The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus
(Pan Jin Lian zhi qian shi jin sheng, 1989)
Clara Law
Hong Kong
If it weren't a HK movie, with all the attending trappings and failings, this film would have made a wonderful story. Contrary to what many reviewers say, it is most certainly not a melodrama, and the campy element comes from the way HK movies generally are. The problem is with the pacing: all HK productions take place in overdrive. Although this works fine for martial arts or jakuza flicks, it is not well suited for detailed characterization, which is what this movie tries to do. It is nevertheless well shot, with high production values, and a pretty good cast.
Synopsis. Golden Lotus (Joey Wang), the numero uno hooker in ancient China, is about to be reincarnated after having her head chopped off. She is told to renounce the past but she cannot let go and demands revenge on the people who had wronged her. She is then reincarnated in 1966 Shanghai, at the height of the Cultural Revolution. She does not remember her past but she does have flashbacks that tell her (and us) the whole story.
She goes to ballet school but gets raped by the principal. He offers to keep her as a lover and when she refuses, he accuses her of being a slut and brands her a counter-revolutionary. She is forced to work at a sewing factory where she meets, and falls in love with, Wu-Long, a star basketball player. Lotus buys him sneakers but is accused of stealing them and (incredibly) of being a slut, and therefore, a counter-revolutionary. She is purged and the cowardly Wu-Long complies with the wishes of the crowd and beats her. Lotus is forced to leave the community. She goes to Guangdong province to eke out a living selling fruit to tourists.
There, she meets a short, and extremely annoying, man from Hong Kong who falls in love with her and offers to marry her. Lotus does not love him but agrees in order to escape the community where everyone (inexplicably) hates her and considers her a slut. They go to Hong Kong and marry, to the consternation of his family. He treats her with great care but can't help being the loser that he is. In an ironic twist of fate, Lotus finds out Wu-Long is her husband's (and now hers) chauffeur. We learn that he is the one she loved in her previous life but unfortunately she was her husband's brother and refused her advances. The same happens now, she is drawn to him, tries to seduce him but fails because he is brotherly faithful to her husband.
Lotus has more and more flashbacks that compel her to behave like the ancient slut. One night she goes to a night club, drinks, does drugs, and ends up fucking Simon Siu, who then tracks her down and gets in the good graces of her husband. Although Lotus is terrified, there's nothing she can do. Wu-Long, unable to stop seing her (he's very much in love with her, and has been ever since he beat her up 10 years ago), gets wind of the illicit liaisons. We learn that in the ancient story, Lotus was also married to a short stocky guy, whom she did not love. She also had an affair with a debonnaire, but evil, man. They also conspired to kill her husband, which Lotus did, by poisoning him. The brother-in-law then duels with the evil lover, and kills him. He then beheads Golden Lotus for being the slut that she was.
Cut back to the present. Simon gives the husband some pills that would help him get and keep an erection. He takes way too many of them, mixes them with alcohol, and dies. Wu-Long believes that Simon has poisoned the husband, goes off for revenge, and kills Simon. Lotus, afraid that the story unfolds exactly like it did in ancient times, follows Wu-Long in an attempt to stop him. She is too late, however. Fearing that the story would end the same way, she flees with Wu-Long in pursuit. Finally she pins him to a wall with her car only to learn that he is deeply in love with her and want them to elope. Frantically, she tries to get him to a hospital but he dies en route and she crashes the car, committing suicide. The husband, it turns out, isn't dead after all, he has merely fainted.
This is a wonderful story of the consequences of revenge. Although Lotus got her wish and everyone, who had wronged her in her previous life, dies, her fate is tragic. Despite Golden Lotus showing through on several occasions, Lotus really is another person. This time around, Wu-Long does fall in love with her, and destroying him brings her own downfall. The point is simple, beautiful, and moving. Joey Wang is excellent, both as the timid and tragic contemporary character, and as the plotting ancient slut.
The DVD transfer is pretty good, although there are some scratches and artifacts. The colors are a bit washed and skin tones have a yellow-blue cast (although this gives the film a dreamy look). The sound is surprisingly good, although the trashy music quickly becomes annoying. The English subtitles were also pretty good, with few spelling errors and minor inconsistencies. This DVD is the best we are ever going to get, so find it while you still can.
March 20, 2001. BLS