Final Rating: 4/5
A central figure of the Fifth Generation of Chinese cinema, Zhang Yimou released two high-profile films consecutively. In 1990, his third feature, Ju Dou, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received an Oscar nomination in the Foreign Language Film category. A year later, he returned with Raise the Red Lantern, which also received an Academy Award nomination, but this time, for Hong Kong. The film won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and Yimou won the Golden Lion the following year, 1992, with The Story of Qiu Ju.
Raise the Red Lantern adapts a Su Tong book. In 1920, a 19-year-old woman, Songlian (Gong Li), is forced to marry a wealthy man. She becomes the fourth mistress of the household, and each one presents a different personality. The first, Yuru (Jin Shuyuan), is the same age as the master. They have a son together, and she is firm with the other wives. Zhuoyun (Cao Cuifen), the second mistress, instantly befriends the newest member. She warns of the third wife, Meishan (He Saifei), a former opera singer and the most spoiled on the roster. Gradually, the fourth wife settles into the household dynamic and understands the wives’ inner disputes as they seek the master’s attention.
Once again, Yimou analyzes 1920s China. In Ju Dou, he glimpses China before the Cultural Revolution and the sexual dynamics among the village’s members. Raise the Red Lantern follows a similar logic: a confrontation between wives for the husband’s attention, especially between the third and the fourth, the newest ones in the clan.
Fascinatingly, the director slowly introduces each character. When Songlian arrives at the house, the mistress’s maids present her to the family. In the next scene, Songlian dines with all the mistresses and the master. As the newest, she can order anything from the house’s menu.
In this regard, the director slowly escalates the conflict between them, especially between the third and the fourth wives. The opera singer sings at night, while the others sleep. Yet Songlian is not afraid of the confrontation; instead, she decides to face her. The dramatic thread is the power balance between the wives. They attempt to become the center of attention. Basically, the film narrates a tug-of-war between women trying to outdo each other.
At the center, Yimou puts an extraordinary Gong Li, who starred in his first seven films. Li brings a fragile nuance to this performance. She starts as a naive nineteen-year-old girl whose destiny was decided for her. Yet she becomes a respected figure in that household as she understands the dynamic between her husband and the others, including her maid.
The film features a political configuration that unfolds through the women’s ability to incriminate each other and destroy reputations. We have the fourth wife becoming more comfortable with their position in the social game; it leads to a complete collapse of that house’s structure.
Visually, the film shifts its references according to the seasons. As the title suggests, the red lanterns symbolize the master’s choice of the woman he would spend the night with. In this sense, it is a reference to the sexual subtext in the home’s dynamic, while they fight to gather his attention.
Indeed, Raise the Red Lantern is another work by a Chinese author on the sexual and familial dynamics in 1920s China. Zhang Yimou creates a formally consistent film. It adapts a book that narrates the dynamic power between women and a powerful husband. Despite their rivalry, the man’s dominion is never challenged, a reflection of that time and that polyamorous configuration. Still, it is a fascinating film in the political tension within a household, disputing love and attention.
Thank you to Film Movement and Foundry Communications for the screener.
