Red Sorghum

Zhang Yi-Mou's first film (his second was Ju Dou, reviewed in the December 1991 issue of LJ) is a stunningly photographed Chinese love story set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation earlier in the century. The film opens with the lovely Nine (Gong Li, star of Ju Dou) being transported by carriage bearers/winery workers to her new husband, the aging leper and winery owner Big Head Li. Although she doesn't consummate the marriage, Nine is seduced by one of the carriage bearers (Jiang Wen) in the tall sorghum grasses, and becomes pregnant. When Li abruptly dies, Nine assumes ownership of the winery and she and the all-male crew get down to some serious winemaking. The middle part of the film explores the comical relationship between Nine and her winery worker lover, and the increasing political unrest in the neighboring countryside. During the final third, the film flashes forward nine years, when the winery is prospering, and Nine's son leads an idyllic life cavorting in and around the huge wine pots. When a Japanese tank unit decides to build a road through the sorghum, they gather the people of the region together for a harrowing display of power, demanding that the local butcher flay a renegade named Sanpao alive. Though the graphic violence is minimal, the scene is one of the most nerve-wracking sequences in modern cinema. Eventually, Nine rallies the winery workers into a desperate plan to attack the Japanese, leading to the chilling and visually brilliant climactic ending. Winner of a 1988 Golden Bear award, Red Sorghum is an extraordinary film from an exceptionally gifted young Chinese filmmaker. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)