The first episode, directed by Hu, starts with a story about an Imperial Guard Commissioner Lu Zhenyi (Shih Chun) who is in search of rebels in the village. However, he is also headed to his wedding to Han Xuemei (Sylvia Peng), the daughter of a victim of conspiracy by the Imperial Guards. As she is still with the rebel leader Feng Rui (Chiang Hou-Jen), she has to think of a way to get out of this romantic position. Given that Lu is both intelligent and a master of the martial art, assassination becomes almost impossible.
In the second episode that has been directed by Pai Ching-Jui, an out-of-fashion Peking opera troupe takes the spotlight. The market has not been so nice to the troupe and they are on the verge of breaking apart, however, Master Ma (Ching Hou-jen) becomes their investor and gives them a new stage alongside a much larger audience. And indeed they do, not forgetting to mention Meng (Sylvia Peng), an opera star who has an impulsive affair with a wealthy gentleman, upsetting the manager of the troupe, Miao (Shih Chun).
Hsing Lee’s short film about a dancer named Sylvia Peng and her relationship with a man named Qiusheng is set up near the end of The Wheel of Time. A character named Qiusheng meets Sylvia. Qiusheng hasn’t left the temple where he’s lived most of his life, so a barricade in the form of his father who is a high priest comes into play as a warning.
Although there are a few variations in the three episodes, based on the thematic structure, they seem to be more of one piece. Of course, all the directors comes with their own signature touch to the work, however since every segment of the “The Wheel of Time” is in a distinct period, this further seems quite alright. Furthermore, there are multiple fractures as well, which helps to bring together the events that transpired previously, in respect to each other. It creates an impression of being trapped in a story that has already been written and whose conclusion is a foregone conclusion, while actively attempting to beat it, which naturally, only exacerbates the disastrous ending.
The question remains whether the real who control the events which forces are behind all each story, those “gods” that the priest in the third episode is talking to or the powerful rulers or politicians. When watching the opera troupe of Pai Ching-jui, it is true that one gets the impression of watching a grand spectacle, a tragic play which has some elements of parody, with the actors aware of what will happen next and the disaster to which their actions.
Given the closeness to the realm of stage actors which is well illustrated in the second and last episode; the stage acts together with the general look of the feature make one feel as if one is watching a performance in a theater. Ching Hou-jen, Sylvia Peng and Shih Chun in their performance, however, add the element of theatre and a certain awareness of the perils into which the actions of the character can plunge them. The production design and the clothes are two more elements within a general design which tends to be more akin to the theatre which on one hand immerses the spectators in the feelings of the actors but on the other hand restrains the viewer by a degree of critique. These do include the real actors who were behind the events, and perhaps even if the idea of fate exists at all it is because of the ideological needs going to great lengths in order to make us.
“Wheel of Life” is a humorous but still intelligent drama. The three episodes directed by King Hu, Hsing Lee and Pai Ching-jui compose thematically and visually integrated story about the social structures that govern our existence and the possibility of self-determination.
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