Spiritual Love 1987

Pu Yung-tsai, Chow Yun-Fat, lives with his cousin, a student of Feng shui and Maoshan, in a world where the boundaries between the living and the dead can feel surprisingly thin. One day, he buys an antique desk from a second-hand shop, and inside it he uncovers a suicide letter written by a young woman named Wei Hsiao-Tieh, Cherie Chung Cho-Hung. Moved by the letter, Pu answers it and makes a remarkable sacrifice: he gives up three years of his life so Wei Hsiao-Tieh can return to Earth as a ghost and escape a forced marriage in the afterlife.

Pu’s romantic life grows tangled. After he breaks up with May, Pauline Wong, who is pregnant and has been dumped by her rich boyfriend, he begins a relationship with Wei Hsiao-Tieh. May’s longing to win Pu back becomes a driving force in the story, even as the past lurches forward in unexpected ways. The twist of fate deepens when May stages a fake suicide attempt to reclaim Pu, only for the ruse to backfire and lead to her death.

The consequences of May’s ghostly return unfold in a vibrant nightclub, where May reappears as a specter and torments the people who once knew Pu. Pu, his cousin, his cousin’s mentor, and a close friend form an uneasy circle as they strive to rid themselves of her pressing presence. In the midst of this supernatural chase, Wei Hsiao-Tieh negotiates a life-and-death bargain with her husband: she will return to him if he agrees to save Pu and his companions from the disruptive, dangerous energy of May’s ghost.

The final turn arrives when the husband makes his entrance, consuming May’s ghost before returning to his own realm, taking Wei Hsiao-Tieh with him. The story resolves in a blend of love, obligation, and the uneasy peace that follows a bargain with the forces that linger between life and death.