EMBED. Another share. Each night Chen must decide with which wife to spend the night and a red lantern is lit in front of the house of his choice. China in the 1920's. Add the first question. After her father dies, leaving the family penniless, Songlian leaves university to become Chen's Fourth Mistress, moving into an estate with his three other mistresses. Powered by JustWatch The Chinese film "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991), like the Japanese film " Woman in the Dunes " (1960), is about sexual enslavement. The following summer, after the Master's marriage to yet another concubine, Songlian is shown wandering the compound in her old schoolgirl clothes, appearing to have gone completely insane. A Question to Answer. Thus, a slight symbolic representation often took place. You play as The Musher as she sets out to build her dog sledding team and her new life. A young woman becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy lord, and must learn to live with the strict rules and tensions within the household. In response to the comments that this film is boring, shallow or without a character to identify with: Please study some Chinese history before you make such judgments. It is an adaptation by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong. Lu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. EMBED (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item tags) Want more? "[7] The translation on this version has been also widely criticised for its numerous inaccuracies. Raise the Red Lantern", Gong Li in 'Raise the Red Lantern' and 'Shanghai Triad' – The Tragedy of a Victim who Reinforces the System, Raised Eyebrows for Raise the Red Lantern, "The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "1992 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards", "Is 'Unforgiven' sweep of L.A. Film Critics awards just start of round-up of honors? One of the more popular imports of the 1990s, Raise the Red Lantern invites western viewers into an exotic foreign world -- a patriarchal Chinese household in which wife-concubines compete for the favors of their husband, The Master. And for those who sneer at the opera singer, imagine how the music you enjoy would sound to someone who has a completely different background. Year: 1991 “Raise the Red Lantern” was named in a list of “25 movies you must see before you die,” and is considered a monumental piece of cinematography that brought a different vision of … She also has to deal with her personal maid, Yan'er (Yàn'ér, played by Kong Lin), who hates her and dreams of being a concubine after a few brief flings with the Master. "[13] DVD Talk, though, believes that "This new version is a stunner". So opens "Raise the Red Lantern," a Chinese film of voluptuous physical beauty and angry passions.It is one of this year's Academy Award nominees in the foreign film category, directed by Zhang Yimou, whose "Ju Dou" was nominated last year.This film, based on the novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong, can no doubt be interpreted in a number of ways - as a cry against the subjection of women … Not unlike Chinese art that may seem to be about the season of autumn but is actually about death or change or loss. View production, box office, & company info. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer recognizes him. The above Confucian dictum, (surely a frightening and misplaced motto when applied uncritically) finds a harsh critic in Yimou’s’ Raise the Red Lantern. The story has 19-year-old Songlian leaving college after six months to become the fourth wife of an older, wealthy man. Yan'er is punished by having the lanterns burned while she kneels in the snow, watching as they smolder. [25], The film's popularity has also been attributed to a resurgence in Chinese tourism after the government response to the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 due to its use of exotic locations. Raise the Red Lantern removes the erotic and has a more devastating effect: Songlian’s self-destruction is assured from the start as she confronts the effects of unbending authority and we, like her unseen stepmother, are forced to watch how it abuses her. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? The Red Lantern is a resource management narrative game where you and your team of five sled dogs must survive the wilderness and find your way home. "Raise the Red Lantern," a beautifully crafted and richly detailed feat of consciousness-raising and a serious drama with the verve of a good soap opera, is … [17] and TV Guide gave it 5 stars. Yimou, Zhang. There isn't an arbitrary hue in the movie. Raise the Red Lantern She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Each focuses on women battling events beyond their control in prerevolutionary, feudal China. The First Mistress, Yuru (Jin Shuyuan), appears to be nearly as old as the master himself. [16] It has a 96% certified fresh rating at review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. Nevertheless, any film must stand on its own regardless of the background. [6] DVDFile adds to this stating "this horrible DVD is only recommended to those who love the movie so much, that they’ll put up with anything to own a Region 1 release. [14], A new MGM release in 2007 has also received some positive feedback. EMBED. Lotus is the youngest in the family and is loved the most by the master. The film was originally banned in China. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. While red is used to symbolize passion and revolutionary spirit in Red Sorghum, it takes on a much more sinister meaning in Raise the Red Lantern. Raise the Red Lantern is one of the more sublimely beautiful and openly disturbing films of the 1990s. Visually thrilling and rich with emotion, Raise the Red Lantern offers an engrossing period drama anchored by an outstanding performance from Gong Li. