A young Chinese-American girl named Ling (Yi Ding of The Joy Luck Club) continues to mourn her mother's death, refusing to visit her grave a year after her death. After a friend describes a ghost who haunts a local lake, Ling, more intrigued than frightened, goes canoeing, and--when the canoe capsizes--captures a glimpse of the ghost, who seems to float as if trapped, just below the water's surface. Returning home, Ling tells her grandmother, who, in turn, relates the origin of this sad tale. It seems there was once a beautiful Chinese woman (Hiep Thi Le of Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth) who was rejected by her fiancée's snobbish family. Distraught over her lost love, she drowned herself in the lake. Ling continues to have visions of this woman, who she feels is trapped in a stage of mourning, just as Ling, herself, cannot resume life because of her grief for her mother. She becomes obsessed in freeing the ghost, and the brief tale ends on a note of loss, hope, and reconciliation. Overall, this American Film Institute production offers a slight story and minimal acting, and while it might have some appeal for teens and value for discussion groups, it's still an optional purchase, at best. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)
The Water Ghost
(2000) 30 min. $150. Carousel Film & Video. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-56058-159-X. Vol. 15, Issue 5
The Water Ghost
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