Xiu Xiu

Here's my first official blog posting, addressing Jeff Jones' blog questions about the significance of the kaleidoscope and also the deaths of Xiu Xiu and Jao Lin.

What I noticed about the movie was its use of muted colors, mostly to show sameness and uniformity in a culture tht demanded them. Except for the green grass Xiu Xiu rolled in, and the red I'll mention below, nothing was vivid--except the colors of the kaleidoscope. I thought this toy offered Xiu Xiu something colorful and changing--her life as it should have been--and it also served as a connection to her home, where she counted on returning. There's a scene after one of her sexual encounters whre Jao Lin is hunkered down over the fire; Xiu Xiu comes from behind the makeshift barrier of the sheet, glares at him, and hurls a fistful of colored objects at him. I thought those were the pieces of glass from her kaleidoscope, perhaps broken during the encounter, and signifying the breaking of her connection to her home, and also her childhood and innocence.

The color red also figured into this movie. Of course it's the color that signifies Communism. It's the color of the scarf Xiu Xiu ties around her neck when she thinks she's going home, while she waits every day for someone to get her, and before she dies. It's the color of her legs, covered with blood, after the miscarriage (which is what I believe it was because of the effect of the violent horseback ride into town). It's the color of the rag Jao Lin keeps tied around his rifle. In the final scene, snow covers the bathing pool where both bodies lie, with the white broken only by the red of the scarf and the rag, showing that Jao Lin killed himself and fell on Xiu Xiu's body, the rifle falling with him.

The above might strike some as armchair movie analysis, and that's exactly what it is! However, I watched this haunting movie twice and noticed the same things both times. I'm interested to know if anyone else has another opinion. I'll wait to hear...