GREEN SNAKE (1994)

By: Steve Biodrowski
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2001

Hong Kong Fant-Asia filmmaking at its best, this is the story of two sisters seeking to make the transition from being animal-spirits to being human. Producer-director Tsui Hark is a one-man factory for this kind of thing, and this is one of his better efforts--funny, excting, and fanciful. The imagery is colorful throughout, and there is an almost aching sense of humanity in the character's quest. Of course, it all goes terribly wrong, and ends in tragedy, but the depth of feeling that results is well worth any tears shed. Oh, and the action scenes are really great, too.