Green Snake

Two snake spirits take human form and come to live among people in Green Snake, a Hong Kong fantasy romance directed by Tsui Hark. One is white, the older of the pair, and one is green; the two become young women and settle into a large house on the edge of a town. The white snake falls in love with a local teacher, while the green snake watches and struggles to grasp what love actually is. A Buddhist monk, Fat Hoi, takes it upon himself to uphold order and confronts the sisters, only to find that questions of right and wrong are not as clear as he believed.

Tsui Hark directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Lilian Lee. It was his thirteenth film as director, arriving between Once Upon a Time in China III and Once Upon a Time in China V. Maggie Cheung plays Green Snake and Joey Wong plays White Snake, with Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo as Fat Hoi, Wu Hsing-Guo as Hui Sin, Ma Jingwu and Shun Lau also appearing. The film draws on the Chinese legend of the White Snake, long familiar from folklore and earlier adaptations, and runs 99 minutes.

Released in late 1993, the film holds a 7.2 rating on IMDb from roughly 4,200 votes and a 7.3 rating on TMDB from about 130 votes. Those figures indicate a modest but clearly favorable response that has held up over time.