The story itself is a common clichés found in the 80s and 90s Hong Kong made serial TV dramas but which usually tells about royal families instead. Zhang Yimou and the movie's creators nicely simplify those settings into the mid-level social class of a wealthy man .But despite this simplification, the intrigue gets even more focused and emphasized. The feel of the artsy movie with lots of long shot zooms and still moments instead supports the drama and made the movie's pace really enjoyable. I felt that the two-hour duration was nicely bearable since the movie piece in its puzzle pieces nicely and still keeps the ending quite unpredictable despite the story contains a lot of clichés about harem and the intrigue inherent in it. The acting overall is a little bit above standard. Gong Li did okay in her performance here although she really had to work more on her expressions.

Zhang Yimou's film "Da hong deng long gao gao gua" (1991) has become one of my few safehavens: a film I retreat to when I return from my film adventures and long for refreshment. What I like the most is how this is shot, that is, With such discipline: the shots are highly symmetrical, either horizontally or in depth, and often than not in depth. It's amazing, and shows what three-dimensional filmmaking really is all about. I talk of discipline, since they could have shot each scene the ordinary way, going far closer than they do, but instead they step back and let the space of the place suck you in. This creates a wonderful sense of loneliness in the context of the film, and the closeups then have added power.Speaking of which, this has somewhat ousted another architecturally brilliant film from the same year (1991), just as radical if not more in its use of space, but a lot tougher to sit through. The same with sound: the contrapuntal dance of sounds and silence, just like that of long shots and closeups, beautifully emphasizes the few important motifs that the soundscape offers us.But the riches of the film far transcend only the technical, no matter how reinvigorating and masterful they be. Songlian's marriage, as demonstrated by the first scene, is actually an act of rebellion towards her mother and the values her mother represents. Dramaturgically there is an unexpected symmetry there, since when she gets to the house, she finds that all the women do just that, rebel and play the game with far greater ruthlessness than her.Indeed, the film plays out just like a game of light. The lanterns are lit, they change houses, with it all the perceived authorial power in the game (I think this aspect is occasionally misinterpreted as melodrama). But it wouldn't have worked without Gong Li, who is lovable, beautiful and subtle enough so that in the end we start reading our own projections and assumption on her face.As far as I know, there isn't a decent Blu-ray of the film in existence. I own a French Blu-ray, which is unfortunately not of a very good quality, and might pose problems for people who don't know French (or Mandarin!), since it's the only subtitle option available.

The biggest problem with Raise the Red Lantern is what happens to Songlian in the end. There's so much tension, interplay that builds up and there's the very frightening raising of the ot lanterns, so when the Freudian epilogue along with the new introduction is posed as if history endlessly repeats (which it certainly did not) it comes off as unconvincing. Taoist? Stoic? Nihilist? I'm not sure what Chinese women would make of this movie really, except as cinematic candy. And it sure shines on that level. The film is just totally beautiful and Yang Zhimou has a sublime way with lines and light. Still, this is a film trying to be about women directed by a man. It doesn't quite work.

This beautifully made film ranks high among my list of favorite movies. One reason is because of its film star, Li Gong, who I loved in Ju Dou, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Curse of the Golden Flower. The second reason is because of Director Yimou Zhang who directed Ju Dou, Hero, House of the Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower, all films that should be on your IMDb watchlist if you haven't seen them. The third reason is the exquisite writing and plot. The film is about 19 year old Songlian (Li Gong) whose family falls on hard times after the death of her father. She marries into the wealthy Chen family and becomes the fourth wife of Master Chen. The competition for his attention and affection among the wives is fierce. This is because the Master decides on a daily basis which wife he will spend the night with. Whomever he chooses gets her lanterns lit and special treatment including a foot massage, her choice of food at mealtime, and the most attention and respect from the servants. The first wife is routinely passed over so the other wives ignore her but the remaining wives hate each other and resort to trickery and backstabbing. The unhealthy environment leads to tragedy.This film is one that will have you continuing to look at the screen five minutes after it has ended. The wonderfully rich colors shown in the movie are in sharp contrast to the dark, depressing life of Songlian who once dreamed of a happy life before being forced into marriage