My Interpretations *Obvious Spoiler Alert*
Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts, feel free to agree or disagree. I'd love to hear what else you have to add or different interpretations you have (or things I've missed).
Story 1: I believe this story is the most straightforward. The protagonist is upset that his town has been brought "prosperity" but he and his fellow villagers have not been given their fair share. Instead, he sees an (obvious) oligarchy that has developed, one which starts with Mr. Jiao and trickles down very minimally to others. It is a story of how the wealthy exploit the poor, and worst of all, convince them that things are fair and good. All of the other villagers the protagonist encounters are either indifferent or feel that he is wrong in his accusations.
The violence in this story - as in the rest of the stories - comes in two forms. The first type is the straightforward physical violence, perpetrated against the protagonist when he complains about the corruption in the village, and later against those he feels have been corrupted. The second type of violence, a more insidious violence, is social, and comes in the form of exploitation and brainwashing. The villagers have been convinced that things are fair, and many have bought in because it is the only way they feel they can prosper. Ultimately this story contrasts a shocking and brutal physical violence, especially the gunning down of several people, with the more subtle and sneaky violence that occurs as the villagers are made sick by the coal mine and exploitated while a few get rich.
Story 2: The second story is a little more complex. I interpret this story as being slightly more morally ambiguous. By this point of the film we have been presented with a modern China in which it seems that many people are chasing "the dream" of wealth but the system is inherently rigged and corrupt. Thus, our protagonist in this story, who seems like a cruel, cold-blooded killer, looked at in the bigger picture, seems like a sort of Robin Hood figure, except of course that he is taking things for himself. It's as if he sees that the system is impossible to beat, so instead he chooses not to play the game, taking what he wants through violence and force. He is the a sort of grim reaper figure, striking down the wealthy (best exemplified by his picking out and killing of the wealthy woman and her husband because she has a nice purse and most likely a lot of money). It's a case where their money cannot protect them, and it shows that ultimately we are all "even" when violence and death come knocking at our door. Is it right that he murders two innocent people? Of course not. But more abstractly speaking, is it right that a few are allowed to own so much while we see the majority of the population working for next to nothing at the expense of their physical and mental health?
Story 3: This story is full of social commentary on gender. We see the protagonist of this story as someone whose life is completely dominated by men, both physically and mentally. She is in love with a man she can't have, and thus is mentally shackled. And perhaps even worse, it is later demonstrated that she cannot even avoid being physically dominated by men, as shown by the sexual harassment she experiences in the spa. Like the protagonist of story one, by the end of the story, she has had enough, and snaps. Her physical violence against the man who harasses her seems brutal, but again, the director is asking the viewer to think a little bigger. Would this violence have ever occurred if the man had treated her with a little respect? And did it seem like she had any other protection if she hadn't taken out the knife? No one seemed to care about her being harassed and beaten, and it is likely she would have been raped if she did not defend herself. The director is asking us to question which is worse: the physical violence she has just perpetrated or the social violence that brought her to her wits end in the first place, and occurs on a much grander scale. We see even her fellow woman (and her male accomplices) beating her for attempting to seek happiness. She is (rightly or wrongly) in love with a married man, which seems to make her a slightly less sympathetic character, but we have to question the gender politics that keep the husband somewhat free of blame while the wife brutally hurts the woman he is having the affair with. It is the ultimate and most insidious type of gender subordination: the one in which even many women have bought in and play by its rules. It is the husband who should take the blame and be reproached by his wife, but instead we see her taking it out on another woman.
Story 4: Story four at first seems slightly boring in comparison with the others, but I think it actually has the most to offer in terms of deeper commentary. In this story, our protagonist is caught in a trap: he has to support his family, but at the expense of his own happiness. He tries to achieve both by jumping between jobs, but he finds that the grass is not greener on the other side. Each job is just another, different form of exploitation and boredom. He finally finds love, the one thing which brings him happiness, but realizes that he cannot have the girl he wants because the economic and social barriers prevent him from ever being able to escape the situation. He finally settles on a third job, but realizes that he is even more miserable. We see him pick up the crowbar-type object, thinking about physical violence, but instead he just gives up and decides to commit the violence against himself through suicide. This story has perhaps the most subtle, yet the most profound commentaries of all. First we hear from the bald, older man who is being "serviced" by the protagonist's love interest that "young people have no sense of direction these days." This is a telling and ironic statement. Of course that is easy to say for an old man who is wealthy and is living "the dream". He is a direct beneficiary of the system, since he is one of the older, wealthy few. The younger generation, which does not benefit in the same way, sees things very differently. The second and more subtle social commentary comes in the penultimate scene: We see our protagonist giving up on life, and jumping to his death. A closer look at this scene reveals that immediately after his body is shown on the ground the camera returns to the ledge from which he jumped, and the "Oasis of Prosperity" sign of his apartment complex is visible on the left hand side of the screen. The director is here asking us to question: At what price does prosperity come? And what does "prosperity" mean? The "Oasis of Prosperity" is obviously not one in the truest sense of the word; it is a place where several workers live in one apartment for minimal wages.
Ultimately, I think the movie has a few main threads that connect all of the stories. The first, as I have mentioned, is the implicit contrast between physical and social violence. The former occurs less often, but in a more shocking way, and thus seems to capture our attention most vividly. The latter happens much more frequently, and one could argue, all of the time, but because it is more insidious and less directly shocking to the senses, we seem to miss it happening right under our noses.
The second thread that connects the stories is the contrast between wealth and prosperity. Many people see them as intertwined, but many times throughout the movie we are asked to look deeper: are wealth and prosperity really the same thing? If we are to believe the stories we have seen, true prosperity seems to be something that money can't buy, and is in fact something that comes from within. This is perhaps best stated by the protagonist's old girlfriend in the first story, when she tells him essentially to be happy with what he has and settle down, and not be so obsessed with obtaining wealth. Her message is that wealth corrupts everyone, and so we would be much better off seeking happiness within rather than without.
Whew, OK, that was a long post. If you are still reading this, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, and I hope you enjoyed them. Feel free to provide commentary. I should also point out I don't know the real life stories that these are based on, and I'm not an expert on Chinese culture (I'm Canadian), so I probably have missed many cultural queues and nuances. That being said, I hope you still enjoyed my thoughts. :)