are 4 factors to consider in this review: #1. The version I saw had a new avi code that I couldn't decipher even after several updates to various viewers, so there was no sound. There were no subtitles either. I only saw the visuals. #2. I consider Donnie Yen (http://www.donnieyen.com/) as a leading choreographer right now. #3. I'm fascinated by Vicky Zhao Wei (http://vicki-zhao.com/). I saw her perform live at a Shaolin festival opener and she blew me away alhthough that might have been because she was the only celeb I recognized. She first caught my attention as the goalie in Shaolin Soccer. Vicky has these freakishly huge eyes and she knows exactly how to use them. She can flick from emotion to emotion with quick tiny tics of her eyes. And she can make them wet - oh so wet - I swear Vicky can store a full cup of tears in her lower lid before spilling the first drop. #4 Zhou Xun (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.china.cn/images1/200712/416469.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.china.org.cn/archive/2007-12/21/content_1236554.htm&h=472&w=350&sz=87&hl=en&start=40&um=1&usg=__nbQufxYm20B3Jvn4M_y8Q8EtUh4=&tbnid=LS1_8rEnVyO12M:&tbnh=129&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dzhou%2Bxun%26start%3D21%26ndsp%3D21%2 6um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN) is a personal friend of Gigi Oh's. She's stayed at her home. Gigi has never introduced us. :mad:

I was thoroughly entertained by Painted Skin. The story is a classic from Chinese myth so I can't comment on it's originality. The film is very visual: sweeping landscapes, ornate sets and props, baroque costumes - China now realizes that it can make great period flicks because it has the manpower to build sets, sew costumes and field hundreds of extras. The set builders there are doing some great stuff, paying more attention to detail, but they still aren't above paper mache boulders. The cinematography is swirling, like a cantopop video - lots of brids-eye views swooping down into close-up. Plenty of good close-ups on the eyes of the female leads (and we all know that Asian eyes are the most soulful and sexy ;)) but a few too many shots that were askew like the villain's lair in the Batman TV show. The soundtrack, well, I didn't hear it, did I? That could be a dealmaker or breaker. The acting was all about Vicky in my mind. Everyone turns in a crying scene, but there's no matching Vicky and that cupful of tears. It was all about her. Zhou Xun played excellent counterpoint. The effects are mediocre at best - heavy usage of the Predator-camoflage effect, a few qi blasts and fairy dust. There's one good moment when the ghost is revealed that's novel, but not stunning CGI-wise, more eerie on a conceptual level.

And the fight scenes? Well, despite Donnie, this is not a martial arts movie. It's a Chinese ghost story with martial arts in it. Followers of the martial genre and Donnie will be unimpressed. It's cartoon fights, a lot of wire flying ala Crouching Tiger, but less in impact than Dragon Tiger Gate. Donnie comes off well, but it's a significant step down from Flashpoint and perhaps even down from An Empress and the Warriors. It may impress the uninitiated, but even for the novice fan, there's little fresh choreography here.

Is it Academy worthy? It's not nearly on the level Crouching Tiger or Hero, so I say no. It's a very entertaining film, but the Best Foreign Film needs to be more substantial, more profound. Nevertheless, it's very enjoyable, even without the sound. I look forward to seeing it with dialog although I feel pretty clear on the story arc without it.

[Li Kao]

but I'll throw up my review -- the version I saw had great audio and subtitles (though woefully inaccurate at times). I would say that Vicky Zhao Wei stole the show again for the most part -- you are right Gene, those eyes can hold back rivers at times at seems. Donnie Yen's character was interesting but it was a little confusing how they set it up at the beginning and didn't seem to make much sense. There were a few annoying plot holes, but in a fantasy-type movie in particular, I think you have to suspend your sense of reality a bit lol.

The cinematography was indeed beautiful, with some great landscape shots and interesting camera angles. The fight scenes were very underwhelming in my opinion, especially if you're a veteran of HK cinema like most of us here. There was nothing unique to see, nothing that really had me grinning, though the fight scenes were not really ever a focus for the most part. It was nice to see Donny Yen using a Kwan Do I have to say, though his spear work in Hero was much more visually impressive. It's more of the familiar love-triangle type of story (well, there were more than 3 intertwined lovers in this case -- more like 5 -- but hopefully you get the point -- except one of the characters in this case just happened to be a demon (or fox spirit).

All in all, I was entertained, but I think I was expecting it be a bit better based on the reviews I read. Not sure why it has taken off so much in the box office -- I wouldn't really say it's Academy worthy either -- perhaps because of the popularity of the original novel? It's definitely no Bride With the White Hair but still worth a look.