Stars: Gong Li (Ju Dou, Red Sorghum), Cao Cuifeng, He Caifei. Nominated for Best Foreign film for the 1992 Oscars, Raise the Red Lantern is Chinese director Zhang Yimou's third film starring the winning actress Gong Li (the first two were Red Sorghum and the Oscar-nominated Ju Dou). Set in 1920s China, Li plays 19-year-old Songlian, a young girl who marries into the powerful Chen family. Chen already has three wives, and Songlian becomes known as the "Fourth Mistress." Initially, Songlian takes to the lifestyles of the rich and famous with ease, enjoying her nightly foot massage and the beautiful red lanterns which are always lit at the house of the mistress where the master is staying. However, when four women vie for the attentions of one man, there's going to be a bit of politicking going on, and the inexperienced Songlian soon has her lanterns blown out. As Songlian later discovers, beneath the surface of the bickering and backbiting, deeper forces are at work: the struggle to provide a male heir. As in Yimou's earlier films, Raise the Red Lantern is, first and foremost, an extraordinarily beautiful film (Yimou is arguably the most gifted artist working today when it comes to the use of vibrant primary colors and light), but it's also a very accessible and powerful tale of love, deceit, murder, and madness. Audience: Movie lovers; those looking for intelligent but not graphic films. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Feb. 21, 2006—Razor Digital, 125 min., in Chinese w/English subtitles, PG, $19.99—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1991's Oscar-nominated Raise the Red Lantern features a substandard transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, with no DVD extras. Bottom line: a fine film, poorly presented.]
Raise The Red Lantern
Drama, Orion Home Video, in Mandarin w/English subtitles (excellent), 1991, Color, 125 min., $79.98, rated: PG Video Movies
Raise The Red Lantern
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