Ten Mile Ping Lake is full of frost, and every inch of green silk is sad.
Looking at the moon alone, only envying the Mandarin Duck and not envying the immortals.
In 1987, Cheng Xiaodong and Xu Ke's film "Ghost of Qiannu" came out. This film was not only popular in the past, but is still regarded as a classic, and is the childhood memories of many post-80s and post-90s generations.
The 87th edition of "Ghost of a Woman" is adapted from the 1960 film of the same name directed by Li Hanxiang. The film is based on the short story "Nie Xiaoqian" in Pu Songling's "Liaozhai Zhiyi". So, what is the difference between Pu Songling's novel and the "Ghost of a Woman" series of movies?
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The novel "Nie Xiaoqian" tells such a story:
The scholar Ning Caichen's family lives in Zhejiang. Once, he went to Jinhua to run an errand. Arriving at a monastery north of Jinhua City, Ning Caichen unpacked his bags and planned to rest here.
He looked around and saw that the temple pagoda was magnificent and quite magnificent. It's just that around the walls of this courtyard, the basil is full of ground, inaccessible, and seems to have been abandoned for a long time. The temple house and monk's house in the east and west compartments are hidden by two doors. There was only a small house on the south side, and the lock on the door was new, as if inhabited. Ning Caichen walked to the east of the main hall again, and a quiet scene came into view: xiu bamboo dripping green, delicate flowers spitting, pond ripples, cool lotus wind.
Youshan Ancient Temple
Upon seeing this scene, Ning Caichen was very happy in his heart, and secretly thought: These few days coincide with the time when the adults of the school are supervising in Jinhua City, and the inns in the city are in short supply, and the rent has risen sharply. At present, this temple, far away from the hustle and bustle, the environment is quiet, it is indeed a good place to read, you may wish to live here, or save some money. Ning Caichen was a righteous gentleman who did not want to take advantage of others, so he waited outside the monk's house for the abbot and planned to get permission to move in.
Until the sun fell on the western mountain, when the twilight was dark, Ning Caichen did not see the abbot and was wondering, only to see a scholar opening the door lock of the house on the south side.
Ning Caichen hurriedly walked to the man's near, bowed down and gave a salute, explaining his intentions.
After listening, the scholar said, "There is no one else in this monastery, and several monks' houses have been idle for a long time." I also spent the night here. If Brother Tai can bear the desolation and loneliness, he may as well live here, and you and I will be good companions. ”
Ning Caichen was overjoyed and carefully cleaned a monk's room. He longed for the quiet and wanted to stay a few more days.
The weather was just right that night. In the high blue and black sky, the bright moon hangs high. The light is as clear as water, sprinkled all over the monks. Listening to the sound of insects in the courtyard, seeing the doors and windows clean, making people's hearts clear and forgetting the dust.
At this moment, Ning Caichen was having a long conversation with the scholar in the hall corridor. Ning Caichen asked Shusheng's name, and Shusheng replied, "Under the surname Yan, the name is Chixia." ”
Ning Caichen asked again, "Listening to the brother's accent, isn't it a local?" ”
Yan Chixia replied, "Yes, in the lower part of Guanzhong, it is the Shaanxi people's clan." ”
Yan Chixia's language is simple, but she does not like to talk much. Therefore, without a few words, the two were relatively speechless. In order to avoid embarrassment, Ning Caichen arched his hand and went back to his room to rest.
Night view of Kouji Temple
Ning Caichen had the disease of choosing a seat, and had just moved to a new residence, so it was inevitable that he would toss and turn and could not sleep. Just when I was bored, I overheard someone whispering on the north side of the house. Ning Caichen thought to himself: Didn't Yan Chixia say that there was no one else here? Who is this voice talking to?
Unable to sleep left and right, Ning Caichen sat up in his clothes, put on his shoes, and quietly peeked under the stone window on the north side.
I saw a small courtyard outside a low wall. In the courtyard stood a middle-aged woman in her forties, chatting with an old white-haired woman.
