ATTACK OF THE JOYFUL GODDESS
(撞鬼)
dir. Chang Cheh, 1983
Hong Kong/Taiwan. 88 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.

FRIDAY, MAY 3 – 5 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 7 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 12 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 24 – MIDNIGHT

A troupe of traveling opera performers stops over in a small town where their lead actress catches the attention of a local military commander. Betrothed to another member of the troupe, she rebuffs his advances, putting the rest of the group in the precarious position of having to decide whether their collaborator’s life is worth the price of the military’s ire. All the while, the troupe is unaware that supernatural forces at hand have other designs on the group.

The first film released under the newly founded Chang He Film Co., JOYFUL GODDESS remains one of the best translations of traditional Chinese opera forms and themes to film. Ironically, the fact that the film was shot on a fraction of the budget of one of Chang’s Shaw releases works largely to the film’s benefit, with the minimal set design, live lighting cues, and use of simple theatrical effects recalling the experience of viewing an actual stage production. But even if traditional Chinese opera isn’t your thing (which it probably isn’t), you can rest assured knowing the film also boasts some incredible fight choreography courtesy of Lu and Chiang (also credited as the film’s co-directors), plus a finale so insanely out-of-pocket that it can only rightly be described as HAUSU by way of Cirque du Soleil.