Spiritual Love, also known as Ghost Bride or The Phantom Bride is a 1987 Hong Kong fantasy comedy film directed by David Lai and Taylor Wong and starring Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung, Pauline Wong and Deanie Ip.[1]
| Spiritual Love | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Traditional Chinese | 鬼新娘 |
| Simplified Chinese | 鬼新娘 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Guǐ Xīn Niáng |
| Jyutping | Gwai2 San1 Neong4 |
| Directed by | David Lai Taylor Wong |
| Written by | Stephen Siu |
| Produced by | Johnny Mak |
| Starring | Chow Yun-fat Cherie Chung Pauline Wong Deanie Ip |
| Cinematography | Jingle Ma Derek Wan |
| Edited by | A Chik Ma Chung-yiu Chiu Cheuk-man |
| Music by | Joseph Chan |
Production companies | Golden Harvest Johnny Mak Productions |
| Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Box office | HK$22,098,000 |
In the film, a man offers years of his own life to release a female ghost from the afterlife. He proceeds to reject his unfaithful girlfriend, and to start a romantic relationship with the ghost. His former girlfriend kills herself in a failed attempt to reclaim his affection. The girlfriend returns as a vengeful ghost, and the other female ghost has to sacrifice herself in order to rescue her lover.
Plot
editA man named Pu Yung-tsai lives with his cousin who is a student of Feng shui and Maoshan. Yung-tsai buys an antique desk from a second-hand shop and inside is a suicide letter written by a young woman called Wei Hsiao-tieh. Yung-tsai replies to the letter and gives up 3 years of his life, so the woman is able to come back to Earth as a ghost and get away from her forced marriage in the afterlife. When Yung-tsai splits up with his girlfriend, May, because he caught her having an affair, he begins a relationship with Hsiao-tieh. May wants to get back together with Yung-tsai because her rich boyfriend has dumped her and she is pregnant. She stages a fake suicide attempt to win back Yung-tsai but it backfires and she dies.[2]
May then returns as a ghost in a night club and Yung-tsai, his cousin, his cousin's mentor and his friend attempt to get rid of her spirit. She chases them all around the club trying to kill them. Hsiao-tieh makes a deal with her husband to go back to him, if he will save Yung-tsai and his friends. The husband then turns up and consumes May's ghost before returning to his own realm with Hsiao-tieh.[2]
Cast
edit- Chow Yun-fat as Pu Yung-tsai[3]
- Cherie Chung as Wei Hsiao-tieh[3]
- Pauline Wong as May [3]
- Deanie Ip as Sai Chin-hua[3]
- Hon Yee-sang as King Ghost
- Alex Ng as Pu's deaf-mute friend [3]
- Paul Chun as Pu's boss [3]
- Luk Yik-sang
- Luk Ying-hung as policeman
- Yu Kwok-lok as hotel manager
- Fung Yuen-chi as gangster
- Kan Tat-wah as bodyguard
- Fan Wing-wah as thug
- Lee Hang as Taoist
- Hung San-nam as bodyguard
- Jackson Ng as bodyguard
- Tang Chiu-yau as bodyguard
- Wong Wai-fai as bodyguard
Accolades
edit| Accolades | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
| 8th Hong Kong Film Awards[4][5] | Best Supporting Actress | Deanie Ip | Nominated |
Home Media
editVHS
edit| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Language | Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 August 2001 | United States | Unknown | Tai Seng Entertainment | NTSC | Cantonese | English | [6] |
VCD
edit| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Language | Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Hong Kong | N/A | Deltamac (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese, Mandarin | English, Chinese | 2VCDs | [7] |
| 12 July 2005 | Hong Kong | N/A | Universe Laser (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese, Mandarin | English, Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs | [8] |
| 1 June 2006 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales(HK) | NTSC | Cantonese, Mandarin | English, Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs | [9] |
DVD
edit| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Region |
Language |
Sound |
Subtitles |
Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2000 | Hong Kong | N/A | Universe Laser (HK) | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese, Mandarin | Unknown | English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French | [10] | |
| 24 March 2000 | Japan | N/A | Pioneer LDC | NTSC | 2 | Cantonese | Unknown | English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese | [11] | |
| 17 July 2001 | United States | N/A | Tai Seng | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese | Dolby | English | [12] | |
| 13 July 2003 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales (HK) | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese, Mandarin | Dolby Digital 2.0 | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | [13] |
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Gui xin niang (1987)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ a b Plot "Plot Summary for Gui xin niang (1987)". imdb.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f List of cast "Gui xin niang (1987)". imdb.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Hong Kong Cinemagic - Spiritual Love". hkcinemagic.com. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ "Awards for Gui xin niang (1987)". imdb.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love [VHS]". Amazon. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "VCD Spiritual Love Deltamac". cinemasie.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love (VCD) (Universe Version) (Hong Kong Version) VCD". yesasia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love (VCD) (Hong Kong Version) VCD". yesasia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love DVD Region All". yesasia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Phantom Bride (Japan Version) DVD Region 2". yesasia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love (1987)". Amazon. 17 July 2001. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Spiritual Love (DVD) (Joy Sales Version) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All". yesasia.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.