MovieChat Forums > Ba wang bie ji (1993) Discussion > Fate vs free will

Fate vs free will

posted 11 years ago by GordianNott
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What do people think about the movie's treatment of fate? I know everyone's definition of fate is a little different, but there are several blunt predictions early in the movie that made me think that fate will be manipulating these people, yet it turns out they exercise great free will.

The madame tells Juxian when she leaves that she'll have to come back, because a prostitute is always a prostitute, but she never goes back to being one. The master tells Douzi to leave the abandoned baby to his fate, but Douzi defiantly rescues him, and Xiao Si cheats fate by growing to adulthood. There are a couple other mentions of fate ruling lives, yet I seldom think these people are being controlled by outside forces, other than politics. In fact, one of the things I like about this movie is watching people make the choices that they make, and they usually have quite a menu of options to choose from instead of just a single direction mandated by fate.

[–] thepoet26 11 years ago

You made some great points about fate vs. free will in this movie (and book). I think those who tempted fate by exercising free will did pay for tempting fate, though.

For instance, although Juxian never returned to The House of Blossoms and resumed her life as a prostitute, she also didn't get to live happily ever after with her husband. In the end, her past came back to haunt her and her husband denied his love for her because of it in front of the Red Guards. So the madame's words, "Once a prostitute, always a prostitute" did ring true for her in some sense and lead to her eventual suicide.

And when the master warned Douzi to leave Xiao Si to his fate, Douzi certainly lived to regret not having done so when Xiao Si later betrayed them all.

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