"Raise The Red Lantern"

Raise The Red Lantern is a slow film with deep and touching intentions. The films raw portrayal of the Chinese culture is as emotional as poignant.

Directed by Zhang Yimou and released in 1991 (1992US), Raise the Red Lantern was well received in the United States as well as internationally. It was the recipient of many awards including a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Even with the stellar reviews and awards many critics believe that this film is a criticism of contemporary China. Zhang Yimou denies this Belief.

The film was set in 1920’s China. Young Songlian (played by Gong Li) is sent to become a mistress in the Chen concubine after the death of her father. She is one of four mistresses but is the youngest, most recent and prettiest. Every night Master Chen (played by Ma Jingwu) chooses which mistress her will spend the evening and eventually the night with. This mistress is then showered with special treatment from the maids as well as delightful meals along with the Master’s attention. At first young Songlian is treated with great preference and royalty in which the other women envy her. The concubine in whom the Master decides to spin his time subsequently has a Red Lantern lit to make this known. Soon after Songlian realizes that the Master doesn’t tend to all the concubines, creating competition amongst the mistresses. The first Mistress is a bit older and has borne a son by the Master decades ago. She is ok with Songlian but feels she is getting too old for the game of checkers that the Master plays. The second mistress initially befriends Songlian, complimenting her on her youth and beauty even showering her with gifts. Only to be recognized as a fraud by Songlian because of her actions with the third mistress.

Songlian vies for this attention so much that she tries to become pregnant for she believes this will give her the attention from the Master. It is revealed that the third mistress is having an affair with the family doctor, in which later she is hung. It is also revealed that one of the maids is secretly obsessed with the lifestyle of the mistresses and hangs Red Lanterns in her housing complex is a metaphor of her obsession. It is also revealed that she has slept with the master on several occasions. In a visually striking scene her lanterns are burned in the snow as she kneels down pleading for mercy.

After a while Songlian realizes that everything is a facade and that she is not made for that lifestyle. She is seen later in on of the scenes running around in a school dress, portraying the actions of someone that has gone completely insane.

This movie was as visually great as it gets. The reds were very powerful and the blues were equally chilling. The colorization of the two made the tone at time powerful and at other times; like towards the end with the hanging and death of the maid, it made cold and somber. I think this movie is for a patient viewer and isn’t for everyone. But overall it is nicely done.