Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

Directed by: Yimou Zhang
Rated: PG
Mandarin with English subtitles

Starring: Li Gong (Songlian), Saifei He (Meishan (Third Wife)), Cuifen Cao (Zhuoyan (Second Wife)), Jingwu Ma (The Master), Qi Zhao (Housekeeper), Lin Kong (Yan'er), Shuyuan Jin (Yuru (First Wife))

Synopsis: After the death of her father, Songlian is forced to leave college and become a concubine to the wealthy Chen family. Being the fourth wife to Master Chen, she discovers that he chooses who to spend the night with by lighting red lantern in her wing followed by getting royal treatment from the servants. This creates serious competition between the mistresses leading to bitter jealousy.

Review: There are two elements that I was most intrigued with - Master Chen and color. Even though Master Chen is the reason why all of these women are here, you never see him up close. If he was seen in bed, he would be either off camera or behind a heavy veil over the bed. I found this to be most interesting because he's the center of affection and attention for these women! This also brings up the point of how intoxicating these women are especially when it comes to competing for his affections. The second element is the use of color. The red lanterns blaze this glorious fire engine red that make you blink twice due to the vivaciousness. Also, the midnight blue after dusk against the red is equally compelling.

I would not recommend Red Lantern if you like fast-paced films. Even though it takes a while for it to pick up, this is a beautiful movie and recommend it if you want to see an interesting take on battle of the sexes and early 20th Century Chinese culture.

Verdict: B-
I dedicate this blog to Kathryn even though I saw this movie months ago. :-)