| Raise the Red Lantern | |
|---|---|
Front of DVD release |
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| Directed by | Zhang Yimou |
| Produced by | Hou Hsiao-hsien Chiu Fu-sheng Zhang Wenze |
| Written by | Zhen Ni |
| Based on | Wives and Concubines by Su Tong |
| Starring | Gong Li |
| Music by | Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography | Zhao Fei |
| Editing by | Du Yuan |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | September 1991 (Venice) |
| Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | China Hong Kong Taiwan |
| Language | Mandarin |
| Box office | $2,603,061 (United States)[1] |
Raise the Red Lantern (simplified Chinese: 大红灯笼高高挂; traditional Chinese: 大紅燈籠高高掛; pinyin: Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà) is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang.
Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colours. The film was shot in Qiao's Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. Although the screenplay was approved by Chinese censors,[2] the final version of the film was banned in China for a period.[3][4] Some film critics have interpreted the film as a veiled allegory against authoritarianism.[5]
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The film is set in 1920s China during the warlord era, years before the Chinese Civil War. Nineteen-year-old Songlian (頌蓮 Sònglián, played by Gong Li), whose father has recently died and left the family bankrupt, marries into the wealthy Chen family, becoming the fourth wife or rather the third concubine — or, as she is referred to, the Fourth Mistress (四太太 Sì tàitai) — of the household. Arriving at the palatial abode, she is at first treated like royalty, receiving sensuous foot massages and brightly-lit red lanterns, as well as a visit from her husband, Master Chen (Ma Jingwu), the master of the house, whose face is never clearly shown.
Songlian soon discovers, however, that not all the concubines in the household receive the same luxurious treatment. In fact, the master decides on a daily basis the concubine he will spend the night with; whomever he chooses gets her lanterns lit, receives the foot massage, gets her choice of menu items at mealtime, and gets the most attention and respect from the servants. Pitted in constant competition against each other, the three concubines are continually vying for their husband's attention and affections.
The First Mistress, Yuru (Jin Shuyuan), appears to be nearly as old as the master himself. 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. The Second Mistress, Zhuoyun (卓云 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 (梅珊 Méishān, He Caifei), 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. As time passes, though, Songlian learns that it is really Zhuoyun, the Second Mistress, who is not to be trusted; she is subsequently described as having the face of the Buddha, yet possessing the heart of a scorpion.
Songlian feigns pregnancy, attempting to garner the majority of the master's time and, at the same time, attempting to become actually pregnant. Zhuoyun, however, is in league with Songlian's personal maid, Yan'er (燕兒 Yàn'ér, played by Kong Lin) who finds and reveals a pair of bloodied undergarments, suggesting that Songlian had recently had her period, and discovers the pregnancy is a fraud.
Zhuoyun summons the family physician, feigning concern for Songlian's "pregnancy." Doctor Gao (高醫生 Gāo-yīshēng, Cui Zhigang), who is secretly having an illicit affair with Third Mistress Meishan, examines Songlian and determines the pregnancy to be a sham. Infuriated, the master orders Songlian's lanterns covered with thick black canvas bags indefinitely. 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.
Yan'er is punished by having the lanterns burned while she kneels in the snow, watching as they smolder. In an act of defiance, Yan'er refuses to humble herself or apologize and thus remains kneeling in the snow throughout the night until she collapses. Yan'er falls sick and ultimately dies after being taken to the hospital. One of the servants tells Songlian that her former maid died with her mistress's name on her lips. Songlian, who had briefly attended university before the passing of her father and being forced into marriage, comes to the conclusion that she is happier in solitude; she eventually sees the competition between the concubines as a useless endeavor, as each woman is merely a "robe" that the master may wear and discard at his discretion.
As Songlian retreats further into her solitude, she begins speaking of suicide; she reasons that dying is a better fate than being a concubine in the Chen household. On her twentieth birthday, severely intoxicated and despondent over her bitter fate, Songlian inadvertently blurts out the details of the love affair between Meishan and Doctor Gao. Zhuoyun overhears the information and catches the adulterous couple together. Following the old customs and traditions, Meishan is dragged to a lone room on the roof of the estate and hanged to death by the master's servants.
Songlian, already in agony due to the fruitlessness of her life, witnesses the entire episode and is emotionally traumatized. The following summer, after the master's marriage to yet another concubine, Songlian is shown wandering the compound in her old schoolgirl clothes, having gone completely insane.
| Raise the Red Lantern | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Zhao Jiping | |
| Released | 1994 |
| Label | Milan Records |
All songs composed by Zhao Jiping.
Raise the Red Lantern has been distributed both on VHS and DVD by numerous different distributors, with many coming under criticism for their poor quality.
The Razor Digital Entertainment DVD release has been widely criticised. DVD Times states "Many other viewers will find this DVD release simply intolerable."[6] DVDTown criticised the same release, giving the video quality 1 out of 10 and the audio quality 6 out of 10, summarising that "the video is a disaster".[7] 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."[8] The translation on this version has been also widely criticised for its numerous inaccuracies.[9][10] A release by Rajon Vision has also received poor commentary[11]
Era's first release received similar attention[12] 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."[13] DVDBeaver broadly agrees stating "Now, this is not Criterion image quality, but it is not bad at all. It is easily the best digital representation of this film currently available."[14] DVD Talk, though, believes that "This new version is a stunner".[15]
A new MGM release in 2007 has also received some positive feedback.[14]
It has also been released as a Laserdisc, quality unknown.
Described as "one of the landmark films of the 1990s" by Jonathan Crow of Allmovie,[16] where it received 5 stars, since its release Raise the Red Lantern has been very well received. James Berardinelli named it his 7th best film of the 1990s.[17] It has a 96% certified fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes[18] and TV Guide gave it 5 stars.[19] However, there was a small number of negative reviews. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post stated that "the story never amounts to much more than a rather tepid Chinese rendition of "The Women.""[20] The film ranked #28 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.[21] Dai Qing said that "this find of film is really shot for the casual pleasures of foreigners" and that it did not succeed in "touching [Dai] emotionally or aesthetically".[22]
The film has also been praised for its artistic merit. Desson Howe of The Washington Post states that "In purely aesthetic terms, "Raise the Red Lantern" is breathtaking"[23] and James Berardinelli states that "the appeal to the eye only heightens the movie's emotional power". John Hartl of Film.com describe it to be "a near-perfect movie that often recalls the visual purity and intensity of silent films."[18]
The film has been interpreted by some critics as a criticism of contemporary China, although Zhang Yimou himself has sternly denied this.[24] Jonathan Crow of Allmovie states 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". James Berardinelli makes a similar analogy in his review where he states that "Songlian is the individual, the master is the government, and the customs of the house are the laws of the country. It's an archaic system that rewards those who play within the rules and destroys those who violate them.".[25] Furthermore, in such a system, the innocent individual becomes the executer of new incoming victims, making one's outcome even more tragic, as it is analyzed by Gil Hizi of ThinkingChinese.[26]
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.[27]
The 1001 Series has also named it as one of the 25 movies you must see before you die
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