"Why, after so long, Xiao Qian hasn't come yet?" The woman asked.
"Maybe you have to get things done before you come," replied the old lady.
"She won't have any complaints about grandma behind her back, will she?" The woman asked again.
"I haven't heard of it. However, every time she saw me, she seemed a little nervous. The old lady replied.
The woman scolded, This little doesn't know how to lift...
Before the words could be heard, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl slowly walked toward the two of them. Ning Caichen could not see very clearly from a distance, and in the haze, he felt that she was very beautiful.
At this time, the old lady said to the woman, "This little demon has not moved when she comes, but fortunately the words they have just said have not been heard by her." ”
When the young girl approached, the old lady turned her head and smiled at her: "The little lady really looks like the person who walked out of the painting, and I almost got sucked by you, not to mention those stinky men!" ”
The girl whispered, "Grandma praised." ”
Ning Caichen listened for half a day, guessing that this was just the female relatives of the neighbor's family chatting, there was no meaning, so he lay down and slept. By this time the night was already deep, and there was silence all around. Ning Caichen turned over a few more times, his mind tired, and gradually fell into the middle of sleep. In the haze, he felt as if someone had pushed the door in, and he quickly got up and opened his eyes to find that the person who came was the girl in the north courtyard that he had just seen.
"The girl visits all night, but I don't know what's going on?" Ning Caichen was surprised and asked hurriedly.
The young girl smiled and said, "The bright moon is lonely, and it is difficult to sleep." The concubine is willing to accompany the prince through this long night of silence. ”
Ning Caichen listened to Zheng Se and said, "All mouths are shoveling gold, accumulating and destroying bones." You, a deep girl, do you not be afraid of others chewing their tongues and gossiping when they do this kind of scrupulous thing? ”
The girl said, "It's late at night, and no one knows." ”
Ning Caichen replied in a loud voice, "The blue sky is swinging, the bright moon is bright, and the gods of the past are all there, how can it be said that no one knows?" Hurry up and go! Otherwise, I'm going to call my neighbor's friend over!" ”
The girl was a little frightened and slowly withdrew. After a while, she came into the house again and placed a piece of gold on Ning Caichen's futon. Ning Caichen grabbed the gold, threw it out of the door with his bare hands, and said, "Ill-gotten gains, don't stain my room." ”
The girl felt very embarrassed when she saw it. She went out the door, picked up the gold, and said to herself, "What a stone man!" "Finished talking and left.
The next day, a scholar took a servant to the monastery to spend the night, lived in the monk's house in the East Wing, and died violently in the apartment at night. The next day, the servant died too. What was strange was that both men had thin holes in the hearts of their feet, as if they had been stabbed by an awl, and there was slight blood oozing from the holes. Ning Caichen suspected that Yan Chixia had done it, so he confronted him face to face. Yan Chixia guessed that there was a ghost in this temple. Ning Caichen did not find any evidence, and it was gone.
That night, the young girl knocked on Ning Caichen's door again. She said to Ning Caichen, "The prince is a righteous gentleman, and the little girl does not dare to deceive." The concubine's name was Nie Xiaoqian, and when she was eighteen years old, she unfortunately contracted an illness and died, and was buried next to the temple. The soul was coerced by the demons and did many bad things that confused people, which was not my heart. Now they saw that I couldn't kill you, and decided to send the Night Fork to take your life. ”
When Ning Caichen heard this, he was shocked and quickly asked Xiao Qian what to do.
Xiao Qian said: "Yan Sheng next door is a strange person, and if you sleep with him, you can be safe." ”
Ning Caichen asked curiously, "How did you confuse those people?" ”
Xiao Qian replied, "When they were close to me, I stabbed them in the heart of their feet with an awl, and they would fall unconscious, and the monster would take the opportunity to suck their blood." If they don't come near me, I'll give them the gold. As the saying goes, since ancient sake is red, the money is the most moving. If they are greedy for money, they will receive gold. In fact, it was not gold, but a luocha ghost bone, which could take people's hearts and livers. The world can't escape the two levels of wealth and color, but I just do what I like. ”
When parting, Xiao Qian cried and complained: "The concubine's soul fell into the boundless sea of suffering, and she could not ask for the shore." The prince is arrogant and dry, and he will be able to pull out his life and save his suffering, and help the poor and the dangerous. If the prince could choose the place to bury my decaying bones, it would be tantamount to being reborn and recreated! ”
Ning Caichen resolutely agreed and asked where Xiao Qian's skeleton was buried.
