Our fates are the same - and other thoughts from Raise the Red Lantern

Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern" was a beautiful, sad movie. The cinematography was rich and developed like the seasons and as the main character's hope dimmed. You could definitely see why Zhang Yimou was tapped to do so much of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics.

That being said, I hated the way the movie ended.

But let's back up. The whole tone of the film is truly set up in the first two minutes, when the tears start falling down Songlian's face. Both her parents are dead, she has had to pull out of the university and her stepmother sends her to be a concubine. And then, the first mention of fate is made - "Let me be a concubine," the 19-year-old says. "Isn't that a woman's fate?"

The movie quickly descended into the most bleak version of Wisteria Lane. But these "Desperate Housewives" weren't fighting to be the head of the hospitality committee - they were literally fighting for the affection of The Master - with which came great power over the other women and servants.

***Spoiler alert for those of you who haven't seen it yet.***

There are some movies that you want to see tied up in a bow to have the couple get together in the end, or to have the hero win. Sorry to be morbid, but I really think Songlian would have killed herself. She would have climbed up to the roof, possibly with a flute, and hanged herself next to Meishan.

Here's why. Her independent streak stayed with her from the moment she carried her own luggage into her house until the end, when she relights the lanterns at her house. The morning after her first night with The Master, she looks at herself in the mirror and it's like her spirit has literally died.

Songlian is fascinated by the death house, and wants to know who died there and why.

About halfway through, Meishan tells Songlian, "Our fates are the same."

After her maid, Yan'er, dies, Songlian says, "She's lucky to have died."

It is clear that the bones in the death house have been there for a long time. And when the black lantern covers are taken out, they are covered with a lot of dust - maybe the same amount of time's worth. It stands to reason that the last person who had her lanterns extinguished also had their own life ended.

Finally, after she has learned that she is peripherally responsible for the death of Meishan and Yan'er, I figured one of two things would happen. She would rule the roost more completely, leaving one fewer wife in her way to regain The Master's presence. Or, what I was sure was more likely, she would rob The Master of another wife by ending her own life - something that she was in control of. Perhaps she's found hanging from a lantern, or underneath one of the black lantern covers.

Would that be morbid? Yes. But her going crazy leaves so many more loose ends.

For more cheery commentary, check in with me next time. :)


***Popcorn tidbits***
(these are in no particular order)

*As they began the first foot massages, I had a terrible feeling that they were about to bind her feet (though at that point, she would have probably been too old for that to work). Then I had a terrible thought that they might hobble her ala "Misery" so that she could learn her place or something. Luckily, it was much less sinister than that.

*I was really intrigued at the giant horns they had to blow out the lanterns. Clever invention.

*Weren't all of those lanterns a fire hazard?

*It was probably foreshadowing that Songlian missed the transport to the palace - and had to walk there herself. It was the first time she would not follow "custom." But it would not be the last. I think that streak of independence definitely led to her eventual undoing.

*At the end, when she has gone crazy, she is wearing the same clothes she did when she first arrived at the palace. I was kind of surprised that they let her stay, too.

*I wondered what the role of Feipu was. Initially, I thought that maybe Songlian would have an affair with him, that then might lead her to the same fate as Meishan, but that relationship never developed. He introduced the concept of the flute into the plot, but there could have been other ways for Songlian to remember that she had brought her father's flute with her.