User reviews

Zhuo Yi-Hang (Leslie Cheung) is raised by his master Tzu Yang (Fong Pao) to be his successor in the leadership of their clan. Yi-Hang meets Lien (Brigitte Lin), a warrior adopted by wolves and accepted by a tribe leaded by the evil magic twins Ji Wushuang (Francis Ng / Elaine Lui), in a lake, and they fall in love for each other. Yi-Hang promises to trust her forever. However, Ji Wushuang also loves Lien and she is sent away from their tribe. When the clan of Yi-Hang is attacked, he does not believe on Lien, thinking that she killed his master and cursing their love.

This beautiful and tragic love story, a kind of Chinese version of "Romeo and Juliet", has wonderful cinematography and costumes. The choreography of the fights is also amazing. The non-linear screenplay is a little confused, but when the viewer sees for the second time, it becomes clearer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Entre o Amor e a Glória" ("Between the Love and the Glory")

The Bride with white hair is one of the best movies to come out of Hong Kong. The movie packed with great shots, lightning costumes and sets. Ofcourse you can tell the budget wasn't as high as you're average Hollywood movie but that only adds to this movies charm. There is enough story and good acting to please the mainstream audience and enough action and speed to satisfy the kung fu and action fans. Actualy I think you compare this one with the great Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!!! If you liked that one be sure to check this one out to. Ofcourse don't watch the dubbed print, go for the original one and won't be disapointed. There is also a sequel.

Its hard and sad to believe this film will never be truly appreciated, even after the success of crouching tiger there wont be too many people interested in viewing this. Its a very sad day for movies when a film like this is so limited in reaching an audience.

The cinematography is so simple sometimes that its breath-taking. The early scene of the young swordsman against a backdrop of a golden sky slicing through falling pink petals beneath a molting tree is perfection on the eye, just stunning, and never i dont think has a woman looked more beautiul than bridgitte lin as the mysterious witch bathing in a cavernous pool.

The storytelling is so grand, so innocent, so perfect that all hollywood "epics" pale in significance, and the acting is of a high quality to match.

Essentially its a martial arts/swordplay/fantasy/love story but in such a refreshing way it almost fails to fall into any of these genres. Rich in history and traditionalism yet something entirely fresh - remember this is 1993, before Ang Lee brought flying Wudan warriors and epic swordplay to the attention of the public. It should be noted that this has been part of chinese cinema for over a decade, but Bride With The White Hair puts it in an entirely different context to the likes of the Tsui Hark Directed Once Upon A Time In China series.

Not to give too much away but by the end even the hardest of hearts will break and at the very least some of the imagery will stay with you for a long long time - i never thought something visualised on a screen could be so beautiful as everyday sights, but somehow its managed - i have no hesitation in saying this is the best cinematography i have ever seen, and any student of camera work or direction should watch it as a piece of art, or more, a work of art. But please judge it on its merits to touch, involve and entertain the audience too, because it does all these things effortlessly

Outstanding

5/5

Colorful Asian fantasy with the emphasis on romance and fanciful action; enjoyable enough in itself but not particularly compelling. The plot and look of the film reminded me of the "Chinese Ghost Story" Trilogy (1987-91), which I watched – and loved – only a few years back, while the gravity-defying stunts looked forward to Ang Lee's (obviously more accomplished) CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000). As is the norm for this sort of film, the characters are all stock types (the nasty Siamese-twin villains being a particular liability) – which means that, for all the pseudo-philosophy which gets spouted (usually by elders) from time to time, the tale follows a rigid, rather simplistic and all-too-familiar path which doesn't allow for much depth or surprise…though "The Bride With White HaIr" herself (when she belatedly appears) is a memorable creation – and I wouldn't mind catching up eventually with this film's sequel (from the same year and director).

One word to describe this film is AMAZING. Liang Yusheng wrote The Bride with White Hair novel and Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky, Freddy Vs Jason) accurately directed this classic Chinese novel. This movie is a perfect, heart felt, tragic love story. What is so great about this movie is the brilliant acting, incredible cinematography, great music and the most un-like Hollywood ending you'll ever see. Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin played their character very well and their acting was great. Oscar Winner Peter Pau(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) did the cinematography for this movie and it was Excellent. When you finished watching this movie, it can make you feel linger or a strong feel that last for a few hours. In my opinion, Ronny Yu will never be able to top this film. This film can make you want to see the sequel(The Bride with White Hair 2). Just to mention about the sequel, it is not as good as the first one. The only thing in the sequel that is worth seeing is the last ten minutes of the movie.

