Uhm.... huh?
Just got finished watching The Sorcerer and the White Snake via Netflix. It was very pretty, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be feeling about it.
It's set in (I presume) medieval China. A powerful snake demon takes on human form and marries a doctor. They seem to be getting on fine. In fact, if anyone's taking any harm from the relationship it seems to be her since she's putting magical essence into his medicines. Nonetheless, Jet Li (a demon-hunting monk) tries to chase her off. She winds up wounded with a magical dagger and flees. Guided by one of her sidekicks, her husband steals a magical herb from the monks' temple to heal her, but this releases all the monks' captured evil demons. They possess him while the sidekick takes the herb to her. The monks do a big magical ritual trying to cure him. She thinks the monks are trying to keep her and her husband apart, so she and her sister attack the temple. This results in all kinds of mass devastation. She eventually gets hubby out, and the possession seems taken care of, but he doesn't remember her. Jet Li says it's her own fault for messing up the ritual, so she attacks and nearly kills him. Forces from on high (the Buddha?) intervene, healing Jet Li and imprisoning her in the temple. She begs and is briefly released, gives hubby an impassioned speech and kisses him, he remembers her, and then they're ripped apart by magical wind leaving her sealed away again. Jet Li marches off into the sunset.
Like I said... I'm not sure what the message is here. A tragedy about tampering with the natural order? General star-crossed lovers sort of thing? Demons are bad even when they're trying to be good? If the special effects are cool enough you're not supposed to ask? I'm not even sure if Jet Li was meant to be a hero or a stick-up-his-ass type who couldn't accept their unconventional relationship.
I dunno... maybe it would make more sense if I better understood the mythology it's based on. Maybe they cut a bunch of scenes for the U.S. release (certainly there were references between the sister and Jet Li's apprentice that suggest we missed some stuff). Maybe I'm asking too many questions.
*shrug*. Ah well... it was very pretty.
This entry was originally posted at http://squidminion.dreamwidth.org/372157.html.
There are
comments there. You could add one via OpenID.
Or you can comment here if you'd rather; it's okay.
It's set in (I presume) medieval China. A powerful snake demon takes on human form and marries a doctor. They seem to be getting on fine. In fact, if anyone's taking any harm from the relationship it seems to be her since she's putting magical essence into his medicines. Nonetheless, Jet Li (a demon-hunting monk) tries to chase her off. She winds up wounded with a magical dagger and flees. Guided by one of her sidekicks, her husband steals a magical herb from the monks' temple to heal her, but this releases all the monks' captured evil demons. They possess him while the sidekick takes the herb to her. The monks do a big magical ritual trying to cure him. She thinks the monks are trying to keep her and her husband apart, so she and her sister attack the temple. This results in all kinds of mass devastation. She eventually gets hubby out, and the possession seems taken care of, but he doesn't remember her. Jet Li says it's her own fault for messing up the ritual, so she attacks and nearly kills him. Forces from on high (the Buddha?) intervene, healing Jet Li and imprisoning her in the temple. She begs and is briefly released, gives hubby an impassioned speech and kisses him, he remembers her, and then they're ripped apart by magical wind leaving her sealed away again. Jet Li marches off into the sunset.
Like I said... I'm not sure what the message is here. A tragedy about tampering with the natural order? General star-crossed lovers sort of thing? Demons are bad even when they're trying to be good? If the special effects are cool enough you're not supposed to ask? I'm not even sure if Jet Li was meant to be a hero or a stick-up-his-ass type who couldn't accept their unconventional relationship.
I dunno... maybe it would make more sense if I better understood the mythology it's based on. Maybe they cut a bunch of scenes for the U.S. release (certainly there were references between the sister and Jet Li's apprentice that suggest we missed some stuff). Maybe I'm asking too many questions.
*shrug*. Ah well... it was very pretty.
This entry was originally posted at http://squidminion.dreamwidth.org/372157.html.
There are
comments there. You could add one via OpenID.
Or you can comment here if you'd rather; it's okay.