White Haired Witch (on Netflix)

The heroine is played by Fan Bingbing.  That’s just one of many things you need to know to appreciate this movie.

The second thing you need to know is that it’s stunningly beautiful.  But I may be partial as I’ve always loved mythic, magical Asian cinema.  This one is Chinese, and there’s a lot of beautifully traditional Chinese symbolism throughout.  No, it’s not a traditional ‘witch movie’ as such, but it does have witch in the name, and that was my criteria.

This movie is about Jade Rakshaha ne Lian Nishang, a kind of Chinese Robin Hood, that fights the powers of the evil emperor to free the people of hunger and oppression.  She falls in love with Zhuo Yihang, and betrayal happens.  There’s a beautiful secret lair, sexy times, battles, etc.  I recommend it, even with the unhappy ending.

Takeaways:  I was a little bummed out by the horse stunts where it looks like they really got hurt.  China isn’t known for caring much about animal welfare.  I couldn’t find any information on that, but I did find that this movie got really terrible ratings with both Chinese and international critics.  Why?  Also, pretty.  Just lots of pretty.

I give this one 7 out of 10 broomsticks.  It’s not ‘witchy’ per se, but it’s solid.  Enjoy!