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Summary: One of my favorite movies
Review: This is one of my top five favorite movies. However, I think (and I'm going to make a somewhat sexist statement here) that in order to truly appreciate it, you have to be a woman. Sure, the camerawork is interesting, the settings gorgeous, the acting careful, and the ending nicely depressing. But there are tons of other "artsy" movies with those qualities. What I love about this movie, though, is its delicate depiction of the viciousness of women and the encompassing despair that ensues.In a China not as long ago as some may think, a beautiful young woman (played by Gong Li) is sent to be the fourth wife of a weathly man. Every night, the husband chooses the wife with whom to sleep, and red lanterns are put outside her house to signal the honor. At first our heroine isn't very interested in being chosen, but eventually she becomes more and more enmeshed in the subtle rivalries and power plays that the wives engage in. In my opinion, this rivalry is the area where "Raise the Red Lantern" excels. It carefully shows the concealed competition in which women often participate, which sometimes we don't care to admit occurs, even to ourselves. And the empty, temporal goal -- sleeping with the recipient of a loveless marriage -- that the wives so cruelly strive for shows the futile desperation and craving for attention that even the most proud of us sometimes encounters. It's a very unflattering look at the female psyche, but a very interesting and brave one as well.
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Summary: A MUST SEE FOR SERIOUS ART FILM LOVERS!!!
Review: First off,I have to say, I haven't watched a great amount of foriegn films in my life time,so I may not be as educated on the genre as some. But I do know whats good!!!
'Raise the red lantern' is a very awe-inspiring art film. Beautifully written, BEAUTIFULLY SHOT and beautifully directed!
It's a subtiltled period film set back in 1920's China. It's about love,jealousy,power and most of all, HONOR,and what some will do to attain it.
I won't go into depth about it; you just have to see it, meditate on it, then see it again to get the full understanding of this stupendous work! If you are into art films that have real depth and meaning,then you should definetly have this in your collection.
The main character Gong Li,as well as the other characters were outstanding in there roles!
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Summary: Astounding
Review: This movie is an absolute must-see. I first saw it on assignment from a film class. I absolutely loved it! The plot was most intriguing and engaging. The female is obviously a very talented woman as her acting was superb.
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Summary: Life in a gilded cage
Review: "Raise the Red Lantern" offers us a fascinating look at life in early 20th-century China. It tells us the story of Songlian (Gong Li in her best role to date), 19 years old, harassed by her mother to leave college and marry after her father's death leaves the family impoverished. If she has to marry, she reasons, she might as well marry a rich man, and heedless of her mother's warnings that she will become little better than a concubine in a rich man's house (or, who knows, perhaps to spite her mother for forcing her to leave school), she becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy businessman. From the start, everything goes wrong. Even her status in the household as fourth wife is ominous (the number four is considered unlucky in Chinese); she is an independent maverick in a place where she is expected to conform, and she finds herself trapped by the "customs of the house" which must be rigidly adhered to at all times. With nothing to do to occupy their time, the wives spend their days scheming against each other; the first wife, old and no longer attractive, at least has the status of being the mother of the oldest son; the second wife, jealous of the younger women, plots at their destruction, and the third wife fights against the constraints of her existence by taking the disastrous step of an extramarital affair. Songlian is no match for the forces arrayed against her in this menage; when she tries to assert her place by falsifying a pregnancy and her ruse is discovered, she is relegated to a state of perpetual disgrace. Shunned by the master of the house and held in contempt by everyone else, ignored even on her birthday, she retaliates by getting drunk and blurting out the secret of the third wife's liaison. The "customs of the house" demand the ultimate punishment, and the third wife meets the fate which other adulterous wives in the family have met before her. Songlian is left to go slowly and inexorably insane in this exquisite prison while the master of the house takes yet another wife, this one even younger than she is. Gong Li is incredible as Songlian; she is so stunningly beautiful and such a great actress that she dominates every scene she is in. The film moves slowly but it's never boring, and although it's shot almost entirely within the confines of the house, the complexities of the building underscore the complexities of the relationship to the master and to each other that the wives are trapped in. Zhang Yimou has directed other fine films, but Red Lantern is his masterpiece.