A big, mainstream Chinese movie, "bang bang, kiss kiss", except with swords and sorcery. "Clang clang, kiss kiss". Yet,I liked it.

I was a little worried when it started out, it looked like it might get high-handed or overblown. It's a fine line between mythic and stupid, but the reviews on IMDb were all so glowing, I kept at it. The love story was engaging, very believable, and the conflicts were unique. The movie manages to drop on the mythic side of the line.

One thing I noticed: The values are all what we call Western. The individual over the group, the convictions of the heart over the traditions of the clan, etc., and there was no real question about it. The main character kind of reminded me of James Dean or Montgomery Clift. There was even some actual kissing, too, which I think is a Western thing.

It's well done. I especially liked the acting of the two leads. You might find itinteresting, as long as you don't mind the dark witchy stuff or the definitely R-rated violence.

I'm looking forward to Part II. I feel like I'm crowding into the back of a big Hong Kong movie theater.

Ronny Yu's (Legacy of Rage, The Phantom Lover) Bride With White Hair (1993) is incredible collaboration in the field of cinema. Editor David Wu, cinematographer Peter Pau and director Yu have created a piece of magic that will amaze fans of Orient cinema many years to come. Brigitte Lin plays a girl who has lived among wolves and thus is called wolf girl. She becomes an assassin for horrible cult leader brother/sister-twin mutant, and does her job with her great martial arts skill. Leslie Cheung plays a swordsman who was once, as a child, saved by this mysterious girl, who disappeared so soon he couldn't even thank her. Years after they meet again, and the power of love will change their lives forever..

This film is an adaptation of the same Chinese novel, on what Wolf Devil Woman was based on, too. The film is set and located in somewhere in the past, and I don't think the year and place was mentioned exactly during the film. The visual magic of the film is outstanding as this includes perhaps the best cinematography I've seen in Orient films. Cinematographer Peter Pau has worked as a cinematographer on many other great films, too, which include Savior of the Soul, Naked Killer, Bury Me High, Swordsman and John Woo's The Killer. Editor David Wu has been editor in great films like Crying Freeman, John Woo's Hard Boiled and Bullet in the Head, Swordsman and all three A Better Tomorrow films, by John Woo (first two) and Tsui Hark (part three). Their talent is very fantastic, as the film is a visual delight in every level.

All the exteriors were shot at night, so the unique lightning were able to be created. The camera flows, twists, is at peace and moves like I had rarely seen before. The mist, dust, water, smoke and other similar elements are captured on the screen like if they all were alive, all they meant something and thus are there for purpose. I think a film maker like David Lynch would appreciate this film very much. The camera never acts irritatingly as it creates the whole weird and often twisted atmosphere of the film. People who consider this kind of cinema irritating simply can't understand the possibilities and multi leveled magic of cinema, and thus they consider this kind of visual films bad or stupid. Bride With White Hair shows exactly what are the possibilities of a talented film director and crew. This is totally unique (but also equalled, but probably only in other Orient films!) film making, and demands to be seen on big screen. If that is not possible MAKE SURE you get the widescreen DVD/VHS/LD as it is the film's only and original aspect ratio. The remastered DVD released in Hong Kong is in gorgeous widescreen and the film is uncut, so it is one (and cheap) possible purchase of this film.

The editing and pace of the fight scenes (usually sword fights) is also fantastic, and totally unforgettable. The two most important elements of Bride With White Hair are cinematography and editing. The sword fights are not as plenty as one might think and there is plenty of dialogue and "peaceful" scenes, but there are still numerous sword fights and they are so over-the-top gorgeous, that I didn't feel there were too few of them. The fight scenes are often pretty bloody and violent, but in mythical way and surreal way. The "blood geysirs" are not realistic and they only add to the magic over all look of the film, and they fit here as fantastically as they fit to the very eerie and atmospheric Japanese Baby Cart samurai films. I think Bride With White Hair was going to get a Category III rating due to its violence, but director Yu toned down couple of violent scenes for theatrical release, but the scenes are nevertheless intact on that mentioned Hong Kong DVD release.

The drama scenes between Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin are very touching and real, and never unnatural or stupid. The main theme of the film is love and even more, trust between two human beings in love. The end in which we see what happened because of the lack of trust, is very sad and inconsolable for the protagonists. The themes in Bride With White Hair are universal and as topical and important and they were back then when the film was made. I think that Bride With White Hair is occasionally little too slow, and they should have shortened couple of scenes, but this is very minor flaw in a film that has so much merits and unique achievements.

