Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

iliasalk I loved this film. It flows like reading a beautiful book. Well directed and perfectly acted.

classicsoncall Perhaps I've conditioned myself to some of director Yimou Zhang's later films, because this movie had none of the appeal that I was expecting. Not that I was looking for a colorful and exciting display of martial arts, I can get that anytime. But the story line here was frustratingly static and virtually relegated to a single location inside the fortress of a wealthy Chinese land owner. And unless my DVD copy of the movie was somehow degraded, the early portions of the picture had a scratchy quality to it, almost like a 1920's silent film. But maybe that's just an outlier I experienced.The story itself is compelling in it's own way, and the use and symbolism of the lanterns lends an ethereal quality to the Master's choice of bedtime partners each evening. I probably should have expected the infighting and power play of the four 'mistresses' conspiring against each other, however I don't know how any of them thought they could get away with their schemes. Perhaps that's why the oldest First Mistress (Shuyuan Jin) managed to keep herself mostly out of the fray, having been around the longest and realizing she was no longer a preferred 'wife'. The question of how long Songlian (Li Gong) thought she could affect the ruse of a pregnancy was brought up but never really answered. Perhaps she was going mad well before witnessing Meishan's (Saifei He) execution.Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the story is the virtual absence of The Master (Jingwu Ma), a shadowy presence for the most part who's commands and directions are handled off screen or in dim lighting so as not to intrude on the machinations of the four mistresses. I was also taken aback by what appeared to be a voodoo type of doll used by Songlian's servant girl Yan'er (Lin Kong), to call upon the spirits to demean the lady she served. Even with all of that though, I didn't find the movie to be that compelling over all, and if I were to offer a recommendation. I'd say stick with Yimou Zhang's films of two decades later - "Hero" (2002), "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), or "Curse of the Golden Flower" (2006). Watch any of those and 'Red Lantern' pales by comparison.

Prismark10 Raise The Red Lantern demonstrated the importance of Chinese cinema. Luscious use of colour, photography and setting it in the past meant you could use symbolism to make coded criticisms of China today without or hopefully not raising the eyebrow of the censor.Our protagonist Songlian is a 19 year old woman in 1920s China, beautiful and educated. When her father dies her step mother sells her as a concubine to her wealthy master. She is the fourth mistress and when the red lantern is lit outside her house, it signifies that the master will spend the night with her and she will be treated royally.The master has four wives, the first is older, maybe around his age and she has bore him a child but is largely forgotten. At her age she knows she cannot arouse the interest of the master.The film is almost soap opera like as the other wives compete for the interest of the master and this means conspiring, being petty and mean. It leads to tragic results and Songlian distils that this is a game where the women cannot win. As the wives get older the master will find a younger model with something different that interests him. She retreats into solitude.Director Zhang highlights the lack of power women had in the past in this Confucian orientated society but also shows what could happen to you if you did not play by the rules in an archaic system.

gavin6942 A young woman (Gong Li) becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy lord, and must learn to live with the strict rules and tensions within the household."Raise the Red Lantern" has been distributed on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD by numerous different distributors, with many coming under criticism for their poor quality. You absolutely must see this film in decent quality, because it is the color that sells the picture. (Sure, the plot helps, but this is a beautiful film.) The Razor Digital Entertainment DVD is said to be particularly bad. The MGM DVD from 2007 is quite good, but this is still a picture that would benefit from a new transfer (and maybe some special features).Ebert compares this movie to the Japanese film "Woman in the Dunes" (1960), and ranks it among his "Great Movies".