Art & Symbolism in the Social Sci-Fi film GUIDANCE
By Wang Pei You / Su Na Shan
From the outset, GUIDANCE (2021), sets a deliberate tone. The entirety of the first shot lingers on a quote from Lao Zi, followed by images of ants --three to be precise, with ‘things in threes’ continuing as a visual motif throughout the film-- followed by a solitary ladybug, and finally images of the two main characters.
In a nod to Kurosawa, GUIDANCE explores the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air which Kurosawa utilizes in most of his work. The first shot of the film with the quote from Lao Zi has in the background a red (Fire) sunset view from on high and just below the horizon we see the Earth below accompanied by sound of gusting winds (Air). The next images of the mountain (Earth) and the pond (Water) complete the series of images and firmly set the foundation of the four elements in the film. Beyond the introductory sequence, the elements are revisited in the film with a special emphasis on fire and water, which form the centerpiece of certain scenes: the “bonfire” scene, the “fishbowl breaking” scene and the “fish release in pond” scene.
The fusion of Chinese tradition with its FIVE elements are juxtaposed with the four elements described earlier. Namely, the names of the 3 characters in the film (Han Miao, Mai Zi Xuan and Su Jie) are each connected with the Chinese Elements of Water (韩淼: made up of 3 水) , Wood (麦子轩: 选 is made of wood), and Fire (苏杰: the bottom part of 杰 relates to Fire). 水生木, 水克火. 水 blends with wood, but it restrains 克 fire.
As seen in the diagram, the interrelationship of the characters plays a role in the names they hold. The arrows on the outside of the circle show how the relationships of the elements can blend and help each other, while the arrows inside the circle show how the relationships of the elements can damage each other.
Visual references from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY are also scattered within GUIDANCE: the deliberate use of antique European furniture in the dark Safe Room occupied by the character Su Jie is reminiscent of the luxurious French colonial furniture in the white bright room that David Bowman finds himself trapped in at the end of SPACE ODYSSEY. And then we see the inverse with Su Jie’s white bright sanitized office with hardly any furniture (only two plastic invisible chairs).
In terms of thematic structure the film mines the intersection of nature, human and technology.
Images of nature can be broken down into two extreme areas of scale: landscape views of nature and the often closeups of small creatures throughout the film.
How each character interacts with the creatures in the film illustrates competing philosophies. For example, near the beginning of the film, Mai Zi Xuan gently captures a moth and releases it to the outside, freeing it from the man-made home. Soon after Han Miao discovers three fish “trapped” as she describes it, in a fish bowl. Finding it unbearable, she immediately asks Mai Zi Xuan if there is a nearby pond, presumably to free them. Both of their behaviors tell us a great deal of their shared philosophy on the sanctity of nature and their level of empathy. As the story continues and their relationship and tension evolve, the three fish become victim to a near disastrous accident. Can the couple save them, and by extension their own relationship? Initially, Mai Zi Xuan imagines Han Miao’s concern for the ‘trapped’ fish as a projection of her own claustrophobia developed by spending time in safe rooms during the war. The secondary layer of being trapped is further explored: the moth trapped in the home… the fish trapped in the bowl… the couple trapped in the home… trapped in their relationship… and, finally, perhaps trapped in their own prison of guilt and fear.
In contrast, an alternative philosophy on life is shown by Su Jie. The environment we first see him is in a pure white, sanitized office with no hint of any color or warmth. When we do see him in more colorful surrounding--his luxurious safe room-- the feeling is ultimately destroyed by his taunting and torture of a stray ladybug. Contrast this with the ants and ladybugs coexisting peacefully at the beginning of the film. With Su Jie’s intervention these same creatures become predator and prey. The fact that he purposefully keeps the creatures for his amusement is in contrast to the couple that frees creatures every opportunity they have. His worldview is consistent with his attitude on humans and technology: humans, just like the brutality of nature, have their own brutality that only technology can counter. His disdain of human nature is possibly because of how he saw his father treated for one mistake in the war. In his mind, Guidance must control humans, as he controls thousands of ants in the ant farm, to save humans from themselves.
