i first saw this film when it be transmit around 1988 by the bbc when i be work on uk 2000ad . my pal steve parkhouse record it on vhs and send it to me . up till this point and i would really only see the shaw bros kung fu movie and with their harsh lighting ( so audience could see the move clearly ) and so it be a revelation to me to see something that look like it have be light by ridley scott come out of hong kong . this be also my first exposure to the movie of tsui hark ( pronounce and apparently and choy huk ) . yet for all the smoky and back lit exterior and ambitious special effect ( stop motion . in a hong kong movie . ) at the heart of chinese ghost story lie a simple and move love story and make all the more real by the outstanding acting talent of leslie cheung ( what a tragic and tragic waste of a life . ) and the beauty and elegance of joey wong . grant joey be gorgeous and but it her balletic hand gesture that give her character an unattainable eroticism that hard to analyse . and though joey be now almost 20 year old ( gawd and which of u isn not . ) this will always be the enduring image of that actress . some reviewer here have say that the film be simplistic and lack any surprise and but theyre miss the fact that this movie be base on a famous chinese story write by pu songling around 1700. that a bit like complain that romeo and juliet have a predictable end and just copy west side story . ( just want to get that off my chest . ) for me and chinese ghost story be the quintessential romantic tale . it have high tragedy and because we know that chio sin and sin see can never be together . it about become mature and for none of u can mature until we have experience great loss . it about sacrifice and for sacrifice be an essential component of true love . and the comedy stylings of wu ma do not hurt a bit and either . enjoy chinese ghost story by try not to view it through a filter of western culture and you will get on with it just fine .