Gong Li
Songlian
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Jun 29, 2019 · Raise the Red Lantern is the third film of Zhang’s ‘Red Trilogy’. The three films each star actress Gong Li and share common themes: forced marriage, oppression, rebellion crushed, self-destruction and authoritarianism. Each focuses on women battling events beyond their control in prerevolutionary, feudal China.
Aug 13, 2021 · 125 min. Release Date. 09/10/1991. In Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou’s most widely acclaimed film, the Chinese director portrays life as a series of performative gestures under the duress of cultural tradition, prescribed gender roles, and hierarchical power structures.
- A Question to Answer
- The Setting
- Behavioral Patterns
- Four Ways to Adjust to The World
- Works Cited
In his film Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang Yimou explores various issues which have existed in the Chinese society. The film dwells upon social and political peculiarities of the Chinese society of the 1920s. It also focuses on gender roles and the roles played by women. It is possible to raise a variety of questions concerning ethics and morality, s...
In the first place, it is important to consider the circumstances that shape the females’ behavior. The Chinese society is based on the principles of ethics and morality. Thus, the family is the core of the Chinese society as it has been stipulated that a good family is the basis of a strong society (Neo 3). Notably, it was believed that females we...
The First Type of Alienation
The first behavioral pattern to be discussed is alienation. Yuru is the first mistress of Master Chen. She is as old as her husband and she has a child. She has spent too much time shut in the courtyard and she seems completely alienated. She is almost unseen in the film and she does not participate in the struggle for the Master’s attention. She pertains to the past. It seems she simply stopped fighting a long time ago. The reason why she develops such a behavioral pattern is unclear. Though...
Acceptance
Another behavioral pattern is acceptance of the rules and development of skills to play the ‘game’ properly. The second wife, Zhuoyun, is younger than the first mistress. She has a daughter who is the same age with the third wife’s son (McFarlane 112). This woman seems supportive and kind-hearted at first. She comforts the fourth and the youngest mistress, Songlian, and tells her all about the courtyard. However, this kindness and compassionate attitude should be seen as the tools to be the w...
Rebel
The third mistress, Meishan, used to be an opera singer. She has a son and she is quite hostile to Songlian as the latter steals the status of the youngest wife (McFarlane 112). Meishan is depicted as a spoiled woman who is rather immoral. For instance, she is cheating on her husband with another man (the doctor). However, this is not a result of her immorality or spoiled nature. This is rather a result of her life in the shut courtyard. Her being immoral is her way to stand up to the wrongs...
In conclusion, it is possible to state that the film depicts certain behavioral patterns used by women to adjust to certain societal norms that existed in China in the 1920s. In a nutshell, women had to strive for being an adorable toy for their Master. Three major ways to escape from this little and suffocating world left for women are revealed. T...
McFarlane, Brian. “Women Beware Women: Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern.” Screen Education42.1 (2006): 111-115. Print. Neo, David. “The “Confusion Ethics” of Raise the Red Lantern.” Cinematheque Annotations on Film33.1 (2004): 1-6. Print.
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Jan 1, 2024 · Raise the Red Lantern is a Chinese cinema classic taught in many university film classes. While on the surface, it is a straightforward critique of family dynamics and the propensity for the elites to take on many wives; it is filled with symbolism of early PRC history.
Oct 28, 2004 · It is no wonder that Raise the Red Lantern was banned in China when it was released in 1991 and was never screened in cinemas. Ironically, lanterns provide illumination, and therefore, are supposed to enlighten, as does Confucianism.
- David Neo
“Raise the Red Lantern” is a classic Chinese film that revolves around a young woman who is forced into a polygamous marriage with a wealthy man. The film is set in the 1920s and is based on the novel “Wives and Concubines” by Su Tong.
