Written and Produced by Tsui Hark
Copyright © 1997
Film Workshop
Copyright © 1999
Viz Communications, Inc.

Rich. Rewarding. Resplendent. I could very easily fill this review with one word superlatives, because of all the anime I have reviewed for EX over the past year, this movie earns my highest praise. With breathtaking animation, side-splitting humor and absolutely loveable characters, A CHINESE GHOST STORY is simply stupendous.
Unlike most of the other movies reviewed in this publication, A CHINESE GHOST STORY was not created in Japan. Rather, this is the first animated feature from acclaimed Hong Kong director/producer Tsui Hark, who is best known for martial arts action films such as A BETTER TOMORROW. This animated movie is loosely based on other Hong Kong films of the same name (one of which Hark was involved in), but he has masterfully mixed together Japanese anime conventions, Chinese mythology and his own "perpetual motion" directorial style into this stunning and mesmerizing movie.
The hero of the film is a lonely and luckless tax collector named Ning who, with his goofy little dog Solid Gold, stumbles across a trio of rival exorcist monks in his travels. As these crazy ghostbusters fight amongst themselves over exorcism turf, Ning follows one of their maps and winds up in a ghost town (I mean it, literally a town filled with ghosts.) It is here that Ning encounters a lovely ghost named Siu Seen, who originally plans to steal his soul to feed her tree demon boss, Madame Trunk. However, when one of the ghostbusters arrives on his giant robot to demolish the city, Ning and Siu Seen's relationship takes a dramatic turn that hurls the two into a marvelous adventure involving romance, reincarnation and some riotous action.
Viewers of A CHINESE GHOST STORY are presented with countless visual treats. There is the panoply of imaginative ghost designs that range from terrifying skeletons to comicly anthropomorphic beasts. The slapstick antics of Ning and Solid Gold are simply hilarious, especially in a scene where they realize that they are in a restaurant that serves humans "with soy sauce." The martial arts fighting and spell-casting styles of the monks were amazingly portrayed as well, with frenetic movements and awesome special effects.
However, it is through the manipulations of computer grahics that A CHINESE GHOST STORY achieves its most powerful visual moments. Produced in 1997, I believe this film deserves to serve as a landmark in the integration of computer graphics with regular cel animation. CG was used to create not only finely detailed backgrounds that range from ragged cliffs to vibrant cities, computers were also used to depict lively and active devices such as the giant ghostbusting robot Tao of Taos and the gorgeous celestial locomotive that carries souls towards reincarnation. All in all, the cinematography of A CHINESE GHOST STORY is utterly amazing and rewards multiple viewings. It masterfully mixes anime conventions such as swirling camera angles and super-deformed expressions while embracing the clarity and power of computer graphics with a level of success that I don't believe has been matched in any Japanese films to date.
I was fortunate enough to review A CHINESE GHOST STORY on DVD, and it offers a few extra features such as English subtitles as well as Chinese and Mandarin language selections. I found the dub to be extremely well done, with each character distinct and the actors using a full range of expressions. The producers of the English version even went so far as to translate and adapt the occasional musical number, which is a nice touch that maintains the continuity of the dub. The scene where Siu Seen is reunited with her "boyfriend," the Demon King of Black Mountain, was especially satisfying as it combined music, singing and plenty of visual humor as the Demon performs for his subjects like some gargantuan and diabolical rock star. The DVD also includes some character profiles, and an English text interview with Tsui Hark taken from the October 1999 edition of ANIMERICA.
A CHINESE GHOST STORY succeeds on every level —it is a touching love story, a fast-paced adventure and a delightful comedy all rolled into one incredible film. What more could you possibly want in a movie? Best of all, A CHINESE GHOST STORY is also making a theatrical run this spring and summer in the U.S., so check out Viz's web site for the dates because this film truly deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Released in North America by Viz Films
DVD format, 84 minutes
Catalog: PEAD-010
$29.98
Available now in the U.S.
Where to buy