Raise the Red Lantern

Unforgettable Movie... this movie pulls you into the story. Great acting and very realistic settings. Love it

It starts off as melodrama but ends like a horror movie. Love the shooting location which is like a claustrophobic labyrinth.

The Red Lantern was the symbol of the master being in a mistresses house...and these 4 ladies are in a battle - for significance, worth, companionship. The old school chinese system is brutally put on display. And even though its slow, it's a great story.

Well-done but sad Chinese film which shows the fruitless lives of wife and concubines of a rich man in the 1920s. We watch the latest woman go through her first year in this household where the females must compete for the master's attention.

So exquisite. One of my all-time favorite films.

It starts off as melodrama but ends like a horror movie. Love the shooting location which is like a claustrophobic labyrinth.

They don't make films like this anymore in China. It's beautiful and one of the best films made by the 5th generation directors.

Combining limited scale and sumptuous visuals, Raise the Red Lantern is one of the great cinematic adaptations of the 'gilded birdcage' premise. A psychological torture chamber that adopts the skin of a melodrama, Zhang produces a scathing critique of social norms and gender roles at a time when doing so was formally frowned upon by the Chinese state, resulting in temporary censorship. Women are lured into a polygamous matrimony with the promise of fine silks and an easy lifestyle, only to be find themselves in a pit of vipers as they are forced to compete with one another for the affections of a husband who is focused purely on tradition and lust with a face left deliberately obscured for the entire length of the film. Though a bit heavy-handed in its narrative with 30 years of gender-focused film building on its foundations (Gong's Songlian is forced to leave an education behind to be married off into a traditional household), the film is powerful in its simplicity and visually beautiful. Notably, the screenplay doesn't leave characters exclusively as one-note as they could have, incorporating some degree of engaging subterfuge that goes beyond their superficial role; the deceitfully compassionate second mistress Zhuoyun is a particular favorite, her betrayal reminds me of Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden. Admittedly a bit obvious in theme decades down the line, Raise the Red Lantern is still a classic of 'modern' Chinese film that delivers excellent performances, expert cinematography, and subversive themes for its time. (4/5)

A bit melodramatic but really well done.

Blobbo like good Chinese movie.