Bride With White Hair's atmosphere is perhaps greater than most of other films' and I think that equal experience could be found only from other Hong Kong or Orient films, as Orient Cinema is so unique compared to most Western films. These Orient film makers have their style and ideas that have never been present in any Hollywood movie, for example, but Hollywood has (had?) its own merits, too, so I'm not understating Hollywood films blindly. Director Ronny Yu is perhaps best known for mass audiences for his Bride of Chucky (the fourth installment in the Child's Play series), but that film is very bad in my opinion, and it is made to please large pop corn audience without any willing to use brains, so don't judge Ronny Yu for Bride of Chucky, if that is the only film you've seen from him. I think it is every director's destiny to make sometimes less personal films because of monetary reasons.

Bride With White Hair is pure Hong Kong classic and almost unbeatable in every level. It can be described as horror, fantasy, romance, action, martial arts and adventure and it is perfect combination of all these. 9/10 masterpiece and doesn't get full ten from me only because of occasional slow moments that could have been tightened. But still, this film is definitely proudly under the phrase "Masterpiece" due to its many cinematic merits and elements I've tried to describe above.

The "Bride with White Hair" is often defined as a wuxiapian version of "Romeo and Juliet": indeed it's amusing, as we follow this tale of two warriors united by love but separated by their belonging to opposite clans, to ponder on the many joints with Shakespeare's tragedy.

For half of the movie (i.e. 45 minutes), it qualifies as being one of the most astounding fantasy movies I ever saw: firstly, it captures the spectator by showing beautiful images and settings (and I'm sure Cho Yi-hang [Leslie Cheung] is not the only one who dropped, out of bewilderment, his jaw!). Secondly, it creates an aura of mystery around the female lead Lien Ni-chang [Lin Ching Hsia], an assassin who is not less beautiful than she is deadly with the whip. Indeed, Cho Yi-hang one day accidentally stumbles upon her and, although her face is shrouded by a veil and only her eyes appear to him, inevitably falls for her. Out of trivia, in another movie Lin Ching Hsia reveals just the rest of her face (i.e. masking herself behind a raincoat and sunglasses) and yet spellbinds people - precisely, Takeshi Kaneshiro. Is there any way that people can escape Lin Ching Hsia's charm?

So far for the good points for "Bride": fascinating setting, a clever hero (with an endearing portrait of his childhood included) and an alluring assassin, all surrounded by a thick veil of mystery and folklore.

On the negative side, the second half of the movie. Just as Cho Yi-hang's feelings get corresponded by Lien Ni-chang and we expect that love will provide a new injection of vitality and creativity over the ruthless and cold world they dwell in, the movie sinks into predictability and shallowness: our heroes just don't have the same mutual trust that Romeo and Juliet had and, since their decisions are guided, more than love, by their impulsive nature, I missed being fully emotionally involved into their ending struggle. However, the transformation that overcomes sorrowful Lien Ni-chang is super-cool! 7/10

Since this film has received so much praise, I feel the need to issue a warning here for those who expect a masterpiece.

The film is actually pretty difficult to get into. The storytelling is very confusing. For at least the first 45 minutes, I couldn't make heads or tails out of what was happening, who was fighting whom, who all those people were, etc. Perhaps this is a movie meant to be seen and understood completely only by those who have read the novel on which it's based. When an actual story does begin to take form, the film does have some touching and/or disturbing moments (you get a good look at naked Siamese twins), but the much-talked-about violence and action choreography is strictly comic-book-level. This film needed more clarity and narrative skill to be successful. (*1/2)

This movie is a masterpiece in some sense. The cinematography is very well done. It's not the best Asian movie ever, but one of the best (I thought). The genre isn't common in movies(not as far as I know). I saw the "full" genre to be action ,romance ,period ,fantasy ,drama. But that's what good about it. It's different and in some sense "rare". They should really make more high quality movies like this. I thought it was always entertaining the whole way through, non-stop. Interesting to watch. It was a tragic romantic movie. Good action scenes and superb acting. I loved the way the characters interacted with each-other. The thing about this movie is that it's not a movie you just watch and forget about and say "That was a good movie". It's something you really should think about. It has a great meaning.

