The Wooden Man's Bride

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The Wooden Man's Bride ★★ 1994

The inhabitants of this austere 1920s, northwest Chinese community live in stone fortresses, fearful of being attacked by roving armed bandits. Which is what happens to the bridal party of Young Mistress (Lan), who's kidnapped by bandit leader Tang (Mingjun). She's released unharmed when her servant Kui (Shih) impresses Tang with his bravery but her bridegroom has been killed in a freak accident and formidable Madame Liu (Yumei), who runs the fortress, forces her to marry a wooden likeness of the deceased. Despairing Young Mistress begins an affair with Kui, which can only end badly. Mandarin with subtitles. 114m/C VHS, DVD . CH Wang Lan, Chang Shih, Wang Yu-mei, Kao Mingjun; D: Huang Jianxin; W: Yang Zhengguang; C: Zhang Xiaoguang; M: Zhang Dalong.

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