A Chinese Ghost Story
Since the heyday of Romanticism, gallant ghosts have haunted our imaginations. Sometimes troubling, sometimes amusing, they have crossed continents and eras, as well as film genres, as the films gathered here bear witness. Evanescent and elusive, these romantic ghosts are of course a source of fantasy, but they also inhabit cinema marvelously well, where they defy time, genre and mise-en-scène, between appearance and disappearance.
Ning is a tax collector who travels the remote countryside for his work. He stops off at a temple, where he meets a woman who is a ghost seducing men on behalf of a demon. Martial arts, burlesque, melodrama and legends merrily blend.
Ching Siu-tung
Ching Siu-tung is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films. He began as an actor and martial arts instructor working in action cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Ching worked with producer Tsui Hark on 1987's A Chinese Ghost Story, which became an international sensation. He continued to work with Tsui Hark, directing sequels to that film in 1990 and 1991, and co-directing all three parts of the Swordsman series, starting in 1990. Other directorial highlights included the highly successful Royal Tramp films (both 1992) which starred Stephen Chow and Brigitte Lin. In 2002, Ching was nominated twice for Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and won in 2003 for the film Hero. That same year, he made his American film debut, directing Steven Seagal in Belly of the Beast. In 2006, he choreographed the action scenes in the Indian superhero film Krrish, for which he won a Filmfare Best Action Award and Zee Cine Award. In 2008, Ching directed An Empress and the Warriors, in which he also served as action choreographer. The film stars Kelly Chen, Donnie Yen and Leon Lai.