Xiao Qian replied, "The tomb of the concubine is under the poplar tree, and there is a bird's nest on the tree, which is very easy to identify, and the prince must remember!" "After saying that, I was gone.
The next day, Ning Caichen remembered Xiao Qian's words, and quickly bought wine and vegetables to invite Yan Chixia to dinner, hoping to sleep with him. Yan Chixia pushed back and said that she did not like to be disturbed by others. Ning Caichen couldn't manage that much, and directly carried the futon to Yan Chixia's room. Yan Chixia had no choice but to agree. However, he instructed Ning Caichen not to move his box easily, otherwise he would bear the consequences. Ning Caichen agreed.
Late at night, the two went to bed separately. Yan Chixia put his box by the window and fell asleep after a while. Ning Caichen couldn't sleep. Nearly a moment ago, Ning Caichen felt that there was a figure in front of the window, and looked up, only to see a pair of ghost eyes flashing blue, peeking indoors. Ning Caichen was afraid, and just wanted to call Yan Chixia, only to see a white light shoot out of the box, out through the window, and back into the box between the whiskers. Yan Chixia heard the noise and got up to check it out. Ning Caichen pretended to be asleep, squinting his eyes and peeking. I saw Yan Chixia take out a crystal clear object from the box, two inches long, about the width of a leek leaf. Ning Caichen didn't know what this was, so he quickly got up and asked.
Yan Chixia replied, "Don't hide from Brother Tai, my true identity is a swordsman." It was a demon-slaying sword. Just now the sword had slashed the monster. Ning Caichen was greatly impressed.
The next day, the two follow the blood left by the youkai all the way to the north of the temple and find deserted graves everywhere. Ning Caichen searched carefully, and sure enough, he found a poplar tree with a bird's nest on it. Ning Caichen lied that his sister was buried here and hired someone to dig up Xiao Qian's skeleton.
Everything was packed up, Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia said goodbye, planning to leave this place with Xiao Qian's skeleton. Before leaving, Yan Chixia gave his leather bag to Ning Caichen and said, "This is a sword bag, there is a sword, and Brother Tai carries it with him, which can ward off evil spirits." Ning Caichen thanked him.
Leaving the monastery, Ning Caichen hired a small boat to return home by water. After returning to his hometown, he found a place to bury Xiao Qian. After the memorial service was completed, Ning Caichen was just about to leave, only to hear a female voice behind him: "Wait for me." Ning Caichen looked back and it was Xiao Qian.
Seeing Ning Caichen again, Xiao Qian was overjoyed. She asked to go to Ning Caichen's home to thank his old mother. At this time, Xiao Qian is more beautiful than before:
The muscles reflect the flowing sun, the feet are fine, the daylight is phased, and the delicacy is particularly beautiful.
Ning Caichen agreed to Xiao Qian and took her home.
Seeing Gao Tang's old mother, Ning Caichen told the ins and outs of the matter. Ning Mu was very surprised when she heard it. At this time, Ning Caichen's wife was still ill, and Ning Caichen's mother was worried about her daughter-in-law's health and instructed Ning Caichen not to tell her about this matter.
Mother Ning carefully examined Xiao Qian, saw that she was cute, and had some good feelings in her heart, but still insisted on not letting her son marry a ghost bride. Xiao Qian asked to serve Ning Caichen as an elder brother, and Ning Mu agreed.
