Driven by curiosity, I watched the movie “Lost in Beijing”.
Pingguo and her husband Kun worked as a foot masseur and a window cleaning worker in Beijing, respectively. Pingguo’s boss Lin raped her while she was drunk and sleeping in bed. The accident was seen by Kun, who was coincidently cleaning the windows just outside of the building. To lessen his feeling of being humiliated, he asked money from Lin for compensation. While the two men negotiated about money and suing back and forth, Pingguo found herself pregnant. Kun refused to believe the baby was his. In contrast, Lin was crazy for the baby because his wife Mei was unable to bear a baby. A nasty business started. The two couples agreed a contract that he would pay Kun and Pingguo 120,000RMB for the baby and all mishaps he caused to the family if he was the baby’s biological father. Unfortunately, biological evidence showed Kun was the baby’s father. However, Kun was crazy for money. He bribed the doctor to change the record of the baby’s blood type to be the same as Lin’s. The baby was sold for money by his biological father. Lin was happy to have his own son. In order to feed the baby, Pingguo was demanded to stay in Lin’s house. The relationships between these four people were complicated. Kun got the money and meanwhile he had an affair with Lin’s wife Mei to revenge Lin. Pingguo and Lin seemed a real couple, which made both Kun and Mei furious. Kun admitted to Pingguo that the baby was theirs. He returned the money and persuaded Pingguo to run away with him, the baby and money as well. Pingguo refused. Kun kidnapped the baby. After the baby was taken back, Lin had to face the unfolded fact that the baby was not his. He asked for the baby and yet was refused. Being disappointed, Pingguo left both of them and disappeared in the big city Beijing.
It is very difficult to define the good one and the bad one in the movie, because human nature is very complicated. In reality check, human nature could be very dark and ugly for some selfish purposes, especially when desires intertwine with money. I have read several short stories lately including “The Lottery”, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, “Roman Fever”. All of the stories unfolded the dark sides of human nature. There is barely a remedy for the corrupted human nature, which has been depicted in the stories and movie. To learn the dark side of human nature is not a pleasant experience. Nevertheless it is part of our life.
