Madam White Snake (1960)

Madam White Snake (1960) AKA: Legend of the White Snake Korean Title: 백사부인 Translation: Mrs. White

Starring: Choi Eun-hee, Shin Seong-il, Han Eun-jin, Choi Sam, Go Seon-ae, Ok Gyeong-hui, Lee Yeong, Choe Chan-sik, Chu Bong, Kim Ho-yeon, Park Byeong-gi

Director: Shin Sang-ok

This South Korean production was sandwiched in between the 1956 Toho-Shaw Brothers co-production Madame White Snake and the 1962 Shaw-only production, imaginatively titled Madame White Snake. Though not in its infancy per se, South Korean cinema at the time didn’t quite have the sort of budget that Toho and the Shaws had for an opulent production like the two aforementioned films, so this was filmed in black and white with little room for elaborate sets (or special effects, which are quite primitive). But it has a little bit of charm, thanks to actress Choi Eun-hee.

Young pharmacist Heo Seon (Shin Seong-il, whose IMDB page lists over 400 acting credits, including Ernie and Master Kim, which I simply must see) is on a boat returning from a trip to pick up some herbs in another town. A beautiful young woman, Ms. Baek (Choi Eun-hee, who was married to the director), spies the young man and immediately falls in love. When it starts raining, she and her servant, Cheong-han (Ok Gyeong-hui), head to the shore and ask the boatman to pick them up. Heo Seon helps them onto the boat and the young man is polite enough to warrant the woman’s infatuation. He cements it further by lending them his umbrella when they reach the village, allowing himself to return home soaking wet.

Heo Seon lives with his sister (Han Eun-jin) and her husband, who runs the pharmacy. He heads over to Ms. Baek’s house the next day to fetch his umbrella. It should be a red flag that despite Cheong-han’s telling him that all he needs to do is ask the neighbors about Ms. Baek’s house, nobody knows what he’s talking about. He eventually finds her place and Cheong-han invites him in. He just wants to get his umbrella is bolt, but a sexy dance (modest by today’s standards) by Ms. Baek is enough to keep him interested in staying. She informs him that she is a widow and is lonely and wouldn’t mind marrying him. He falls for her charms and spends the night in her home. And to allay his fears about his being a poor pharmacist, she gives him a sack full of silver coins.

Unfortunately for Heo Seon, Ms. Baek isn’t simply able to conjure money out of nothing: it has to come from somewhere. In this case, it comes from the town treasury. And when Heo Seon uses the money to make a purchase, the local merchants suspect that he is the thief. The local police show up and arrest him, his sister, and his brother-in-law. They try to torture Heo Seon into revealing who gave him the money and he refuses to tell them who his lady friend is or where she lives, taking the blame for himself. He eventually does cave and takes the police to her home, which his now a run-down ghost house. When Ms. Baek is confronted, she simply vanishes into thin air. 

However, instead of letting Heo Seon off on the “he was ignorantly bewitched by a spirit” clause in Korean law, he gets shipped upstream for three years of hard labor. When Ms. Baek finds out what has happened to him, she goes to the jailor and convinces him to let Heo Seon go early. He is initially stand-offish with her, but he eases up when he finds out that she helped him off the hook. They get married and settle in another town where she helps him open a pharmacy.

Some time later, a mysterious plague visits the town, killing many and leaving even more sick. A wandering shaman shows up and places the blame on a white snake spirit, which he tracks down to the pharmacy. Mrs. Baek escapes to the spirit realm, where she meets up with the celestial Monk Beo-phae (Yoshio Katsube?) and begs him to help her cure the people. He chides her for breaking the heavenly law of intermingling with humans, although the Goddess/Buddha Avalokiteshvara (Go Seon-ae) is merciful: she gives Mrs. Baek the all-healing herb on the condition that on July 7th, she return to her snake form and return to her cave. She agrees and is able to unmask the shaman, who is really an evil black snake, and save the people. She is about to fulfill her vow to Avalokiteshvara when her life is further complicated by the town magistrate (Lee Yeong?) falling in love with her…

This adaptation is a twist on the more popular Chinese opera interpretation of the fairy tale. It feels like a combination of both the Chinese opera and the story as told in Panda and the Magic Serpent, which itself is taken from the Ming Dynasty version. This one has the detail of the umbrella and them opening a pharmacy after their marriage. It also has the detail of the male protagonist getting blamed for the theft of money (or jewels) from the town treasury. It also shares the same finale as Panda and the Magic Serpent, which is actually a happy one. Long story short, Mrs. Baek’s unwavering devotion to her husband sways the heart of great Avalokiteshvara and she is allowed to stay with him.

I have not seen the 1956 Chinese-Japanese adaptation, but that film had effects work by the master, Eiji Tsuburaya—I understand it was for flood effects and some limited transformations. This one has very bad effects, usually in the form of amateur superimpositions that are transparent. And when Mrs. Baek flies up to heaven to seek help from the celestial monk, you can see the wire holding her up, even though it has been matted onto another shot. And when Heo Seon looks into the Monk’s magic mirror to see the identity of his wife, the superimposed snake looks awful. It’s a real snake, but I think there could’ve been better ways to do the effect, even if it was just a large snake shadow on the wall, like Godzilla vs. Gigan (did with cockroaches).

Effects aside, this adaptation of the story is interesting in that the relationship between Mrs. Baek and Heo Seon is, by modern standards, toxic. The entire union is built upon dishonesty with regards to who Baek is, where she got the money, etc. And even when she has the opportunity to come clean (after springing him from the join), Baek just piles on the lies. Although her intentions are arguably good, if you’re really a white snake spirit, that should be disclosed from the outset, no matter the result. I mean, once Heo Seon finds out the truth, he’s willing to overlook that, so I think things would have turned out for the best if she had been open about her origins.

In the end, I actually enjoyed this version thanks to a good performance from Choi Eun-hee, who shows why she was so important in Korean cinema during that period.