White Snake: Origin (白蛇:缘起) is the fourth feature released by Light Chaser Animation. In a departure for the studio, it is a wuxia romance conceived as a prequel to the famous story Legend of the White Snake. Directed by first time directors Amp Wong and Zhao Ji, it grossed $67 million on a $12 million budget and has positive reviews on douban. I’ll give more context about the film and my review below.

About Legend of the White Snake

Legend of the White Snake is considered one of China’s Four Great Folktales. It tells the story of Bai Suzhen, a white snake who transforms into a woman and falls in love with a man named Xu Xian. Classically there is also a character named Fahai who attempts to separate them and there is a character named Xiaoqing, the green snake, who acts as a best friend and little sister figure to the white snake.

Synopsis of White Snake: Origin

White Snake: Origin begins some time before the events of Legend of the White Snake. Xiao Bai (the white snake) is meditating in a cave, a process that can be used in Chinese mythology to achieve a higher level of being. Xiao Bai was originally a snake, then she mastered the human form, and now she is meditating to become an immortal. However, she keeps failing. One day, she discovers that a sealed memory is blocking her progress. Xiao Qing (the green snake) hands her a hairpin that contains the key to unlocking said memory. We are then transported into Xiao Bai’s memories and we learn about the circumstances of her meeting with a man named Ah Xuan 500 years prior (around the Tang dynasty era).

In the flashback, Xiao Bai is part of a clan of snake demons, ie. snakes who have achieved various degrees of human form. She is sent by the snake mother to assassinate a man called the Guo Shi, but she fails and is knocked unconscious. She wakes up in a village of snake catchers, but she has amnesia so she doesn’t remember that she is a snake demon. She meets Ah Xuan, a young man who offers to help her regain her memories. Together, they travel to a magic shop near Yongzhou, but along the way, Xiao Bai discovers that she is a snake demon. It is eventually revealed that the Guo Shi was coercing the villagers into catching snakes so that he could steal the powers of the snake demons clan.

Review – Animation

The environment design is absolutely gorgeous. The snake catchers’ village seems to have been inspired by the Wulingyuan Scenic Area in Hunan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site notable for its 200-meter-high rock pillars and its beautiful ravines, waterfalls, caves and bridges. The film is clad in lovely fall colors. There’s a spectacular scene where they hike on a cliff covered in red bushes, another where they fly through clouds of white dandelions, and another where they stroll through a gingko forest of yellow trees. The film also portrays the city of Yongzhou, which the characters access by a boat ride. Both the scenery on the river and the view from the Yongzhou pagoda are stunning.

There are a lot of neat visual effects in the fight scenes. Xiao Bai moves like in kung fu films, soaring through the air like an actress in a wired harness. The Guo Shi and his disciple use birds – possibly a reference to the rivalry between snakes and cranes in kung fu. In the final battle, the snake mother conjures a giant snake made of light and the Guo Shi conjures a giant bird made of smaller paper birds, all while he’s propping up soul-sealing prayer wheels that fuel a frozen vortex. The battle lasts about 30 minutes and never gets boring. The snakes and the Guo Shi keep one-upping each other’s tricks. My only complaint is that some of the extra soldiers look hastily animated.

Character animation is indeed the most uneven aspect of the animation. Sometimes the faces look cheap and expressionless like in a video game. At other times they look much better. Xiao Bai’s face looks the best when she’s trapped in the snow vortex. You can really see her acting out the emotion there. I also love the animation of the dog. His body language is like a barometer: scared, mistrustful, protective, heartbroken. The shop owner is also very well animated. Her unsettling sensual vibes make her seem eccentric and unpredictable. I also liked the character designs of Ah Xuan, who looks like a handsome prince, the boatman, who looks quite unique, and Xiao Bai’s full snake form, which is beautiful.

Review – Story

The story is charming. Ah Xuan comes off as a genuinely attractive guy. He stops to feed a squirrel, treats his dog kindly, brings back toys for the children. The moments where he flies with the umbrella or where he sings on the boat are fully romantic. Despite some jarring tonal shifts, like intimate moments leading directly into attacks, the connection between the two leads grows quite naturally through their conversations. Xiao Bai initially struggles with having no identity, then she learns of her demonic nature, and finally she learns that humans hate demons. She recognizes Ah Xuan’s goodness as he selflessly helps her, accepts her as a demon, and chooses to be with her at any costs.

The film is also full of lore and Easter eggs. For instance, Ah Xuan collects medicinal plants, likely a reference to Xu Xian’s occupation as an herborist in Legend of the White Snake. Also, Xiao Bai winces at the mention of realgar wine, likely since realgar wine is used to expose her in Legend of the White Snake. Umbrellas are also a significant motif in the original folktale. Another fun detail is that Ah Xuan’s dog and Xu Xian’s brother-in-law are voiced by the same actor, implying that Ah Xuan and his dog were reincarnated together in their next life. In addition, the movie pays tribute to various live-action adaptations of the legend. For instance, the bathing scene recalls a scene from the movie Green Snake.

As for the negatives, I would say that the villains don’t have much personality. They are just evil people with showy powers. We know that they are fighting because the Guo Shi wants to steal the powers of the snakes and vice-versa, but that’s a bit shallow. I feel like we need Snake Mother: Origin and Guo Shi: Origin. I also feel like there’s a minor plot hole when it comes to Xiao Bai’s amnesia. Why did she wake up thinking she’s a human? If she lost her memories, wouldn’t she wake up with the instinct of a snake rather than that of a human? Also, Ah Xuan and Xiao Bai were oddly heartless when the boatman died. He gets ejected from the boat and they don’t even try to retrieve him?

Review – Music

I have to add that this film has incredible music. Both the score and the theme songs complement the story really well. The orchestral score gets funny, cheerful, mysterious, tense, dramatic. It’s great and fitting. Then there are a couple of songs integrated in the movie. The first is the song that Ah Xuan sings on the boat. The song is called “Why ask” (何须问) and contains old poem verses. The actor singing it has a lovely voice. The other musical moment that stood out to me was the epilogue on the bridge. The song playing is “Past and Present” (前世今生). It has a soft choir chant that fits the emotion of the scene perfectly. I love the scene on the bridge so much. Everything about it is beautiful.

Conclusion

In the end, this is the story of how the white snake met her fated lover, but lost him too soon, which explains why she marries him 500 years later in Legend of the White Snake. This film creates a ton of memorable scenes: the cave, the umbrella, the boat ride, the pagoda, the epic battle, the bridge, anything involving the shop owner. I feel like this movie will get even better on re-watch thanks to the details. 🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

About a potential sequel

Since this film is a prequel to Legend of the White Snake, I wonder if the sequel will show the legend itself. I’d love to see Fahai, the trip to Mount Emei and the battle at Jinshan Temple, but since they’ve established that the white snake can live for centuries and that Ah Xuan/Xu Xian gets reincarnated, it’s possible that the two could meet again at any given point in time and have new adventures.

A few Chinese words

白蛇 = Bái shé= White snake

缘起 = Yuán qi = Origin

妖 = Yāo = Monster/demon

小青 = Xiao qīng = Little green/cyan

国师 = Guó shī = National division/teacher, a religious leader

珠钗 = Zhū chāi = Hairpin/ornament

你不是恶人 = Ni bù shì è rén = You are not an evil person

只此浮生是梦中 = Zhi ci fúshēng shì mèng zhōng = This floating life is but a dream

等我 = Deng wo = Wait for me