From: xh@uirvlj.csl.uiuc.edu (Xiao Ping Hu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china
Subject: Shut Down, That Red Lantern
Date: 30 Jul 1992 04:18:09 GMT
Organization: Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NNTP-Posting-Host: uirvlj.csl.uiuc.edu
Summary: Movie Review
Keywords: Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou


		Shut Down, That Red Lantern

	Director Zhang Yimou's movies have never been liked by the 
Chinese Authority, though his artistic attainments and popularity 
have been ever growing. Like "Judou", his new movie, "Raise the Red 
Lantern" (Red Lantern hereafter), is also banned in China.
But why?

	Taking a retrospect of Mr. Zhang's representative works, 
"Old Well", "Red Sorghum",  "Judou", and this new one, "Red 
Lantern", a major theme in his movies is anti-feudalism and 
anti-tradition. He expressed the feeling of the whole generation 
of Chinese intellectuals and people, "dare to anger, but dare not 
to speak", in the stories that happened, of course, only in those 
"old times". 

	"Red Lantern", Like "Judou", is full of suppression, terror,
benightedness, and brutality. Such an oppressive atmosphere befalls
on you, you simply feel breatheless in the cinema. Originally an
photographer, he never deemphasizes the effect of color and viewing
angle. Gloomy color and quietness make the lifeless house a haunted
grave, which is itself dying and being buried with many innocent lives.
The balanced and upright viewing angle intriguingly hints the awesome,
dull, and oppressive essence of the house, the family, and the invisible
"family custom". Red lantern, as a symbol of obtaining privilege and
favor from the Master or the husband in the movie, is the goal of the 
plots of the concubines. Even Yen'er, a dallied maid of the new coming
concubine, dreaming to be a mistress sometime, would light Red Lanterns
secretly in her room, which later bring disaster to her life.

	Gong Li performed the fourth concubine, whose new coming to
the house agitates all kinds of plots against her. The first wife
has believed in Bhudism, whose apparent superiority maintains the
"peace" among the concubines. The third concubine is pretty and
coquettish and has born the Master a son. Her beauty and witching 
singing enchanted away all the favors of the Master before the fourth 
Concubine, SongLian, comes. The second one, knowing her less favorable
position due to her inferior beauty and having born only a daughter,
has nevertheless her own unique ways -- sweet smile and expert 
massaging skill, which make the Master comfortable. However, behind
her smile is a extremely vicious heart which at first has cheated
SongLian, who later only finds out that the second concubine allies 
with Yen'er to curse and plot against her. The master's eldest son,
even in his youth, also tries to steal away SongLian's love and cheats 
her like he cheated other women. Being educated, young, and beautiful, 
Songlian is not willing to give up to the family tradition and the bully 
of the family. She openly and boldly rebels. She "accidently" cuts the 
ear of the second concubine, reveals the hidden Lanterns of a conspiratress, 
Yen'er, and incites the first lady to lay punishment on Yen'er, which 
deprives her life. She then leaks out the adultery secret of the third 
concubine in a "drunken" status which finally leads the sweet second lady 
to capture the couple right on the spot. In a snowy night, the third 
concubine is sent to the haunted attic where, in the family custom, 
is the destiny of those faithless concubines. Witnessing this brutality,
SongLian discovers her own conscience and becomes "mad", maybe real, 
maybe not. Despite of all that have happended, life goes on. The second 
year, the master marries a fifth wife, even younger, even prettier ...

	Walking out of the cinema, the pressure on my chest never 
softens. While every concubine tries to get the favor of the Master, 
none of them can escape the fate as a victim of the "ancient custom", 
which seems quite effective (at least the foot massaging method) in 
slaving the wives. Wondering whether the audience and especially those 
raped people in China understand the delicate intrigue of Mr. Zhang Yimou, 
which is much more complicated than the plots of the concubines, and 
pondering what the red lanterns really represent, I cannot help but
crying in my heart:

	Oh, Shut Down, That Red Lantern!



Newsgroups: soc.culture.china