Since then, Xiao Qian has devoted herself to serving Mother Ning during the day and reciting the Leng Yan Jing alone at night. Between the days and nights, Ning Mu gradually fell in love with Xiao Qian and regarded her as her own. After half a year, Xiao Qian seemed to have a human body: originally she never ate and ate, and then she was gradually able to eat some clear porridge; for the sword bag given by Yan Chixia, Xiao Qian was originally very afraid, and later she was no longer afraid. Soon after, Ning Caichen's wife died of illness, and Ning Caichen agreed to Ning Caichen's adoption of Xiaoqian as a concubine.
On the day of the wedding, the relatives and friends of the Ning family came to congratulate them. When they saw Xiao Qianfeng crown xia shuai and makeup coming out, they were all surprised by her beauty, thinking that it was a fairy. Xiao Qian is good at painting Lan Mei. She gave each of her relatives and friends who came to celebrate the joy a painting of her own. The ning family's relatives and friends are proud of this.
Newly married Yan'er, Xiao Qian was sullen and unhappy. Ning Caichen asked her why. Xiao Qian replied, "Jinhua's demons know that I have escaped, and I am afraid that sooner or later they will find here." Therefore, the two discussed hanging the sword bag given by Yan Chixia outside the door.
One night, the two were sitting opposite each other under a red candle, when they suddenly heard a noise outside, as if a large bird had fallen to the ground with its wings on the ground. Xiao Qian was so frightened that she quickly hid behind the curtain. Ning Caichen got up and looked out, only to see a night fork with an electric and bloody tongue, walking towards the house. Walking to the door, Nightfork saw the sword bag, hesitated for a moment, and plucked it off with his claws, trying to tear it to pieces. At this moment, the mouth of the sword bag suddenly opened widely, and there seemed to be an elf inside, grabbing the night fork and dragging it into the bag with all his might. After a while, the sword bag did not move. Ning Caichen was stunned and overwhelmed. Xiao Qian saw the situation, was overjoyed, clapped her hands and shouted, "It's all right!" The two looked at the sword bag together, only to see that there were only a few buckets of clear water inside. It turned out that this sword bag had refined the Night Fork into a pool of water.
Night Fork Ghost
After a few more years, Ning Caichen passed the jinshi examination. Since Xiao Qian married Ning Caichen, she has given birth to two sons in succession. When these two sons grew up, their careers were also very smooth, and they were quite official.
Pu Songling's novel "Nie Xiaoqian" contains many traditional values. The novel tells us that a person who is kind can penetrate the two worlds of man and ghost. In the eyes of ancient writers, being able to penetrate people and ghosts and cross life and death is immortal and worth pursuing. Similar to this is Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion. In the play, Tang Xianzu commented on Du Liniang: "I don't know what to do, but I have been deep. The living can die, and the dead can live. The difference is that Pu Songling writes good, and Tang Xianzu writes love. Nie Xiaoqian abandoned evil to good, so she could change from a ghost to a human being; Du Liniang could live from death because of her feelings.
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Pu Songling's novels have brought a lot of inspiration to Hong Kong films. When we watch hong Kong movies of that era, they are mostly works of wind and snow, strange powers and chaos. In 1960, the famous director Li Hanxiang put "Nie Xiaoqian" on the screen and filmed the movie "Ghost of Qiannu". Li Hanxiang used audiovisual language to reproduce the classic story in "Liaozhai Zhiyi". However, the film gives the novel a new layer of connotation. If Pu Songling's novel is intended to break the boundary between man and ghost, then Li Hanxiang borrows ghosts to write about people and directly pull ghosts back to the human world.
Li Hanxiang's "Ghost of a Lady" sets the story backdrop after the Qing army entered the customs. People familiar with that period of history know that Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian zizhimei mountain, and the Fu King Zhu Yousong, under the support of Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying, took the throne in Nanjing, in order to be the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The Southern Ming ruled over half of the country south of the Yangtze River. However, due to the serious internal turmoil in this small court, the emperor was obsessed with sound and incompetence, and the Hongguang regime lasted only one year before it collapsed. After the Qing army invaded Jiangnan, it created the "Ten Days of Yangzhou" and the "Three Massacres of Jiading". The scene of the depression of the ancient temple seen by Ning Caichen passing through Jinhua in the movie must be a hint at the turmoil of the times.