Contrast Su Jie’s stale sanitized white environment or his safe room of deception and death, to Han Miao and Mai Zi Xuan’s environments: they seem always in an almost unbelievable state of beauty and nature. Even the house in which they are staying is designed to blend into this idyllic nature. The glass structure of the house allows us even to hear the singing birds in the romantic landscape. Their interaction with nature is almost perfect: from the way they treat the creatures or to how they relish being outside whether day or night.
When the couple encounters an advanced technology, such as the twice daily shuttles nearby, these ‘technologies’ are always leaving Earth, as if escaping a place they don’t or shouldn’t belong to. Even as the small nano-tech of the NIS is discarded, there is a sense it is foreign to their human experience while incompatible with the idyllic nature they inhabit for their holiday.
ARTWORK AND METAPHOR
Other than the use of various minor artwork in the film, there are three pieces that are intricately woven into the story of the film: a Sculpture called “Truth”, the painting of Helen of Troy, and the recurring painting of the white flower. The paintings are introduced, described and discussed in detail early in the film and play a direct role in the film while the sculpture captures a main theme overall. Incidentally, all the artwork in the film, except for Helen which is Western, are actual significant pieces of art by either established or up and coming Chinese artists.
Continuing the theme of cultural “Fusion”, the painting of Helen of Troy depicting a famous moment in Greek history is teased at the beginning, and its significance to the film gradually revealed. It is generally accepted that Queen Helen left with Paris to Troy. Her husband, the king, launched a war and a thousand ships to recapture her. Whether Su Jie intends for Han Miao to understand the history of Helen as his own personal history is unclear, but if Su Jie is the King, Han Miao is Helen escaping with her dashing Paris (Mai Zi Xuan), and she is quite happy to remain with him. Later the story is complete when we realize that Su Jie’s own version of a war to regain Han Miao was the elaborate fake attack on his building to allow him time alone and uninterrupted with Han Miao to seduce her back to him.
The painting of the white flower, its purity and innocence, is significant for the heartbreaking true story of the two famous war-separated lovers in the future (but in the film’s past) that Su Jie tells. We learn why the painting was created, how it was sent, lost and finally recovered. In the end, the inability of the two lovers in their world to reunite foreshadows the inability of Su Jie and Han Miao to reunite.
Finally, there is the twisted metal sculpture that we see at the very beginning and at the very end of the film. It serves as appropriate bookends to the core theme of the film: “TRUTH”, which the sculpture itself is aptly named.
At the beginning of the film when Han Miao recounts her story and speaks about the Sculpture, everything she tells Mai Zi Xuan is a lie. When we see the sculpture again at the end, the final line of the film is a question by Mai Zi Xuan, which puts her in the same position that she was in at the very beginning: “Han Miao, what were you trying to tell me earlier?”. Although given a second chance to tell the truth, the tragic irony is that their circumstances have now changed.
The question for us, and for her, is will she tell him the truth and unburden the guilt and pain she has been carrying as seen by her constant nightmarish visions for the past three months, or will she continue to live a lie and sacrifice her own soul so as to not break Mai Zi Xuan’s heart? After all, Mai Zi Xuan did tell her, “if you live a lie, no one knows or can love the real you…it’s too damn lonely”.
We realize at the mid-point of the film that Mai Zi Xuan has not been unfaithful in the manner she suspects. Rather his ‘lie’ was the illness he was hiding, and coming to the realization that he had to tell her this truth to avoid misleading her any longer. Incidentally, the dishonest seduction of Han Miao by Su Jie and the decision of Mai Zi Xuan to concealing his illness from Han Miao are similar: both dishonest seductions of varying degrees with Han Miao being a target of both men. That is another topic worthy of discussion in the #metoo environment.
Nonetheless, a fundamental moral choice is laid before Han Miao as we watch Su Jie walk past “TRUTH”, the golden metal sculpture glinting in the fading sunlight.
