Painted Skin (DVD) (2008) (Korea Version) DVD Region 3

The film begins as a young maiden called Xiaowei (Mainland actress Zhou Xun, recently in Perhaps Love) is rescued from a vicious band of desert bandits by Wang Sheng (Aloys Chen, Playboy Cops), who takes her home with him. This immediately sets in motion all manner of romantic complications, with Wang's wife Peirong (Vicki Zhao, who also had box office success in 2008 with John Woo's Red Cliff) correctly sensing that the innocent seeming newcomer has her eyes set on her husband. What she doesn't realise is that Xiaowei is actually a demon hiding behind a mask of human skin, who wants Wang's heart in the worst possible way. The beast is aided, albeit in rather roundabout fashion, by a murderous sidekick (Qi Yu Wu) who causes havoc and sets about decimating the local populace. Thankfully, help arrives in the form of Yong (played by top martial arts star Donnie Yen), Wang's brother and ex-rival for heart of Peirong, who teams up with a young female demon buster called Xia Bing (Betty Sun, Fearless) to try and put a stop to the evil, though increasingly sentimental creature's schemes.

Despite the potentially grim subject matter, Painted Skin is generally light hearted, and doesn't take itself too seriously - which is probably for the best. The mood does tend to shift, dancing around between comedy, drama, horror and melodramatic romance. As a result the film resembles the kind of human-demon romantic fantasies so common in Hong Kong after the success of A Chinese Ghost Story bringing back memories of Demoness from Thousand Years, Fox Legend, and a host of other early 1990s classics starring Joey Wang. This does give the film a pleasingly old school feel, though of course thanks to its budget it is able to go much further than these earlier and inevitably cruder efforts in terms of scope and scale. This is particularly obvious during the frequent action scenes, which include both epic battles and high flying duels, thrown in frequently by Chan whenever things threaten to slow down. The choreography is well handled, and most of these are exciting, with Donnie Yen and Betty Sun being given a number of opportunities to show off his considerable skills.

Whereas a number of other recent Chinese costume epics have fallen short thanks to shoddy production values or less than special effects, Painted Skin is a handsome affair which benefits from some gorgeous visuals and convincing sets. Even the computer effects work quite well and in a rare show of restraint are used sparingly for maximum impact. When finally revealed, the skin shedding and demon make up are imaginative and gruesome, and are all the better for their limited screen time. All of this helps Chan to focus on the human elements of the story, and although the film is certainly of the fantasy genre, it clearly has character drama aspirations.

Perhaps surprisingly, the film also succeeds well enough on this level, mainly since Chan does spend a lot of time attempting to flesh out his characters and to weave a complex web of love triangles, repressed yearnings and ambiguous motivations. Whilst not particularly deep, and occasionally stretching belief, the film is genuinely moving in places, especially as it heads towards its inevitably tragic finale. The characters are all likeable, with the demonic Xiaowei emerging as the most interesting as she goes on her personal journey from heart eater to doe eyed lover. The extra scenes present in the Director's Cut go some way to helping achieve this, adding a few more layers of character motivation without slowing things down unnecessarily.

Chan directs in his usual modern commercial style, and as such the film is a mixture of epic vistas and visual trickery, with flashy editing during the action scenes and lots of slow motion. Whilst some of his flourishes are rather needless, and are occasionally at odds with the period setting, they don't really detract from the film, and the proceedings move along at a reasonably brisk pace. The odd soundtrack is worth mentioning, as it staggers around from amusingly grandiose and overblown to weirdly electronic, often adding a touch of unintentional amusement to otherwise dramatic scenes.

This of course fits well enough with the overall tone, and Painted Skin makes for fun and entertainingly unpretentious viewing. Whilst it may well be a strange choice for Hong Kong's Oscar nominee, it stands as one of the better big budget costume epics of the last few years, especially for fans of the old fashioned and long-missed fantasy genre. The Director's Cut edition is certainly worthwhile, with the extra footage adding some welcome character development and helping to bring to life the film's emotional core.

by James Mudge - BeyondHollywood.com

Painted Skin is based on the oft-adapted Strange Tales of Liaozhai by Pu Songling, a massive collection of Ancient Chinese stories, many covering supernatural subjects. The stories of Liaozhai have inspired countless television dramas and films, including the Chinese Ghost Story movies and the original King Hu Painted Skin, which featured Joey Wong as an immortal demon who stays young by feasting on human hearts. In her downtime she removes her skin and touches up her looks with paint to get that required "almost human" feel - hence the film's title.

Gordon Chan's version of Painted Skin features the same character as the King Hu original, but replaces Joey Wong with Zhou Xun - who is arguably not as beautiful as Wong, but is likely the better actor. Zhou is Xiaowei, an immortal demon who consumes human hearts to stay young and has a shinier, more advanced CGI skin than Joey Wong's lumpy plastic one. She also engages in some minor skin-flashing and is much more openly alluring than Wong's famously ethereal image. As Painted Skin's resident evil temptress, Zhou Xun is a fine and even inspired casting choice.

Despite her supernatural existence, Xiaowei has a human flaw: she's in love. The object of Xiaowei's non-gastric desires is Wang Sheng (Aloys Chen), a righteous and damn good-looking commander in the local military. In the film's opening, Wang Sheng saves Xiaowei - who he takes to be a damsel in distress and not the predator that she really is - from a group of bandits, and she's immediately smitten with her gorgeous savior. Xiaowei accepts shelter into Wang Sheng's home, where she lives with his wife Peirong (Vicki Zhao) and the other soldiers, many of whom have crushes on her. Wang Sheng is aware of Xiaowei's charms too; he occasionally has erotic dreams about her, and finds himself watching her as she small-foots her way around the estate.