The storyline of this version of "Ghost of a Lady" is roughly similar to Pu Songling's novel, but it is very different in character shaping.
Although Xiao Qian in the movie is a female ghost, when she appears, she is an image of everyone's bridesmaid. She played the guzheng, and the melodious sound of the piano spread to the monastery next door, attracting Ning Caichen. Ning Caichen followed the sound and listened in his ears outside. After a moment, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped, and Ning Caichen somehow slowly entered Xiao Qian's room. Just when Xiao Qian went out, there was no one in the room, only a calligraphy painting on the table. Ning Caichen saw that the wording of the inscription poem on the painting was inappropriate, and when he was itchy, he raised his pen and changed it. At this time, Xiao Qian returned from outside, saw a stranger in her room, a little unhappy, and blamed Ning Caichen for a man who had broken into the boudoir. Ning Caichen quickly apologized, claiming that he was just changing poetry. Xiao Qian saw that Ning Caichen had changed it reasonably, and she couldn't help but praise it. However, before the two could talk deeply, they were interrupted by grandma. With a majestic look on her face, Grandma drove Ning Caichen out.
Li Hanxiang added a touch of talent and beauty to Pu Songling's ghost story. Ning Caichen is a down-and-out scholar, but he has the ambition to serve the country, a little heroic, and his conversation with Yan Chixia also shows a sense of pity for each other, which is very similar to the plot of Li Jing and the bearded guest in the Legendary Novel of the Tang Dynasty, "The Bearded Guest". Xiao Qian is a boudoir woman with a heart of orchid and a show of extravagance, and she regards Ning Caichen as a confidant, and she is the same as the Red Breeze Girl who looks at Li Jing at a glance. Grandma is the head of a large feudal family, symbolizing the old forces of evil, corresponding to Yang Su, who is "the remnant of the corpse" in "Dirty Rider". This fusion of storylines makes the 60th edition of "Ghost of a Woman" very classical literary.
Grandma in the movie
Under the coercion of her grandmother, Xiao Qian had to knock on Ning Caichen's door late at night to tempt him, trying to take away his blood to provide for her grandmother. Ning Caichen in the movie did not directly reject Xiao Qian as in the novel. Xiao Qian came to ask for advice with a painting scroll in her hand, so that Ning Caichen forgot about the suspicion of Guatian Lixia. Tenderness is like water, good times are like dreams, and the atmosphere is quite ambiguous. When Ning Caichen was about to fall, moral consciousness occupied the high ground, and he pushed Xiao Qian away. Xiao Qian was shy and annoyed, took the painting and turned around and ran out, running into the night rain.
Ning Caichen here is not an "ancient gentleman" like the novel, but a person with seven passions and six desires. He has a psychological struggle in the face of temptation, which makes the character more real.
Xiao Qian knew that Ning Caichen was different from other men and was a righteous man, so she begged him to save herself from the clutches of her grandmother. In the end, Yan Chixia and Grandma had a vicious fight. Grandma's mana was strong, and Yan Chixia was gradually invincible. At this time, the rooster sang the world white, and all the monsters disappeared. At dawn, Grandma's mana was greatly reduced, and she was killed by Yan Chixia.
Li Hanxiang deleted the plot of Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian's happy marriage after that. At the end of the movie, Ning Caichen took Xiao Qian's remains and left the ancient temple in a carriage. The sound of the car is sparkling, I don't know what to do, and the story ends abruptly. This ending is like a blank space in an ink painting, giving the audience a lot of room for imagination.
