THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE

China, 2011, 103 minutes, Colour.
Jet Li, Shengyi Huang, Raymond Lam, Charlene Choi, Zhang Wen.
Directed by Ching Siu- Tung.

Western audiences are familiar with their fairy tales, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the tales from Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. However, they are not familiar with Oriental fairy tales with their quite different characters and symbols, different ways of narratives, different types of myths – and from the Buddhist traditions.

The Sorcerer and the White Snake provide an opportunity to begin to remedy this lack.

The first thing to say is that the film is very beautiful to look at. The magical locations have an aura about them. They are both real and stylised, drawing on ordinary Chinese life as well as on the religious overtones.

Jet Li is at the centre of the tale, a guru with an apprentice (somewhat ineffectual who is turned into a demon). Demons are the targets of the guru, to destroy them. They take human form as well as animal forms (sometimes akin to those in Disney films). His first confrontation with a demon sets the tone of the film. He sweeps the demon into a shell-like container and moves to discover more demons.

In the meantime, a nice but poor young man who wants to be a doctor goes with friends to the mountains to find herbs. He is confronted by a beautiful woman and falls off a crag into a lake where she rescues him and kisses him – and disappears. We knows, but he does not, that she is one of two sister demons, the Green Snake (who prefers making mischief but will soon be attracted by the transformed apprentice) and the White Snake. The mysterious woman is the White Snake.

She has fallen in love (and so has the young man), so she assumes human form, knocks him off his boat and rescues/kisses him again. She takes him to visit her family (the demons all pretending to be her loving family with a few slip-ups) and they are married.

At this stage we might think the fairy tale is over and they live happily ever after. Not in this world.

When a plague breaks out, the young man puts his ingenuity into finding a remedy. His loving wife breathes her energy into his medicines and people are healed. No happy ending here either.

The guru arrives and confronts the White Snake, aiming to destroy her. When she disappears, the young man travels to find a tree that will give a potion to reclaim her. Unfortunately, he lets loose more demons (vixens in human and vulpine form) – and the ending is far more complicated than we had hoped for.

A pleasing, magical and beautiful Chinese fairy tale.
1. Chinese legends? The imagination? The art? The Buddhist traditions? Humans and demons, magic and powers, conflict, demon hunting and capturing?

2. The visualising of the legends, the lavish presentation, the pretty sequences and landscapes, the overall beauty? The mountains, the village, the monastery, the pagoda, the river? The festival, the house, the rock and the sea and the waves? The musical score?

3. The special effects, the creatures, appearances, transformations, confrontations and battles? The acrobatics and their flair?

4. Ah Fahai, Jet Li, his age and appearance, the confrontation of the demon, the initial capture in the shell? Neng Ren as his assistant, apprentice and learning, his skills and failures?

5. The sister snakes, life for centuries, their transformation into human form, causing mischief, the green snake frightening Xu Xian? His falling? The white snake diving into the water, kissing and saving him?

6. Xu Xian and his herbs, wanting to be a doctor, his friends, the expedition on the cliffs, the flowers and herbs, his fall, his being kissed back into life? People not believing him? His boat on the river, his memories of the creature and the kiss? On the pier, its collapse, the white snake appearing again, pushing him into the water, kissing him again? Love, the proposal, the demons all pretending to be his parents and family – the comedy? The animals and their being able to speak – with the cute touches? Comedy, the marriage, happiness? The white snake losing her energy, the arrival of the plague, her breathing into the medicine, giving her energy again, the people being healed?

7. Neng Ren and his pursuing the bats, his being bitten, the chase, his failure, being transformed into a demon, Ah Fahai’s reaction, the green snake and her devotion to him? Their travelling together?

8. Ah Fahai, his confronting the white snake, explaining the situation, fighting with her, her skills and her use of her tail, Ah Fahai and his spells? His warning to her, becoming weaker, pleading for Xu Xian, the sea, Xu Xian being covered? Ah Fahai allowing the white snake to meet Xu Xian again? Xu Xian not knowing her? The kiss?

9. The adventure of Xu Xian stealing the root, the advice, his being on fire, getting the shoot, giving it to the white snake, releasing the demons?

10. The demons in female form, transforming into foxes, the monks and their pursuit, Ah Fahai and the confrontation, destroying them?

11. The scenes of monastic life, the monks and their role, contemplation?

12. The sacrifice of the white snake? Xu Xian and his future? Ah Fahai and his continuing to be leader?

13. A film visualised with lavish imagination?