"Green Snake"
1993
Directed by Tsui Hark

Based on an old Chinese fable, this film combines mysticism with romance and climactic battle sequences. Green Snake and Son Ching (Maggie Cheung and Joey Wang) are a pair of snakes who long to be human. Son Ching has been practicing taking human form for 1,000 years and Green Snake for 500 when they are discovered by Fa-Hai, a self-righteous Buddhist monk who finds sin in the snakes' desire to tamper with natural law. In the end, the monk's lack of compassion leads to the destruction of his own ashram and of a nearby town. Cantonese with English subtitles.  102 minutes.