age of solidarity, freedom and vitality. However, in ironical contrast to the genteel convention of beautiful women being serenaded by handsome admirers, the lyrics sung by the peasant sedan chair carriers are rudely humorous: Look closely -- pitted pockmarks A squashed nose and piggy, piggy eyes A chicken neck, an ugly face A head crawling with lots and lots of lice...(2) The lively, noisy scene carries implicit eroticism, suggested by the naked torsos of the men, the curiosity of a virginal bride, and the rhythmic movements caused by the jolting of the sedan chair. The tossing action effectively evokes the men's projection of their subconscious desire for the bride.(3) The scene is also a superb example of how tension is created through contrast. As the men sing their boisterous eulogy with gusto, Nine struggles to control her sobs and retching. The bright daylight in which the sedan carriers careen is interpolated with the dark interior of the wedding sedan chair which serves as the prison bearing Nine to her unfortunate fate. Crying and trying to steady herself in the sedan, Nine picks up a pair of wire scissors from the floor taken from her father's home and hides it inside her wedding outfit. The close-up of Nine's embroidered red shoe stepping on the pair of black scissors and her trembling hand reaching down for it is an eloquent image of her character which is capable of intense passion and hatred. Finally, her sobbing is noticed by one of the men and the jolting and singing cease. By this time, the procession, which was so jolly a few moments ago, now move silently through the dreaded fields of tall wild sorghum known as Qingsha Kou (Murderer's Gulch), warily eyeing the thick wild plants which are rumoured to be inhabited by ghosts. At this point, the background score plays the eerie sounds which every viewer of Chinese haunted movies recognises -- the mournful reverberation of Chinese gongs amidst the chirping of crickets tha...
