Tsui Hark is one of those director's that sort of polarizes his audience. You either go along with his loopy, unique directorial style or you get angry at him. Other directors like him are Sam Raimi and Takeshi Miike. They all go where their muse takes them regardless of where the movie is at the moment.
The film tells the story of two giant magical snakes who decide to experience human emotional life. We first encounter them while a super powered Buddhist is searching for evil spirits to destroy. He starts to attack them but relents when he discovers that the snakes are sheltering a pregnant woman in labor from a torrential downpour. The snakes enter the local town and one, White Snake, chances upon a bureaucrat who catches her fancy. The two transform into human form, create a mansion by spell and lure the bureaucrat there. White Snake falls in love with the man, marrying him, while Green Snake, her sister, has problems understanding the human emotions her sister is so capable of enjoying. Green is also having a hard time hiding her true snake self from her sister's husband. It gets complicated with the monk entering the picture once again with bad consequences for all.
First of all, this is a story that fully compliments Hark's style. Unlike other films of his that I felt were compromised by his experiments and vaudeville style, here it almost all works wonderfully. The fantastic characters and action of Chinese mythology are colorfully illustrated here. The art direction and photography is excellent as well. Music score is great.
I felt the film was a commentary on religious rigidity but clearly this production has many meanings to different viewers. That's a sign of a good movie. Recommended.
