The Romance of the White Hair Maiden

I walked into one of my favourite sources for tvb and other martial arts series and bought the last copy of Romance of the White Haired Maiden. The proprietress informed us that this series remains one of the top sellers even if it is from 1995. I have always enjoyed watching this one for Ada Chois performance in the title role.
I am surprised no one has reviewed this series since it was so seminal and influential on how subsequent tvb series were produced. Furthermore, for those who saw the Seven Swordsmen series, they will remember that Choi played Fei Hongjin, the disciple of Yu Luo Cha. For those who want to follow the drama on the progression of character, they will never be disappointed with Chois performance in either series. In the title role, Choi understandably commands every scene she is in. However, she does have an excellent supporting cast from Timmy Ho as Zhou Yi Hang, Joe Ma as the emperor, the great character actor, Wong Wai is excellent as Wei Zhongxian and Jason Pai as Tie Fei Long. I have yet to see a better performance by anyone as the Wong Wai as the arch villain, Wei Zhongxian. The legendary 'venom'�, Lo Mang is also appropriately cast in this series as Huo Tiandu, Yue Mingkes (Gary Chan) shifu.

The Story:
The setting is takes place near the beginning of the decline of the Ming dynasty. The Qing forces from Manchuria are slowly gaining control over the empire thanks to traitors within the Ming imperial realm. The story begins with a focus on Zhou Yi Hang (Timmy Ho) which follows closely along with the novel. Huo Tiandu is besieged by the anti-Ming forces but in true stalwart fashion, with an incredible display of martial arts prowess, Huo Tiandu stands his ground and ensures that his martial knowledge is bestowed on Yue Mingke. We are then introduced to many of the major characters that will figure at significant moments in our story. Wei Zhongxian is the master strategist of evil as he begins to consolidate his power within the imperial realm. Joe Ma is good as Zhu Chang Luo, the emperor, but he portrays him here as an intelligent ruler yet one who has already been weakened by Wei Chongxians manipulative machinations. The immoral morass of corruption is conveyed by Wei Chongxian both in this series and in Liang Yushengs novel. The most touching scenes are in the first episodes when Yu Luo Cha (Ada Choi) meets Zhou Yi Hang for the first time in the cave. Their scenes together are by far among the best for martial arts series. When Yu Luo Cha bites Yi Hangs lower lip in their impassioned kiss, Choi perfectly captures the rugged and wild persona of Yu Luo Cha.

Yu Luo Cha was raised on the milk of wolves after her parents were killed by pro-Qing forces. Then she was discovered by her shifu and trained in a unique brand of swordsmanship. Her brand of martial arts was wild and unruly. The style of dress that Choi wears for most of the series before she transforms into the white-haired demoness conveys this image of her. The complexity of her emotions and love for Zhou Yi Hang is captured well. I could also not help but notice the influence of the Bride with White Hair movie on this series. Unlike the novel, the movie focused on the love between Zhou Yi Hang and Yu Luo Cha. The TV series does this also but not at the expense of the story and plot. For dramatic purposes, the love relationship is what matters but for the sake of the story, plot and the general flow of events, the evil conniving of the eunuch, Wei Zhongxian and Yi Hang and Yi Hangs complex relationship with his Wu Dang masters is what holds the series together.
The best scenes are the scenes between Yi Hang and Yu Luo Cha. In particular their initial meeting and falling in love at first sight and the tragic circumstance on Mount Wu Dang that led to their major confrontation (many martial art story fans know the event so I hesitate to give too much away for this scene). The expression of both actors was both well directed and beautifully acted. Yue Mingke (Gary Chan) is another lead protagonist whose character is well-developed in this series. Both in the novel and in the series, I was hoping that Yue Mingke and Yu Luo Cha would get together and at times one does notice a good chemistry between Yu Luo Cha and Mingke but the beauty of human relationships is that seemingly opposite personalities seem to find themselves together and both in this series and in the novel by Liang Yusheng this fact is wonderfully demonstrated.

For good cinematography, excellent martial arts choreography, great acting and an excellent story adaptation (20 episodes), this series deserves ***** stars.