It's quite sad at the very end. But it does a wonderful job in making you wonder what will happen next in the sequel(The bride with white hair 2). If you're looking for something different than all these Western movies, than watch this one for sure. And If you're going to watch it, watch the subtitled version. It's much, much better than the dubbed as with most foreign movies.

Firstly I Have to admit that I watched 'The Bride With White Hair' while I was drunk. That said, it wasn't as entertaining as it should have been for saying how drunk I was.

The 'story' concerns a wimpy, yet hard as nails wu-tang disciple, who is the hot headed heir to the clan (the clan is also the strongest of all the 8 clans and therefore orders them about). Their main rivals are a black magic type clan lead by a pair of crazy (and incestuous?) Siamese twins. One is a screechy annoying girl the other a moany, yet crazy man. Their chief assassin falls in love with wu-tang man and that love eventually turns her into the titular 'Bride With White Hair' (albeit very late into the film). People withstand internal injuries and limb loss with aplomb and get decapitated at the drop of a hat (sorry). Reading back it sounds more interesting than it actually is. It takes a while to get going, everything is very dark and the story doesn't always make sense. The wire work isn't the best and the actual fights are mediocre. The score is O.K but I saw the dub and the voices were the typical screechy charicature's that occasionally mar this genre.

The bride with white hair is many things, but it certainly isnt the classic many consider it to be. It's a decent watch and things rattle along at a fair pace (often at a detriment to the plot. You often get the feeling half an hour was left on the editing floor). With so many better examples of the sword and sorcery genre currently flooding out of Hong Kong, I would advise you hunt yourself out a classic elsewhere. You wont be missing that much. I also half expected this to be a tacky cat III exploitathon, given the title (and the fact that unless you are Michelle Yeoh, a woman lead in HK cinema pretty much means one thing), but to its credit, it remained smut free and the love scenes were genuinely part of the narrative and not at all added in for pure titillation.

Im just glad my ex-girlfriends didn't do that when I dumped them ;-)

This is one of the few times a classic Chinese novel has been accurately brought to life on the big screen.So why do I say this film is so great? How about brilliant acting, incredible cinematography, great music & sound effects, and the most un-Hollywood ending of all time.I would give a kidney to find a CD of the soundtrack. And never has a film made you want to see the sequel so bad in your life. My only regret is that Ronny Yu will never be able to top this film. Flat-out brilliant!

This is one film I've been longing to see, but after only coming across the sequel for quite a period I finally happened upon the original film. To say I was slightly disappointed when I finally watched it… would be partially correct. I liked it, but wasn't hugely impressed by it with its looming reputation. Quite a much talked about and highly praised Honk Kong fantasy martial arts spectacle directed by Ronny Yu. I actually expected more to it… oh well.

Nonetheless it kept me captivated with some outrageously wild and inventive set-pieces, where the fast action choreography knew no boundaries and they can be brutally bloody as well. Yu's direction (a confident display in craftsmanship) is kinetically flashy and dazzlingly vibrant in colour filtering, but it had more than just visually vigorous and leaping action caught by beautifully swoosh photography and a soothingly soaring score… there's a plot too. A typically old-hat and theatrical one. From the get-go the mystical story is completely wishy-washy as you try to follow what's going on, but then it finally settles down to tell of an poetically touching love story of forbidden romance that could only end in tragedy. It felt like a mature fairytale with a thoughtful (if raggedly simple) narrative wrapped around its brimming atmospheric activity. Moments within the story do bog down the pace with it going on to feel too simple with its character's plights, and at times the boundless spray of martial arts seemed a little too hectic for its own good.

Brigitte Lin is lusciously potent as the title character (a very memorable I might add) and along side her Leslie Cheung leaves a fine mark with his warm-hearted performance. Francis Ng and Elaine Lui (who actually can get annoying) superbly make lightweight of their roles as the Siamese-twins of the evil cult.

Again I liked it and it has ambition, but I didn't find it particularly special.

This is an insanely entertaining movie, which plays more like an opera. It's a wild fantasy about the normal warring clans in ancient China. It has it all, a great love story, Kung Fu fights out the ass with all the flying acrobatics you could want. And best of all Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia as the high flying wolf girl with magical skills. This is a tour de force of everything us Americans liked about "Crouching Tiger". The ending is fabulous, with a Kung Fu fight right out of the comic books. Even director Vu said the final battle he wanted to resemble a pin ball machine. It does, and it's crazy, and he made a movie that I couldn't recommend any higher. I'm looking forward to watching the first sequel very much.

