Green Snake

Director: Tsui Hark

1993 / 99min / 4K DCP

A fresh, lyrical, sensual, and often very funny revisionist reading of a ubiquitous classic Chinese folk tale concerning sororal serpent spirits, Madame White Snake, Hark’s version shifts the focus from White Snake (Joey Wang) to her impish, rebellious younger sibling, Green Snake (Cheung, bringing a slinky sway to her performance), who is committed to breaking up her big sister’s budding relationship with a young teacher even as both women must vie with a gaggle of Taoist monks determined to vanquish them and abscond with their powers. Action maestro Hark, flinging himself headlong into the realm of pure fantasy, creates a hallucinatorily hyper-stylized world of lush, vivid, mesmerizing dreamscapes… and doesn’t skimp on the stunning martial arts set pieces while doing so. Screening in a new 4K restoration.

Part of Days of Being Maggie Cheung