The Wheel of Life

The King Hu segment was marvelous, the other two not so much, but all in all a visually stunning piece of cinema. I can see why it has had such a cool reception when it came out, or even in the present day, but as a very visually orientaited person I just couldn't help but to fall for this movie. Rhe music is also something to applaud. Acting was decent, with Chun Shih shining as usual and Hsueh-Fen Peng adding her fresh charm as the leading lady. The story offered just enough to keep me going but it wasn't the soul of this movie.

I also have to add that I'm a sucker for Chinese Opera, which might play a part in my love for this movie.

This is one the few movies I have bought on blu-ray from japan, without english subtitles, it's that much of an visual experience.

Left breathless after watching the gripping Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968-also reviewed) thanks to BrianNaas and Jessica Yeung detailing in their reviews about restored Taiwan films streaming for free for a limited time,I decided to check what other movies were on the site.

Aware of his work for a number of years, but sadly not having got round to watching any of it, I was excited to find an obscure anthology title co-directed by auteur film maker King Hu, leading to me spinning the wheel of life.

Note:Review contains some plot details.

View on the film:

Taking their individual spins on the wheel of life, directors King Hu, Hsing Lee & Ching-Jui Pai superbly link each of their reincarnation segments with an exploration to the evolution of the arts on the world's stage, via Hu's highly stylized, cinematic opening descending into Hsing's grand Opera, with the final note being played as Pai elegantly pans across a sparse, minimal dance stage.

The second anthology title he had worked on, (after Four Moods (1967)) directing auteur King Hu brings to life the opening segment with his distinctive eye for stylization, as the trio of reincarnated souls, (each superbly played with a vibrant expressiveness by Hsueh-Fen Peng, Huo-Yen Chiang and Chun Shih) flicker to life with exploding with colour, sharply edited, whip-pans and close-ups on the Action set-pieces, which Hu delicately pulls the camera away from,in order to create a balance with graceful, lingering wide-shots that touch on the spiritualism of Hu's work.

Matching the Melodramatic lives of the reincarnated, director Hsing Lee unveils a gloriously rich atmosphere, spun from ultra-stylized tracking shots and close-ups on the beaming colours of the Opera house which heightens the Melodramatic atmosphere to a breaking point of startling altered frame rates capturing the moment that the souls leave their current incarnation.

Set in the 80's, director Ching-Jui Pai cleverly links the spiritualism of Hu's tale and the Melodrama of Lee's episode, by wisely staying away from flashy 80's styling, to instead unite the spirits on a remote island, displayed in long, stilted wide-shots and close-ups on the earthy surroundings, which melts into beautiful dissolves and superimposition's that have the three souls come face to face with their reincarnated state, as they each take another spin of the wheel of life.