Film Name: 潘金莲之前世今生 / The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus / 潘金蓮之前世今生
When Pan Jinlian reincarnated, she refused to drink Meng Po’s soup, carrying her past grievances into her new life and vowing revenge.
In her reincarnated form during the Cultural Revolution era, Pan Jinlian was known as Shan Yulian, a dance performer. As a young woman, Shan Yulian was raped by a leader. Hearing the commotion, the crowd stormed into the office, but the leader falsely accused Shan Yulian of seducing him first. Amidst the public’s contempt, Shan Yulian was sent down to work in a shoe factory. Young Shan Yulian developed feelings for Wu Long, a member of the shoe factory’s basketball team. She bought shoes to give him as a gift, but was falsely accused by female workers of stealing factory property. The timid Wu Long could do nothing to help, and Shan Yulian was once again humiliated as a slut. By the 1980s, Shan Yulian—now a peach vendor in Guangdong—fled her disgraced life to marry Wu Ruda, the reincarnation of Wu Dalang, in Hong Kong. Wu Ruda affectionately called her “Lianmei.” In this life, Lianmei repeated the misfortune of her past incarnation as Pan Jinlian, sharing a night with the reincarnation of Ximen Qing—designer Simon. Fearing his pursuit or revenge, Lianmei worried. Yet Simon dismissed it: “It was just one night. What’s the big deal?”
Lianmei sank into self-doubt. Was she truly as promiscuous as others claimed? Why could Simon act so nonchalant?
When a man has many lovers, people call him charming and capable. When a woman has many lovers, people label her promiscuous and unable to control herself. Chastity standards only bind women, not men. Even if a woman has done nothing wrong, once branded a slut, she struggles to live with dignity, sinking deeper into the mire of slander. Pan Jinlian, Dan Yulian, Lianmei—powerless to control their own destinies, pitiable women oppressed under patriarchy.
The story concludes with Wu Long dead and Dan Yulian dying by suicide in a love pact. The film ends.
Screenwriter Li Bihua explores Pan Jinlian’s inner world and desires from a female perspective. The visual expression is innovative, with flashbacks interweaving past and present lives, all rendered in a ghostly color palette. Regarding the actors: Dan Liwen, portraying Ximen Qing, sits naked in furs, eyes narrowed and lips pursed in a wicked smile as he teases Lianmei—a scene that is provocative yet refined, sensual without being vulgar. Joey Wong plays Pan Jinlian, Shan Yulian, and Lianmei, embodying the ancient maiden, peasant woman, and young wife respectively with compelling authenticity. Her period costumes are exquisite, while her modern attire is strikingly beautiful.
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