By Cappuccino Feng

“Painted Skin” is a 2008 Chinese-Hong Kong film starring Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, Zhou Xun and Sun Li. The film is based on Pu Songling’s classical novel, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio which shows a kind of supernatural, but it is more of a love story rather than a ghost film.

The film mainly reflects the seduction; opposition; love; enmity between people and demons, men and women, and brothers; as well as the battle between life and death; sensibility and responsibility.

Considering the plot of the film, I’d like to share with you my opinion about the triangle relationship between Pei Rong (Zhao Wei), General Wang Sheng (Chen Kun) and Xiao Wei (Zhou Xun), a demon of fox spirit.

Most of my friends show their deep hatred and dislike towards the General because he is seduced by Xiao Wei and can’t control his feelings. At a certain time he even said, “I love you” to Xiao Wei. Maybe for most girls, the romantic relationship is that the boyfriend or the husband should be wholly loyal to them. They can’t bear betrayal, either emotionally or physically; even the tendency is forbidden. But I think it’s unfair to sentence Wang Sheng to death of the marriage. When faced with the demon, of course, man shows his weakness naturally. What’s more, when Pei Rong drank the poison given him by Xiao Wei, she wears the demon’s mask and all the villagers demand to kill her. Wang Sheng stood without hesitation and demanded to die with her and try to replace Pei Rong’s death.

Compared with death everything is negligible. If the husband wants to die for his wife, how can we say he is disloyal? With these words, I don’t mean to show my approval of triangle relationships or derailment. Certainly, we all wish for couples who can love and stay together for their whole life sincerely, but we should be realistic. We are a kind of creature with emotion and passion. Sometimes we have no power to escape these kinds of situations. Only if we are clear about what our responsibilities are and make the final choice consciously, not with sudden passion like what Wang Sheng did, months or years passed, we will not regret. That’s enough.

(Advisor: Mark)