Li Hanxiang, born in 1926 in Liaoning, studied at the Beiping Art College, specializing in Western art. He lived in the old society of warlords in his early years. At that time, the politics were chaotic, and the people were not happy. He integrated these personal experiences into the film characters, so that the ordinary scholar Ning Caichen had the feeling of a scholar and doctor who was "humble and did not dare to forget the country". The image of Xiao Qian broke away from the ghost and became a boudoir woman, living in the shadow of the feudal parents all day long. In the end, Ning Caichen took Xiao Qian away from the ancient temple, symbolizing her breaking free from the shackles of the feudal family and running to a new life.
This plot design clearly reflects that after the "May Fourth", literary and artistic young people are eager to break free from the shackles and seek individual liberation and love freedom. In the novel, the relationship between Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian is more of a favor than a love, and Xiao Qian finally married Ning Caichen to a large extent to repay the favor. In Li Hanxiang's film, there is some love between Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian. The two have a similar spiritual world, which can be regarded as a talented woman and a match made in heaven.
It is worth mentioning the classical literary temperament revealed in Li Hanxiang's films. The name of the movie "Qiannu Ghost" should be adapted from the four characters of the yuan dynasty playwright Zheng Guangzu's miscellaneous drama "Qiannu Leaving the Soul". These four words can be said to be quite relevant. The word "Qian" points out Nie Xiaoqian's name, while the word "You" contains two meanings:
"You" has the meaning of "dim and dark", which points out the overall environment of Jinhua Ancient Temple and the eerie atmosphere behind it.
"You" also means "imprisoned, imprisoned", which implies that Xiao Qian's soul is coerced by her grandmother and is not allowed to be free.
In addition, Li Hanxiang also designed the plot of Ning Caichen's inscription poem to Xiao Qian. The poem in the film reads:
Ten Mile Ping Lake is full of green sky, and the jade hairpin secretly regrets the Chinese year.
If you teach the rain cover to look good, only envy the Mandarin duck and not envy the immortals.
This poem was inscribed by Ning Caichen on Xiao Qian's mandarin duck water map, which is also appropriate from the content of the poem. A few poems here clearly show Ning Caichen's love for Xiao Qian, and their role is probably equivalent to Sima Xiangru's "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" played by Zhuo Wenjun.
However, this poem is not original to Li Hanxiang, but is composed of the verses of the ancients.
It is said that the first sentence of the poem is adapted from a poem called "Beth":
Ten miles of long pavilion frost, green silk white hair in what year?
There is no regret in this life and no mistakes in this life, and there are reasons to move in the next life in the next life.
How can a smile be like a flower, and a face like water?
The love is thick and the love is just light, and the Penglai dance is repeated.
The second sentence of the poem has obvious provenance, which is a few poems in Lu Zhaolin's "Chang'an Ancient Meaning" by Lu Zhaolin, one of the "Four Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty":
Borrowing the pipe to the purple smoke, once learned to dance for a long time.
He who has to die is willing to be a Mandarin duck and not envy the immortal.
In the 87th edition of Cheng Xiaodong and Xu Ke's "Ghost of a Lady", the poem was changed to:
Look at each other singlely for the moon, only envy the Mandarin duck and not envy the immortal.
In the 87 version of the movie, these poems are inscribed on the portrait of Xiao Qian before her death, and the portrait of Xiao Qian is only a single shadow, combing her hair alone. Therefore, compared with the poems in Li Hanxiang's films, these poems seem a little cold. However, it is these few poignant poems that appropriately express the mournful feelings between Ning Caichen and Xiao Qian who cannot fall in love because of the special way of people and ghosts.
In general, Li Hanxiang's "Ghost of Qiannu" is borrowed from the wine of the ancients, pouring a block in the chest, borrowing the humor of people and ghosts, and sending a sense of sadness of rise and fall. Due to the use of many classical literary conceptions, the 60th edition of "Ghost of a Lady" can be said to be very exquisite.
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In 1987, Cheng Xiaodong and Xu Ke decided to shoot a new version of "Qiannu Ghost". The film is a substantial adaptation of Li Hanxiang's 60th edition. Cheng Xiaodong and Xu Ke removed the background of the Qing army's entry into the customs, and put the plot into the alternate history of unknown dynasties and generations, completely creating a world of real and illusory people and ghosts.
