Summary
In the bustling cinematic landscape of 1926 Shanghai, Runme Shaw and the Tianyi Film Company took a gamble on the ancient. Bai she zhuan reimagines the 'Legend of the White Snake' not as a dusty scroll, but as a flickering silent spectacle. The story follows Bai Suzhen, a powerful snake spirit who assumes human form to experience the complexities of mortal love. She finds her match in the humble physician Xu Xian, but their domestic bliss is short-lived. Enter Fahai, a rigid Buddhist monk who views their union as an abomination against the natural order. What follows is a clash of supernatural forces and human desire, culminating in the legendary flooding of the Jinshan Temple and the tragic imprisonment of the heroine beneath the Leifeng Pagoda. It is a story of transformation, the weight of tradition, and the high price of crossing the boundary between the spirit world and the human heart.
The first silent adaptation of the Chinese legend of the White Snake. The film is considered lost.