Peirong is not oblivious to this undesirable family dynamic, but Wang Sheng is seemingly true to her, and everyone seems to co-exist in a superficially friendly manner. However, the household is shaken up by the return of Yong (Donnie Yen), Wang Sheng's previous commander and a supreme martial arts badass. Yong once had a thing going on with Peirong, and Wang Sheng is all-too-aware of their prior relationship. Making matters worse, a demonic serial killer (Singapore actor Qi Yuwu) is running around town tearing out people's hearts. Between the unresolved romantic tensions and the rampant heart-stealing, it's safe to say that there's tension in the air, and Wang Sheng and his men are right in the thick of both cases.

Peirong, however, thinks that the murders are related to Xiaowei. She has reason to believe that Xiaowei is actually a demon in disguise, and believes her to be responsible if not an accessory to the heart-nabbings. As everyone and her husband is understandably charmed by Xiaowei, Peirong can only turn to old flame Yong for assistance. Yong is skeptical, but is aided in his supernatural assignment by "Demon Buster" Xia-Bing (Betty Sun of Fearless). Xia-Bing possesses the naughty-looking "Demon Rod", which supposedly can slay demons if wielded by the right person. However, the majority disbelieves Peirong's accusations and Xiaowei uses that to her advantage, deflecting suspicion off herself easily. Ultimately, Xiaowei and Peirong enter into a showdown of wills, with the prize being Wang Sheng's heart - in the figurative sense, that is.

The biggest immediate plus in Painted Skin is the cast. Zhou Xun owns the screen with her seductive, thoroughly enchanting turn as an evil demon who learns a few tough lessons about love. Vicki Zhao is also quite good, and has to shoulder arguably the more difficult role. Peirong is a character that needs to earn the audience's sympathy, and Zhao carries the part with dignity and felt emotion. Aloys Chen is solid, but probably upstaged by his good looks (really, he may be the most beautiful person in the film), while Betty Sun likeably recalls the tomboyish female sidekicks essayed by Fennie Yuen or Michelle Reis in martial arts movies of years past. Donnie Yen is Donnie Yen, take him or leave him. In the film, Yen mixes dopey characterization with overdone facial expressions and more than a few bizarre outbursts, and the performance is remarkably amusing, if not appropriate. It's hard to take Yen seriously, which is fine, because it seems most of his performances nowadays fall into that category. That’s what makes him Donnie Yen™.

But Donnie Yen is around for more than just unintentional laughs. He's also around for the action, which is fast and heavy on the wirework, and entertaining enough in its sporadic doses. There's also an abundance of undercranking - though not during fights but during chases, establishing shots and at other odd times. Odd timing seems to be Painted Skin's thing. Besides the action being messier and sillier than usual, the film serves up a strange and sometimes goofy soundtrack that proves distracting. The editing and camerawork are self-conscious and stylized, with odd pacing, abundant montage, off-kilter angles, and fast camera movement used to convey action, excitement, or more. The techniques do provide a welcome energy to the film, though they also make it seem a little sloppy and cheap.

The film is also sometimes slow, especially during the endless scenes where people debate whether or not Xiaowei is a demon, or whether or not Wang Sheng has the hots for Xiaowei. Despite being a costume horror-fantasy, Painted Skin serves up a lot of double-edged intrigue, not to mention the required overwrought romance, and not all of it is riveting or successful. Gordon Chan lays on the romance especially thick, going for lots of teary emoting and overwrought expressions. The sheer over-the-top romanticism works, however, and the characters do get to act on their feelings from time to time. Characters make felt sacrifices based on their emotions, and while the romance is sometimes laughable in its goopy sentimentality, the filmmakers serve it up in such an over-the-top manner that it can't help but affect.

Overall, Painted Skin feels fake, from the technique, to the acting, to the production design and cinematography. The resulting film feels over over-the-top and messy rather than consistent. If one walks in expecting a reverent, elegant update of the Hong Kong horror-fantasy genre, they'd be disappointed. Frankly, any elegant attempt at this genre could prove disappointing, anyway; does anyone really want to see the horror-fantasy version of The Banquet? Hopefully, that thought entered the minds of the filmmakers, resulting in this uneven mixture of a movie that actually benefits if the audience doesn't take it too seriously. Freed of the requirements of consistency, realism, or restraint, the movie turns out to be much more fun than expected.

The downside to all this craziness is that Painted Skin can polarize its audience. Some people may laugh in enjoyment, others may cry from the overwrought emotions, and others may become annoyed at the messy filmmaking or Donnie Yen's overacting. Really, it's hard to say any of those people are right or wrong, because this is commercial filmmaking that mixes so many genres and emotions that it would probably be impossible to please everyone. Painted Skin can be easily assailed for being messy and uneven, but its mishmash of action, horror, romance, comedy, and chaste eroticism is undeniably diverting. The mixture here is not unlike many enjoyable films from Hong Kong Cinema's early nineties heyday, which foisted so many emotions breathlessly upon the audience that their choice was to either get in or out with what they were seeing. Well, this time I'm in. Painted Skin is not A Chinese Ghost Story, but it feels cut from the same cloth, and that's a welcome thing indeed.

by Kozo - LoveHKFilm.com