In the movie, the scholar Ning Caichen is not only depressed, but also can be said to be embarrassed. He did not collect the accounts for people smoothly, there was nowhere to live, and he knew that there were ghosts in Lan Ruo Temple, so he had to go there to take shelter. Ning Caichen, played by Zhang Guorong, has a cute attribute. Ning Caichen here is not a righteous gentleman, nor is he a benevolent person, he is just a simple ordinary person with good intentions. The love between him and the female ghost Xiaoqian is different from the previous two works.
In Pu Songling's novel "Nie Xiaoqian", there is much affection between the two. In Li Hanxiang's film, the two are full of emotion and etiquette, and there is a subtle classical beauty. In the film of Cheng Xiaodong and Xu Ke, after the two have experienced the test of life and death together, they are still in love. This casts a tragic overtone over the film. Pu Songling's novel is intended to break the barrier between humans and ghosts, while the 87th edition of "Ghost of a Lady" focuses on strengthening the special path of human ghosts. The special path of human ghosts actually symbolizes the gathering and dispersion between people. "It is difficult to cross the mountain, who is sad to lose the road; Pingshui meets, all are guests of other places", "Thousands of miles to build a long tent, there is no feast that does not disperse", the world is a guest, and the reunion will eventually part, as the theme song of the movie sings: "A little dreamy wind and rain, the road is vast with people." ”
The 87th edition of "Ghost of a Lady" removes the feelings of home and country and adds to the confusion of people under modern society.
As a scholar, Ning Caichen earned a living by collecting accounts for others, hinting at the impact of the tide of business. People will stop at nothing for their own selfish interests, making society full of disturbances and disputes. This can be seen from some of Yan Chixia's views. Yan Chixia in the movie is cynical, with the meaning of "everyone is drunk and I am awake alone, and everyone is cloudy and I am alone". He was not accustomed to the world's tao, and thought that people's hearts were still inferior to ghosts, so he lived in seclusion in Lan Ruo Temple and accompanied ghosts and monsters.
However, Lan Ruo Temple is still an upside-down mirror image of the human world. Xiao Qian in the movie died at the hands of robbers before she died, and after her death, she was coerced by the tree demon Grandmother. It can be seen that there are evil thoughts in the heart, and there are ghosts and stings everywhere.
Ning Caichen is a different kind of person with good intentions. He used his good thoughts to encourage Xiaoqian to get rid of the dark life, and at the same time, he also stimulated the sense of justice that had been silent in Yan Chixia's heart for a long time. Ning Caichen represents the beautiful vision in the director's heart.
The 87th edition of Ghost of a Woman is a great innovation in the audiovisual language. The scenes in the film are mostly at night, and the overall atmosphere is dark and eerie. Even during the day, it is a scene of gloomy clouds, fading grass and barren poplars, and deserted tombs. In addition, there are many strange plots and images in the movie: hermaphrodite tree demon grandmother, the head of the black old demon under the robe, the ghostly inn when the ghost marries... This visual impact is also one of the reasons for the film's commercial success.
However, the movie also has a little flaw, which is the name of "Lan Ruo Temple". Pu Songling's novel is written like this:
(Ning Caichen) is suitable to go to Jinhua, to Beiguo, and unpack Lan Ruo.
In fact, the word "Lamjo" is a sanskrit transliteration and refers to the monastery itself. Therefore, the three words "Lan Ruo Temple" are repeated. Li Hanxiang understood this, so he did not copy the word "Lan Ruo" in the novel, but changed it to "Jinhua Ancient Temple".
After the 87th edition of "Ghost of a Woman" fire, there were many imitations, sequels and adaptations. However, there is no more than this version. The 2011 version inserts Yan Chixia and Xiao Qian's past life romance, the plot dog blood. 2020's "Ghost of a Woman: Human Love" seems to be made by a small workshop, and it is even more impossible to watch.