Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

A young woman becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy lord, and must learn to live with the strict rules and tensions within the household.

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Su Tong (original novel "Wives and Concubines" by), Ni Zhen (scriptwriter)

Stars:

Li Gong, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He

Top Rated Movies #240 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Li Gong	...	Songlian
Saifei He	...	Meishan (Third Wife)
Jingwu Ma	...	The Master
Cuifen Cao	...	Zhuoyan (Second Wife)
Qi Zhao	...	Housekeeper
Lin Kong	...	Yan'er
Shuyuan Jin	...	Yuru (First Wife)
Weimin Ding	...	Songlian's Mother (voice)
Zhengyin Cao	...	Old Servant
Zhigang Cui	...	Dr. Gao (as Zhihgang Cui)
Chu Xiao	...	Feipu

Storyline

China in the 1920's. After her father's death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerful family. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives, each of them living in separate houses within the great castle. The competition between the wives is tough, as their master's attention carries power, status and privilege. Each night Chen must decide with which wife to spend the night and a red lantern is lit in front of the house of his choice. And each wife schemes and plots to make sure it's hers. However, things get out of hand...

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Plot Keywords:

1920s | power struggle | tradition | red lantern | china | 

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Taglines:

China, 1920. One master, four wives.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

China Hong Kong Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

18 December 1991 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Raise the Red Lantern

Filming Locations:

Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,603,061

Company Credits

Production Co:

ERA International, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Century Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ranked number 93 non-English-speaking film in the critics' poll conducted by the BBC in 2018.

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Goofs

Around 01:18:59, there is a lot of smoke in front of the third wife. And there is almost no smoke in front of the second one.

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Quotes

The Third Concubine: She has the face of Buddha and the heart of a scorpian

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Connections

Referenced in 8 Women (2002)

User Reviews

Engrossing from the first moments

My interest was maintained throughout every minute of this rather long film. I don't remember when I've seen another film in which every single role was played to perfection. (Incidentally, this wonderfully believable acting seems to occur in at least some, if not most, of the roles in every Chinese movie I see, from the mainland or otherwise.)

The story is one of classical simplicity, in in large part presented with the same classical, clear quality. The interplay of passion, jealousy, and revenge is reminiscent of Shakespeare, but, for me, more entertaining--if it's proper to speak of such ultimately somber and even horrifying subject matter as entertainment.

I unhesitatingly gave a vote of ten, and noticed that a full 33% of voters so far had done the same--very unusual.

When Roger Ebert called "Raise the Red Lantern" "breathtakingly beautiful," he wasn't exaggerating. But beyond its beauty, its moral seriousness, the fact that not for a moment is it "dumbed down" in the regrettable Hollywood fashion, its superb acting, and its almost unbelievably perfect pacing, make it a rare, rare experience.

"Red Sorghum," the only other Zhang Yimou film I've seen so far, I found somewhat propagandistic but gripping and visually stunning (even more so than "Raise the Red Lantern.") I will be making an effort to see more of this director's fairly extensive body of work.

It's a shame major theater chains don't schedule movies of this caliber instead of the torrent of commercialized Hollywood trash they foist on the public, which, alas, seems only too eager to wallow in more and more of it.