The Bride with White Hair
| The Bride with White Hair | |
|---|---|
Film poster
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| Traditional | 白髮魔女傳 |
| Simplified | 白发魔女传 |
| Mandarin | Bái Fà Mó Nǚ Zhuàn |
| Directed by | Ronny Yu |
| Produced by | Ronny Yu Clifton Ko Raymond Wong |
| Screenplay by | Ronny Yu Lam Kei-to Elsa Tang David Wu |
| Story by | Liang Yusheng |
| Starring |
Brigitte Lin Leslie Cheung |
| Music by | Richard Yuen |
| Cinematography |
Peter Pau Lee Tak-shing |
| Edited by | David Wu |
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Production
company |
Ronny Yu Films Ltd.
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| Distributed by | Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd. |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Mandarin Cantonese |
| Box office | HK$19.8 million |
The Bride with White Hair is a 1993 Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu, starring Brigitte Lin and Leslie Cheung.
The film's main character, Lian Nichang, is loosely based on the protagonist of Liang Yusheng's novel Baifa Monü Zhuan, which had earlier served as source material for the 1982 film Wolf Devil Woman. However, Yu saw the film as a Romeo and Juliet story and said that the lovers' struggle against fate and their heroic duty inspired him more than the familiar trappings of most martial arts adventure films. As such, the film departs significantly from the original source.
A sequel, The Bride with White Hair 2, directed by David Wu, was released later in the same year.
Zhuo Yihang was raised by Taoist Ziyang of the Wudang Sect and groomed to become a young chivalrous swordsman. He is placed in command of a coalition army formed by the eight major orthodox martial arts sects, which aim to prevent an evil cult from infiltrating China. During a battle against the cult, Zhuo Yihang meets a young woman called Lian Nichang and falls in love with her. She is an orphan and was raised by wolves as an infant before being adopted by Ji Wushuang, the Siamese twins who lead the cult. After consummating their romance, Lian Nichang decides to leave the cult and follow Zhuo Yihang in pursuit of an ordinary life away from the jianghu (martial artists' community).
Lian Nichang succeeds in leaving the cult after suffering great pains. Meanwhile, Zhuo Yihang returns to Wudang and is horrified to see that his fellows have been murdered. The coalition believes that Lian Nichang is responsible and attack her when she arrives to meet Zhuo Yihang. Zhuo Yihang is forced to turn against Lian Nichang. Devastated by her lover's rejection, Lian morphs into a vicious white-haired killer and slays all the coalition members present. Suddenly, Ji Wushuang appears and reveals that he/she is actually the one who killed the Wudang members. Zhuo Yihang and Lian Nichang combine efforts to defeat and kill Ji Wushuang. However, even after the victory, Lian Nichang vows never to forgive Zhuo Yihang for betraying her and walks away while Zhuo looks on helplessly. In a brief epilogue set years later, Zhuo is alone in a remote mountain region guarding a rare flower that is said to bloom only once every several decades and has the ability to reverse the effects of ageing (turning white hair back to dark). Believing that it can cure the harm he has inflicted on Lian Nichang, he awaits for the return of his loved one and hopes that she will show up.
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