Wow. I can remember watching this film with my mouth hung in amazement.

It's amazing how the story really drew me into the film. Greatly choreographed swordplay and action, typical standard of Hong Kong cinema. Interesting death scenes include impalement & slicing up of people. The romantic part of this film really adds to the atmosphere (the tendersweet waterfall scene) and Brigitte's performance as Lien Ni Chang really helped her character shine. I've never felt myself cringe as much I did during the "leaving the cult" ceremony.

Whether it's for the action or romance, the Bride with White Hair is really entertaining & highly recommended for viewing pleasure.

now this little notice is based on the dubbed version I cannot recommend it as the voices are in current english idioms & coming out of the mouths of people from over 1000 yrs ago is pure ludicrous. It is possible if I saw this with sub-titles i would of liked it better

Thanks

Back in the 80s, the Hong Kong movie industry was making some of the best action-fantasy movies around and this was maybe its high water mark, combining historical action fantasy with quite a touching central romance. Adapted from the 1954 Chinese novel 'River Lake' and set during one of China's many historical periods of internal unrest, Bride is a lush folk tale about a martial artist who wanders into the woods and encounters the Wolf Girl, a legendary recluse who had been raised by wolves, playing one of those yard-long wooden Chinese flutes. They circle one another playfully at first but eventually their passion can no longer be contained. A love affair crossing their two obviously separate and incompatible worlds proves impossible and hardship, misunderstanding and tragedy follows. The whole production has an operatic quality to it, with haunting music, sweeping camera work, dark magical elements and STUFF blowing around quite often, perhaps symbolic of the swirl of events and political chaos around the principles.

Brigitte Lin (39) and Leslie Cheung (37) were quite a bit older than the 20-something characters in the book, but still make an attractive romantic pairing. Recommended.

This movie is fantastic. The music, acting, cinematography, writing and characters are all top notch. The only thing I found annoying was some of the exposition by the narrator. I looked past that though because of what it created. I was unaware of this until I read the trivia, but this movie, or the character of Lien, inspired Rob Tapert's Xena!!! As I was watching I did see so many elements used in the episodes of Xena. Incredible. I cannot compare the two characters but there is no doubt Lien inspired Xena, and some of the other characters in this movie inspired characters like Alti, Ares, Callisto, etc. Even Lien being used as a "destroyer of nations" by the Cult can be compared to Alti's hold on her and later Draco's, and Borias. I find it stunning the revelation. This is a must watch for fans or Kung Fu, drama, and tragedy. The action scenes are wholly unexpected fun and gruesome. Lien's whip!!! Haha. Splits people in half.

This is a great movie. Acting is excellent and cinematography is among the best I've seen by the cinematographer who won an Academy award for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Bridgette Lin is amazing. I would actually classify this as a romantic movie.

In feudal China, the united Eight Clans must fight an evil tribe ruled by diabolical siamese twins. But young warrior Yi Hang, whose destiny is to lead the warriors of the Eight Clans against the evil forces, falls in love with the enemy's best warrior, wolf-girl. She was raised by wolves and became a killer under her mentors. He promises her never to distrust her, and to find a live-spending magic rose for her when she grews old and her hair becomes white. He even gives her a name, and she betrays the leader of the evil tribe who is some kind of in love with her, too. She receives brutal punishment, but is allowed to leave the tribe. But Yi Hang is forced to break his promise. He breaks wolf-girl's heart, and she becomes the bride with white hair. Her hatred starts to grow because of the disappointment... Is there a way for Yi Hang to win her heart back?

This beautiful fantasy/martial-arts/swordplay mix has become a classic of Hong Kong cinema already. It's one of the best Hong Kong movies I've ever seen and probably director Yan-Tai Yu's best film. It's stunning cinematography, really incredible (and bloody!) fight sequences, beautiful music and sad romance make it an unforgettable cinematic experience. Ching-Hsia Lin (Brigitte Lin) looks incredible as the bride with white hair, and the fights must be seen to be believed. Pure Hong Kong fantasy cinema at it's best, topped only by "A Chinese Ghost Story".

I don`t understand why people and especially critic are so overwelmed by the last film of Ang Lee. The bride with white hair is the best in the genre. Great story, fantastic character and special effect at the right time, not all the time. The picture is beautiful and the story as no break in the middle, like in crouching dragon. The whole part where they tell us the story of the young lady and the young thief is so long and boring that I almost left the theater. So what`s the big deal.