Monday, September 09, 2019

A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation

A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation is an award-winning 1997 Hong Kong animated film. Wikipedia begins its plot summary with this:
Tax collector Ning wanders the land with his pet dog Solid Gold grieving over his lost love Siu Lan, who dumps him over another man. He goes on, and along the way, he runs into two monks, White Cloud and Ten Miles. The two Buddhist monks, who appear to be trying to purify unholy spirits and send them to the underworld, are on rivalry with another ghostbuster, Red Beard. After a meeting and a hasty farewell to the monks who leave, Ning continues his journey.

Somehow, at night, Ning enters a ghost town, inhabited by many different monsters, ghouls and spirits.

T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews calls it "an incredibly strange, breathless, nonstop action fantasy, which leaves you gasping for air". Love HK Film calls it "irresistibly charming" and "visually exciting".

Variety says,
Result is infused with many of Tsui’s own filmic trademarks, some touches of typically Cantonese humor and a childlike, naive style that Japanese anime simply don’t possess. In dubbed versions, this could prove a strong seller as a children’s item for the small screen.
BBC has a review. The Rotten Tomatoes audience has a consensus score of 86%.

10 comments:

  1. I'll have to come back to watch. This might even be something Himself would like,too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's different from the Japanese animation films. I enjoyed it :)

      Delete
  2. Mr Man likes all the Asian Animee stuff, I'll be showing this to him. On a different topic, I enjoyed the whole story of the Open Window. I finally finished reading Episode of Sparrows & it certainly was a different story than I remember my Mom reading. Liked it very much, so again thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope he likes it. The Asian anime is such a different thing from Western animation. The Open Window is a kick, I think, such an unexpected turn :) Some stories I remember from when I was a child don't read the same to me now. Memory is tricky.

      Delete
  3. This is not something I want to watch, sorry! Have a fun day, Valerie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Different strokes lol There are so many different kinds of things out there, aren't there!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. I like the Eastern animation I've seen, and I enjoy Asian ghost stories, so this is a winner for me :)

      Delete
  5. How did I miss this post? Possibly because I was so busy all day yesterday. For some reason, I haven't gotten into animation, although I certainly admire the artists who create it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a wide variety, but it's so often marketed for the kiddie audience that it flies under the adults' radar.

      Delete