The White Snake Saga - a love story of an ancient fable/legend

Unlike some versions of the fable/legend, this is a love story version of the white snake saga. The white snake character is not a succubus demon who seduces a man; the white snake spirit is obsessed with love and it violates Dharma. She is a sympathetic and noble character. Likewise the head monk Fahai is the antagonist, but he acts out of duty and not out of malice.

Background of the White Snake love story

The story is set in ancient China, against a backdrop of Buddhist philosophy, including reincarnation. The opening scene zooms into Leifeng Pagoda, in which stands Bai Suzhen, a snake spirit imprisoned for her disobedience of Dharma, the order of the universe. Her offense was to cross the boundary between the spirit world and the human world, driven by a love for Xu Xian, a man who had performed a simple act of kindness toward her in a previous life. Centuries before, he had noticed her, a small white snake on the ground with a hawk overhead, seeking her as prey. Responding to that danger, he carefully cradled her in a lotus flower and then released her into a nearby stream, thus rescuing her from the hawk. At that moment, she began to love him. For the following 1,000 years, she meditated and cultivated herself seeking perfection as a path to reunite with the young man. In the course of her of development, she acquired magical power over air and water, and also the ability to change her appearance into that of a human. Meanwhile, Xu Xian had reincarnated and forgotten their meeting in his past life.

From the opening scene, the film proceeds as a “flashback.” As the action begins, Bai Suzhen is accompanied by Xiaoqing, a younger snake spirit who is impetuous. They have both assumed human form to find Xu Xian and reunite with him. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing find Xu Xian on the shore of West Lake on Broken Bridge, and love is kindled between the immortal snake spirit and the mortal human man. They subsequently marry and build a life together, and Bai Suzhen becomes pregnant.

However, their union violates Dharma because the spirit and human realms should remain separate. A Buddhist monk named Fahai senses that Dharma has suffered disturbance, and he is compelled to sever the union because of the disastrous consequences of allowing the union to persist. Fahai confronts Bai Suzhen and later Xu Xian, which generates the dramatic conflict and eventuates in an epic battle between the two snake spirits and the Buddhist monks led by abbot Fahai. This Buddhist sect practices repeatedly speaking a name of Buddha, pronounced in film “Emítuófó” but shown in subtitles as “Amitabha.”

During the Dragon Boat festival, it was customary to drink a special wine fortified with a compound called “realgar” to protect against evil spirits. Xu Xian wants to show appreciation for his wife by joining her in a toast of realgar wine, but he does not realize that the wine is toxic to Bai Suzhen. Even the smell of realgar wine in the marketplace causes Xiaoqing to feel dizzy. Despite knowing that the wine will cause her internal injury, Bai Suzhen joins Xu Xian in the toast because of her love for Xu Xian. In that moment, she also reveals to him that she is pregnant with his child. Overjoyed, he offers another toast, and another.

The toxic effect of the realgar wine causes Bai Suzhen to fall ill. She excuses herself to their bedroom, where the wine causes her to revert to her snake form. Xu Xian brings a bowl of nutritious soup for Bai Suzhen, but finds a snake in the bed where his wife should be. In shock, he falls dead. Xiaoqing arrives and Bai Suzhen decides to travel a far distance to Mount Emei in search of an herb (shown as a mushroom) of immortality to revive Xu Xian. There she battles two immortal guardians, and is eventually allowed to return to Xu Xian with the herb. She and Xiaoqing feed the herb to Xu Xian, who recovers his life and health but remembers the events as only a dream.

Because Bai Suzhen refuses to leave her husband and return to the spirit world in the forest, Fahai confronts Xu Xian and persuades him that he must leave Bai Suzhen and join the Buddhist monks in meditation at Jinshan Temple to strengthen his resolve. Bai Suzhen’s struggle to release her husband leads to battle Fahai and the monks, culminating in her summoning the power of air and water to flood the temple. Fahai responds with his own magic, defeating Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing.

Subsequently, Xu Xian realizes that he had betrayed his wife, and he escapes from the temple to find her. They are reunited briefly, because Dharma intervenes to separate them again . Dharma, however, is not without mercy. Bai Suzhen sentenced to 1,000 years of imprisonment in Leifeng Pagoda, but she is allowed to retain her human form and deliver her baby, who is released to be raised by his father. Xu Xian, pledges eternal loyalty to Bai Suzhen, and to wait at the shore of West Lake through successive reincarnated lives for her eventual release.

Studio Movie Grill (SMG) - 410 S. Myrtle Ave, Monrovia CA https://goo.gl/maps/v1ubbGFwzZr1JqDQ8

Movie website:

Snake-White.com

Screening dates:

Monday Feb 10 and Tuesday Feb 11. More dates may be available please check website for details

Tickets are available online or at the box office.