cmovie: Dragon Chronicles: The Maidens of Heavenly Mountain
There seem to be multiple versions of the title for this 1994 film, but this one seems to be the most common.
Dragon Chronicles is based on part of Jin Jong's Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. It's almost ridiculously condensed and has infodumps that rely on the viewer having a general idea of what's going on already. As I have not yet watched a version of that or read the book, I didn't have a clue what was going on at times.
This doesn't particularly matter much.
Brigitte Lin plays twins. One of whom is good and pure and in love with both Gong Li and their master. The other is either wild or evil or maybe both, and also in love with their master. And probably Gong Li too. And maybe even her sister. Gong Li, as you gathered, is also there and in love with one or both twins.
Their master decides all the lesbian subtext-but-does-it-count-as-subtext-if-"subtle"-is-an-alien-concept and wild women are icky, so he packs up the good twin and runs off to a secret mountain. When the rejected twin and Gong Li find them, they fight each other rather than trying to calmly discuss things with their exes. Then basically spend the movie trying to prove that "fightsex" is best accompanied by bright flashing lights to indicate superpowers with women flying through the air and loud sound effects.
There's also Sharla Cheung running around as a bandit who hooks up with a monk ("hooks up" context debatable) before getting caught up with all the secret sects and lesbian fightsex going on, and getting their own superpowers. I suspect the non-ultracondensed version of this plot makes for some very good straightup wuxia. (Not that it isn't fun in this format too.)
There are men, They're kinda there to help hold up the plot. Mostly, they yell and then get trounced by the women.
At some point, Gong Li turns into a superpowered, possibly evil child. At other points, she thinks she's starring in The Bride With White Hair.
There's also a secret sect that is ruled by I think every female character in the movie at some point.
Terribly confusing at times and I'm a bit suspicious of the source material in some bits, but it's hard to focus on such things when you have gleefully evil Brigitte Lin and vengeful Gong Li flitting about.
ETA: Fair warning: I have been bingeing on 80s and 90s Hong Kong movies (mostly in the 88-94 range, mostly with either Joey Wong of Brigitte Lin so far) and neglecting my US and Asian television in the process, and so you may expect numerous posts over the next few weeks.
Dragon Chronicles is based on part of Jin Jong's Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. It's almost ridiculously condensed and has infodumps that rely on the viewer having a general idea of what's going on already. As I have not yet watched a version of that or read the book, I didn't have a clue what was going on at times.
This doesn't particularly matter much.
Brigitte Lin plays twins. One of whom is good and pure and in love with both Gong Li and their master. The other is either wild or evil or maybe both, and also in love with their master. And probably Gong Li too. And maybe even her sister. Gong Li, as you gathered, is also there and in love with one or both twins.
Their master decides all the lesbian subtext-but-does-it-count-as-subtext-if-"subtle"-is-an-alien-concept and wild women are icky, so he packs up the good twin and runs off to a secret mountain. When the rejected twin and Gong Li find them, they fight each other rather than trying to calmly discuss things with their exes. Then basically spend the movie trying to prove that "fightsex" is best accompanied by bright flashing lights to indicate superpowers with women flying through the air and loud sound effects.
There's also Sharla Cheung running around as a bandit who hooks up with a monk ("hooks up" context debatable) before getting caught up with all the secret sects and lesbian fightsex going on, and getting their own superpowers. I suspect the non-ultracondensed version of this plot makes for some very good straightup wuxia. (Not that it isn't fun in this format too.)
There are men, They're kinda there to help hold up the plot. Mostly, they yell and then get trounced by the women.
At some point, Gong Li turns into a superpowered, possibly evil child. At other points, she thinks she's starring in The Bride With White Hair.
There's also a secret sect that is ruled by I think every female character in the movie at some point.
Terribly confusing at times and I'm a bit suspicious of the source material in some bits, but it's hard to focus on such things when you have gleefully evil Brigitte Lin and vengeful Gong Li flitting about.
ETA: Fair warning: I have been bingeing on 80s and 90s Hong Kong movies (mostly in the 88-94 range, mostly with either Joey Wong of Brigitte Lin so far) and neglecting my US and Asian television in the process, and so you may expect numerous posts over the next few weeks.