A Chinese Ghost Story

The first installment in producer $$ID=Tsui Hark$$'s seminal series which updates the classic tale of the poor scholar haunted by a beautiful ghostly spirit. $$ID=Leslie Cheung$$ is appropriately cast as Ning, an idyllic and destitute scholar forced to become a debt collector for reasons of survival. Bullied in a medieval world of bandits and ferocious sword wielding killers, he is very much out of place. Seeking refuge in a deserted temple on a stormy night, he encounters a beautiful damsel, played with melancholy allure by $$ID=Joey Wong$$. As a mutual attraction develops, he discovers that she is not human but a wandering spirit from the netherworld resigned to seducing men for the nourishment of her master, an ancient Tree Spirit ($$ID=Lau Siu Ming$$ camping it) with substantial powers. A powerful Taoist monk (veteran actor $$ID=Wu Ma$$) who befriends them initially misunderstands her intentions but eventually sees her innate goodness. He devices a plan to reunite her spirit with her bodily remains thereby liberating her - only to incur the wrath of the Tree Spirit who has betrothed her to the Old Black Mountain Spirit. What ensues is a fierce battle between good and evil with the requisite doses of fantasy and special effects that only HK cinema can conjure. Definitely one of Tsui Hark's best and a must for lovers of mythical fantasy epics. A modern classic!