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Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: Raise The Red Lantern, about four women competing with each other for the attention of their wealthy husband, is not the kind of movie a guy would normally be expected to enjoy, but I was completely captivated by this film. Red Lantern centers around Wife #4, played by Gong Li. She immediately views Wife #3 as her chief rival, with #3 still a young free spirit who is also a talented opera singer and goes so far as to fake a pregnancy to draw the husband away from #3. Wife #1 is old and wife #2, in early middle age, seems friendly and harmless. However, things are not as they appear. While there maybe some political allegory in this film that I as a Westerner do not get, most likely how people plot, scheme and betray to curry favor with their superiors; the thing that stands out the most in this film is hypocrisy. The husband, whose face we never see, openly fools around with a young servant girl, but when wife #3 commits adultery, she is of course severely punished. Raise the Red Lantern is a great movie and a must see for anyone who enjoys foreign cinema.
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Summary: Only one word will suffice - mesmerising
Review: This outstanding tale set in 1920's is a breakthrough for modern cinema, and completely dispels the myth that foreign films are boring and pretentious. The story is about a young girl called Songliang (Gong Li) who leaves university after money dries up following her father's death and she becomes a concubine. She becomes just one mistress in a long lin that has passed through the family. Entering as the fourth mistress, her other 'sisters' are not so willing to accept her and its these factions that form that are the real fascination. 'Raise The Red Lantern' is a movie about power, as the mistresses try to gain their master's affection over one another, although the ultimate goal is to bear a male heir to ensure that their position is truly safe. Interwoven into this are subplots involving the servants and questions about whether allegiance and duty should come before love and the quest for happiness. It's a remarkably restrained movie, with the superb cast refusing to court our sympathy even in the most distressing of scenes. What is spectacular about this though, is that the characters are all distinctly human in that even ther heroine is flawed. This marks it out as a refreshing piece of cinema compared to the glitz of other popular movies. The strength of the women and the individual is another thing which is stressed. Whilst the women struggle for power over one another, it is the master who has the real power. Also interesting is the way in which the movie is filmed, as several times the women appear to be encaged in red lanterns, the symbol of who the master has chosen to stay with that night. This is a movie to treasure, a definite modern classic.
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Summary: Gong Li is the Best Unknown Actress in Movies
Review: If there were any fairness in Hollywood, Gong Li would have won the Academy Award for Best Actress for any one of her many movies. Besides being drop-dead gorgeous, she is an exquisite actress of the first order. The opening scene, a close-up of her face as she resigns herself to her nihilistic future, will convince anyone of this fact. Raise the Red Lantern is a thinking, engrossing movie that dispenses with special effects and overwhelming scores and concentrates on story and acting. Zhang Yimou is famous for delivering biting criticism of the oppressive, delusional aspects of Chinese society. Raise the Red Lantern shows one very strong, independent woman's attempt to overcome thousands of years of historic oppression in early 20th ca China. Women are collectables for rich men, mere objects of possession. The horrific backstabbing and betrayal is among the women themselves as they vie for most-desired-object status. When the human need for dignity and respect surface, the repercussions are catastrophic. The plot has been well documented, although this is one of those movies where the less you know going in the better. Suffice to say the first thing you'll want to do once the movie is over is to watch it again. It is disappointing to see a number of very mediocre movies receiving 4 and 5 stars simply because they shun the standard Hollywood formula, as if mainstream automatically equals bad and independent automatically equals good. The mediocrity of these films becomes apparent when compared to indy films of the highest caliber, such as Raise the Red Lantern. Highly, highly recommended.
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Summary: One of the best Chinese Films Ever Made
Review: This is Zhang Yimou's finest directorial achievement. this a story about the hopelesness of early chinese scoiety where bigomy is commonplace and women are basically treated as slaves by their husbands. songlia(gong li) is pressured by her mother to get married. she gets married to a nobleman, he also has 3 other wives live as well and forms a bond with some of them. they are not allowed to leave the large castle-like estate and have their own wings of the house to stay in. they compete against one another for the attention of their husband so he will stay the night with her and he hangs red lanterns in whichever wing he spends the night at. there are twistsin the movie as to which wives are really her friends and which are not. this movie is truly remarkable. this movie introduced me to chinese cinema. i recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story.
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Summary: If You Enjoy Foreign Films - Watch This!
Review: How many adjectives do you need to describe a film that is made so perfectly? This is a sumptuous feast of stunningly evocative scenes set within a remote Chinese hilltop fort. Sent to be the concubine of a feudal Chinese nobleman, the central character played by Gong Li endures just about every emotion that could be visited upon a human being. I shall not even go into the plot but just be warned, this is no Naked Gun, where you can lean back with a beer. It is a film which has to be worked at and like The Killing Fields it will totally wring you out emotionally. Have at least two boxes of tissues close to hand, you will need them.
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Summary: Raise the Red Latern -- Horrible Import DVD
Review: The film is great. The imported Chinese/English subtitled version has English subtitles alright, but they are a terrible translation.
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