Raise the Red Lantern

8.0

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Original title: Da hong Deng long Gao gao Gua (Raise the Red Lantern)
Year: 1991
Running time: 125 min.
Country: China
Director: Zhang Yimou
Screenwriter: Ni Zhen. Novel: Su Tong
Music: Zhao Jiping, Naoki Tichikawa
Cinematography: Zhao Fei, Yang Lun
Cast: Gong Li, Jin Shuyuan, Cao Cuifen, He Caifei, Ma Jingwu, Qi Zhao, Weimin Ding, Zhihgang Cui, Chu Xiao
Producer: Co-production China-Hong Kong-Taiwan;
ERA International, Salon Films, Century Communications
Genre: Drama | 1920s
Synopsis: China in the 1920's. After her father's death, 19 year-old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerfull family. 50 year-old Chen has already three wives, each of them living in a separate house within the great castle. The competition between the wives is tough, as their master's attention carries power, status and privileges. Each night Chen must decide which wife spends the night with him, 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.

Rankings Position

Awards: 1991: Nominated for Oscar: Best Foreign Language Picture

1992: BAFTA Awards: Best Foreign Language Picture

1991: Venice Film Festival: Silver Lion - Best Director

1991: New York Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Picture. 2 Nominations

1992: Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Cinematography. 2 Nominations

1992: Independent Spirit Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Film

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1992: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Foreign Language Film

1991: David di Donatello Awards: Best Foreign Film. 2 Nominations

Critics' reviews

"A Chinese film of voluptuous physical beauty and angry passions (...) It works because it is so fascinating simply on the level of melodrama (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"A beautifully crafted and richly detailed feat of consciousness-raising and a serious drama with the verve of a good soap opera (...) As visually striking as it is dramatically effective"

Janet Maslin: The New York Times
"A magnificent film that confirms Zhang as a world-class director (...) Gong Li delivers a performance of exquisite expressiveness that, like the film itself, is unnerving in its emotional nakedness."

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"There isn't an arbitrary hue in the movie. In purely aesthetic terms, 'Raise the Red Lantern' is breathtaking (...) There's an appropriately stifling quality to the movie."

Desson Thomson: The Washington Post
"Beautiful to the eye yet caustic to the touch (...) It's an indictment of the ways in which we participate in our own subjugation (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Marjorie Baumgarten: Austin Chronicle
"A story that explicitly critiques Chinese feudalism and indirectly contemporary China (...) Zhang confirms his mastery and artistry here in many ways"

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Chicago Reader
"Yimou shot the film so that its rich colours and claustrophobic atmosphere matched the story perfectly (...) A marvellously structured, richly imagined and well-acted piece of work"

Derek Malcolm: The Guardian
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Ranking Lists Position

7 My Favorite Chinese & Hong Kong Movies (53)
21 My Favorite Asian Movies (160)

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