Painted Skin 2: The Resurrection

By Keen Hung Lee

Love. Deceit. Beauty. It is said that a demon becomes moral when a human gives up his/her heart willingly.

Princess Jing (Vicki Zhao) and General Huo Xin (Chen Kun) have loved each other since they were 14. Due to status and hierarchy in society, Princess Jing and General Huo Xin cannot be with each other. While Princess Jing is willing to give up everything she has to be with Huo Xin, Huo Xin steers clear of the rational thing to do for the “best” of both of them. Painted Skin shows that one can be blinded by love. As demons interfere, the love between them lead to a huge misunderstanding. The fox demon, Xiaowei (Zhou Xun), that has been punished for 500 hundred years craves to find someone who is willing to give their heart to her to end her suffering. She uses her beauty and magic to seduce and steal hearts to remain beautiful. Xiaowei aches to become mortal to feel, to love and to experience pain but when she finally receives a heart, she learns that her suffering is inevitable.

Painted Skin 2: The Resurrection is a heart-wrenching, sci-fi film. The choice of make-up, costumes and scenery left me speechless and effortlessly enhanced the eminence of the movie. I liked how the film portrays women as the dominant role because often times, men play the dominant roles such as a king. I liked to see this twist take place in an ancient time setting. I loved how ice is used to represent the life of a demon while fire/warmth represented the soul of a human.

Though the relationship between Princess Jing (Vicki Zhao) and General Huo Xin (Chen Kun) grew complicated, they never gave up on each other. This movie truly depicts how love can make people completely blind, which would eventually lead to hatred and envy. I sympathized for Xiaowei’s (Zhou Xun) character because she endured much pain to relieve herself from her suffering but even when she achieved what she wanted, she ended up in the same place where she began. The movie is graphic to an extent that leaves room for imagination.

 

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