The Bride with White Hair

In an age of warring clans, Zhuo Yihang, raised on the righteous side, and the deadliest fighter of the other side fall in love. Both are ready to break from their own people. When suspicion of betrayal comes between them, her hair turns white overnight. Ronny Yu directed. Brigitte Lin plays her, Leslie Cheung plays Zhuo. The source is Liang Yusheng's wuxia novel. The film turns the usual template of the genre into romance. There are fights, but at the centre is the collapse of trust between two people. The visual world is built on a soundstage: fog, red fabric, candlelight, almost no daylight. The artifice is deliberate and carries the fable-like tone. The villain is a single body made of a man and a woman joined back to back, one of the most memorable designs in nineties Hong Kong fantasy. Leslie Cheung's presence gave the film a different weight in retrospect. Who it is for: viewers who like wuxia and stylised romantic tragedy. Who it is not for: anyone wanting realistic combat; all of it rests on wires and editing.