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Raise the Red Lantern [1991] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


Our Price: £9.37 (subject to change)

Exotic and hopeless; how does one describe great sadness?
Review date: 2008-05-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

Can inevitable and hopeless sadness ever be adequately described? Maybe, but not, I think, by amateur film enthusiasts or any but a few professional critics, and only then if they can tame their professional enthusiasms, can write well and know when to stop. That leaves out, among us amateurs, nearly all of us. As for the professionals, I've read only two or three commentaries by professional film critics that I think do justice to Raise the Red Lantern. Partly, this is due to the utterly foreign, cloistered culture we're observing. Partly, it's due to the intense but withheld emotions and motivations we gradually become aware of. Mainly, I think, it's due to the fact that deep sadness simply can't be adequately described, and the more we try, the less we convey.

Songlian (Gong Li), a 19-year-old student in 1920 China, must leave college when her father dies. Her stepmother arranges for her to marry a rich man as a fourth "wife." From then, Songlian's life, everything, depends on the attention she will receive from this man we scarcely see. The first mistress is middle-aged, serene and cool. The second is attractive and appears sympathetic and friendly. The third is young, beautiful and intensely jealous that Songlian may replace her as the most favored by Master Chen. Each has a maid. The servants reflect the attitudes of those they serve, but above all else, they reflect their roles in the Master's house. Again and again we return to an overhead shot that shows us where the universe begins and ends for Songlian...a stone courtyard with stone buildings on either side and the entrance at the end of the courtyard leading up low stairs to where Songlian now will live. When the Master intends to visit one of the wives for the night, it is the custom that the servants ceremoniously raise red lanterns outside the apartment of the favored wife.

And this is all that their lives...and now, Songlian's life...consists of. There is no outside world, only their duty to serve the Master and to follow the customs of the Chen family, which goes back generations. If the red lantern is raised frequently outside Songlian's doorway, a servant tells her, she will soon be running the establishment. The other wives know this. Songlian is educated, sullen and resentful. She may realize that she must establish herself in the favor of the Master and find her place in the world of the wives, but we realize she may not have the guile needed. The intensity of establishing and maintaining "place" means resentments and betrayals. There can be no friendships. Songlian does not play this game well. Songlian's life eventually becomes as desolate as the cold snow that drifts down into the courtyard.

Raise the Red Lantern is a gorgeous movie, as are most of Yimou Zhang's films. The seasons change from spring to summer to fall and to winter. We keep returning to Songlian and to the view of the courtyard, but we also see out over what seems the endless tile roofs of the Master's mansion. High on the roof is a small stone shed that is kept locked and which, it is whispered, had something to do with a former wife.

At first the stone exteriors seem small and the interiors seem to go on and on. We see Songlian dressed lavishly to await the Master's visits. We see ornate furniture, wall scrolls, braziers against the chill and the red lanterns. We seldom see tears. Raise the Red Lantern is no tragedy, but it is a kind of slow-playing, hopeless melodrama. It is a reserved world where for these four women and their servants, everything depends on the Master. For Songlian, everything depends on her willingness to bend completely to this life from which she cannot leave, and to accept that there can be no relief from the need to scheme and plot to maintain a position against the other wives. To befriend can lead to betrayal. To sympathize can lead to rejection. To let slip a secret can lead to death. The customs of the ancient Chen family must be honored and followed, and can be cruel. To serve the Master whenever he wishes, with skill and charm, and to bear him a son, is what life has become, and there is no escape. The Master's life goes on. Our last view of Songlian is in the courtyard, in winter, wandering.

Anyone who reads this should shake their head and wonder what all the fuss is about. Get the movie and watch it, then you try to describe it. You'll feel inadequate.

This MGM World Films disc is widescreen, dual layer and looks much better than a previous release. I could find nothing that would indicate it is anamorphic. There are no extras. The subtitles are white with black edging and are easy to read. Raise the Red Lantern deserves first-class treatment, but this will have to do until that happens.

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Reviews


a landmark film - in aesthetic terms simply breathtaking
Review date: 2008-03-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

"Raise the Red Lantern" is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong and was turned into a breathtaking movie by director Zhang Yimou and starring Chinese superstar Gong Li.

The film tells the story of a young woman who becomes the fourth concubine of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era in China (1920s). The master decides on a daily basis the concubines he will spend the night with; whomever he chooses gets her red lanterns lit. While everything seems to center on the master he hardly ever appears and it is all about the 4 women and their role in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the house. It is a quite movie, but very intense and impresses with its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colors. In aesthetic terms it is simply breathtaking. Gong Li portraits the 4. mistress simply to perfection.

All in all, it is a movie one should not miss. This is a great and rare treat.



Simply stunning.
Review date: 2007-04-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

This must be one of the most refined and elegant Chinese films ever made. A beautiful young woman is pushed into becoming a junior wife of a rich man by her widowed stepmother who can no longer support her and finds that sharing not just a detatched husband but her whole life with her older "sisters" is a microcosm of suspicion and envy. The women in this cloistered world have only their companionship with each other to entertain them but they have beautiful clothes and small luxuries, like foot massage, when they are pregnant. The emotional deprivation becomes too much for one of the wives though with disastrous consequences.

What is intriguing about this film is the deft and subtle way that the viewer is enveloped into the world of the women and confronted with the same dilemma as the new bride to work out who are friends and enemies. As the story unfolds, the Hitchcock like terror underpinning their discipline becomes apparent but for one of them it is too late. I would strongly urge anyone to see this film - mostly especially if high quality world cinema is of interest to you.

It is a shame that the DVD of this wonderful film has been so clumsily produced that it seems pirated but you could always wait for an improved reprint (surely they must do one eventually of such an important item of Chinese cinema) or see the video. This is one not to be missed!

Worst DVD transfer in the world ever?
Review date: 2006-03-25 Rating: 2 out of 10

Just to add my voice to those many on the US Amazon site and the one other review of the DVD on the UK site, this transfer to DVD is truly aweful! Pirated DVDs filmed in cinemas on shakey handhelds have better picture and sound quality and the subtitles are laughable (the spelling isn't even consistent where they actually use the correct words!). The picture was scratchy, like watching a well used print at a rep cinema on a late night showing, the sound was distorted at times as recording levels don't seem to have been checked and there were lots of pops and clicks. This is very disappointing as I've been waiting for years for a DVD edition, then have to order it from the US and then when I get to show it to my friends who I've been raving about the film to, the experience of what should be one of the most beauitfully shot and truly tragic films is ruined. Can't someone in the UK put out a digitally remastered version? Or at least a decent quality transfer? Artifical Eye? This is cinema not a movie.

For the time being stick to the VHS version until someone releases a decent DVD of this great cinematic experience.

Great movie, very very poor DVD quality
Review date: 2006-03-25 Rating: 2 out of 10

I was very disappointed when I received this DVD.
This five star movie deserves a better DVD quality.
Bad translations, bad color and "snowy" pictures.
I own a VHS copy of this film which is better than this DVD.
Don't buy this release, wait for a better one!!!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jingwu Ma
Cuifen Cao
Qi Zhao
Li Gong
Caifei He

Creators:
Li Gong (Primary Contributor)
Caifei He (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM
Manufacturer: MGM
EAN: 0027616082626
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Colour, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2007-07-24
Universal product code (UPC): 027616082626
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 125 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1991
Language: Mandarin Chinese (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)

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