The Other Shoe

Today, we mourn the passing of the Five Days of Hwang Jung-min Films with the director's cut of Painted Skin.

I've watched both the theatrical release and the director's cut, and I didn't notice any great disparity between them. Since there wasn't anything drastically different between the two versions, I'm re-posting my thoughts on the theatrical version of the film. Enjoy.

Painted Skin: Director's Cut
Directed by Gordon Chan, starring Donnie Yen, Vicki Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun, Aloys Chen, and Betty Sun.

While out protecting the innocent and being all around swell guys, General Wang and his troops save a beautiful young woman from a group of bandits. Wang (Chen) promises young Xiao Wei (Zhou) that he will be her protector from now on. Upon their return home, Xiao Wei goes to live with Wang and his wife Peirong (Zhao). While Wang professes his undying loyalty to a suspicious Peirong, Xiao Wei beings stealing the hearts of all the other men in the village. Literally. Wang and his men didn't realize it when the "rescued" her, but Xiao Wei is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing, or, in her case, a demon in human skin.

Not long after the village receives it's inhuman visitor, it recieve's another visitor in the form of the former general, Pang (Yen). Before forcing himself into a life of exile, Pang was general, with Wang his subordinate and closest friend. Unfortunately, the two had a dispute on the field of battle, leading to a rift in their brotherly bond. Being a super badass former general and kung fu expert, Pang is asked to discover the source of evil that has taken the town hostage, and to destroy it.

Armed with disbelief, Pang sets out to stop the foul being only at the behest of the lovely Peirong. This causes the rift between Pang and Wang to deepen, and furthers the distrust between Wang and Peirong, as she believes Xiao Wei to be a demon that has designs on her husband, and Wang is unwilling to admit or believe anything. Even though he is pretty much the best thing ever, former general Pang is aided by evesdropping, self-proclaimed "Demon Buster" Xia Bing (Sun), as he and Peirong risk everything they have to stop the demon before it's too late.

Based on several stories from Pu Songling's Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio, Painted Skin is pretty much awesome. Gordan Chan throws together an odd mix of technique, music and action to make a sloppily fun horror-fantasy-romance-comedy-drama. The acting is superb, and even Yen manages to do more than preen for the camera, giving an engaging and fun performance. Painted Skin is definitely not fine cimena by any means, but it is a terribly entertaining film. In fact, if one were to look for a contemporary film that is more fun than Painted Skin, they'd be hard pressed to find it.


Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on another film I've seen multiple times, Iron Monkey.