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives, each of them living in separate houses within the great castle. Having borne a son decades earlier, she seems resigned to live out her life as forgotten, always passed over in favor of the younger concubines. [22] Jonathan Crow of AllMovie stated that "the perpetual struggle for power that precludes any unity among the wives provides a depressingly apt metaphor for the fragmented civil society of post-Cultural Revolution China". Raise the Red Lantern is by far the most haunting tragedy in eastern cinema. "[19] The film ranked #28 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. Blaming the sequence of events on Yan'er, Songlian reveals to the house that Yan'er's room is filled with lit red lanterns, showing that Yan'er dreams of becoming a mistress instead of a lowly servant; it is suggested earlier that Yan'er is in love with the master and has even slept with him in the Fourth Mistress' bed. Doctor Gao (Gao-yisheng, Cui Zhigang), who is secretly having an illicit affair with Third Mistress Meishan, examines Songlian and determines the pregnancy to be a sham. Let our editors help you find what's trending and what's worth your time. A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem. The film is set in 1920s Republic of China during the Warlord Era (1916–1928), years before the Chinese Civil War. flag. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang. The predominant use of the color Red in his highly stylized films: Red Sorghum (1988), Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern (1991) are evidence of his trademark visual style thus leading scholars to critically analyze the symbolic representation of the color. Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂)Director: Zhang Yimou. The film is exquisitely shot, well acted, intelligent, and features unparalleled expertise in framing sequences (Zhang uses the ancient brick walls to effectively imprison his protagonist often placing her in the center of the frame). [8][9] A release by Rajon Vision has also received poor commentary[10], ERA's first release received similar attention[11] but the second digitally remastered edition has been more warmly received with DVD Times stating that "It's a film that really needs a Criterion edition with a new print or a full restoration, but in the absence of any likelihood of that, this Era Hong Kong edition is about as good as you could hope for. [18] However, there were a small number of negative reviews. One of the servants tells Songlian that her former maid died with her mistress's name on her lips. After her father's death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerful family. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Raise the Red Lantern: Lotus is a nineteen year old girl who marries the 50 yr old Chen Zuqian as his concubines because her father kills himself and she has no other choice. Infuriated, the master orders Songlian's lanterns covered with thick black canvas bags indefinitely. It's an archaic system that rewards those who play within the rules and destroys those who violate them.". It also focuses on gender roles and the roles played by women. A red lantern is raised each night outside the quarters of the wife who will be honored by a visit from the master. The film was shot in the Qiao Family Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. Unfortunately, this trend of women suffering cuts across different cultures including China; the setting of the film Raise the Red Lantern. James Berardinelli made a similar analogy in his review where he stated that "Songlian is the individual, the master is the government, and the customs of the house are the laws of the country. Examined here is the presentation of spectacle and the underlying questions raised by Zhang’s methods of ‘looking’, aspects that give the film a richness and complexity to match its content. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colours. Written by For other uses, see, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, "Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Long Gao Gao Gua) (1991)", "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 28. The setting is northern China in … Songlian soon discovers, however, that not all the concubines in the household receive the same luxurious treatment. With Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao. Raise the Red Lantern is the sorrowful story of a group of women’s lives who are trapped in a life build of unfulfilled wishes, unspoken desires, jealousy, failure, humiliation and spoiled prides. She says she will marry a rich man like her mother wants and become his concubine. Raise the Red Lantern removes the erotic and has a more devastating effect: Songlian’s self-destruction is assured from the start as she confronts the effects of unbending authority and we, like her unseen stepmother, are forced to watch how it abuses her. ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ (PG) By Hal Hinson Washington Post Staff Writer May 08, 1992 As a filmmaker, Chinese director Zhang Yimou is a peculiar combination of muckraker and aesthete. [20], The film has also been praised for its artistic merit. A provincial boy related to a Shanghai crime family is recruited by his uncle into cosmopolitan Shanghai in the 1930s to be a servant to a ganglord's mistress. Need some help finding the best things to watch on Netflix? Search for "Raise the Red Lantern" on Amazon.com, Title: Not Yet Rated 2 hr 5 min Drama. Zhuoyun summons the family physician, feigning concern for Songlian's "pregnancy". There’s a close up of Songlian (Gong Li) who is talking to her mother. - "Food, Sex, and Power at the Dining Room Table in Zhang Yimou's, This page was last edited on 19 April 2021, at 16:50. It is easily the best digital representation of this film currently available. Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! The Second Mistress, Zhuoyun (Zhuóyún, Cao Cuifen), befriends Songlian, complimenting her youth and beauty, and giving her expensive silk as a gift; she also warns her about the Third Mistress, Meishan (Méishan, He Saifei), a former opera singer who is spoiled and who becomes unable to cope with no longer being the youngest and most favored of the master's playthings. Regardless of the most troublesome times in China 's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the of. Borne him two sons and raised his eldest same luxurious treatment with emotion, raise the Red Lantern a... 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