Raise the Red Lantern

1991 Chinese movie

Rating: 17/20

Plot: A young woman becomes the fourth wife of a camera-shy foot fetishist. The women compete for the affection of the husband who has the titular lantern lit for the woman he wants to spend the night with. They don't get along very well.

I don't know about you, readers, but if I were this guy, I'd get myself one large bed and just sleep with all of the women every night. And I'd get three more wives. Not that I even really know what to do with one woman, but it'd be cool to be able to brag to all of my rich friends.

This was the second Zhang Yimou/Yimou Zhang film that Cory has recommended. I've seen enough of him to know that there'll be plenty of color, and this doesn't really disappoint although it's not as flashy as Ju Dou, the other Cory recommendation that I liked at least as well as this; any of those artsy neo-kung-fu movies; or the fun Coen-remake A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop. I really liked the architecture, all labyrinthine and jaggy, and the splashes of color almost look like wounds against the bleak walls of this castle or whatever it is. I'm positive that I saw this back in the mid-90s and forgot about it. Likely, I wasn't smart or mature enough to watch it back then anyway. I still might not be smart enough as I really don't completely understand Li Gong's character. Li Gong's great, by the way, nailing these perfect complex emotions with the subtlest of expressions. Her character and the motivations of that character are bewildering though. The opening scene, powerful enough, is a close-up of her face as she's being lectured by somebody off-screen. She cries, and there's a fragility there. Five movie minutes later, she's got this confidence and seems kind of bitchy. Later, she develops into something more paranoid and bitchy. And then she goes crazy. I'm sure there's a subtext here that I'm not grasping because I'm not up on my Chinese history. It's a weird character though, one with this depth that neither Li Gong or the writers had to work very hard--or more accurately, very obviously--to develop it. The other actresses who play wives 1-3 or the servants are also really good although the third one (aka the hottest one) is supposed to be a former opera star but has a singing voice that might be the worst thing I've every heard. And I do like how the master of the house is barely seen at all. I think we see the back of his head more than his face, and I know we never see the latter in a close-up. This lacks the flamboyance of Zhang Yimou's later work, but its story is engrossing and just the right kind of slow and builds to a chilling climax.

I also liked how they blew the lanterns out.