Raise the Red Lantern

Zhang Yimou's allegorical adaptation of Su Tong's Raise the Red Lantern has won critical and blockbuster acclaim. Set probably in the pre-Revolution China, it is a deceptively simple story of a fourth mistress of a wealthy Chinese who dares defy generations-old tradition of concubinage and unwritten familial codes. Songlian (Gong Li) becomes the fourth concubine of a nameless Master (his face is hidden from beginning until the end) when her father unexpectedly dies and she has to quit university schooling. Unable to support her family, her mother arranges her marriage.


From the very begining, we see Songlian as a defiant, rebelious and diffident woman. She does not take the marriage coach that is supposed to pick her up. She upsets rules in the household by making impossible demands on the Master. She concocts ideas to show the other three wives that is educated and will not bow to their caprice. She however finds the household antagonistic towards her. A maid, Yan 'er (Kong Lin), is assigned to attend to her who despises her and spits on her laundry. We later learn that she is jealous of her as she too wants to be a concubine herself.

If anything, Songlian hates competition. Even the third mistress' (He Caifei) machinations are no match to her stubborness and cunning. (To get the Master's favor, Songlian pretends that she is pregnant.) Only the second mistress (Cao Cuifen) seems to have developed a liking for her. But the latter's duplicity is revealed when Songlian sees a voodoo doll bearing her name, pricked with several needles, inside Yan'er's room. It is the second wife's doing and from then a bitter struggle between Songlian and her begins.

Other intrigue such as the illicit affair between the second mistress and the family physician, Doctor Hao, is revealed and ends disastrously. And the mystery of the locked rooftop room shakes Songlian no end.

This film was disapproved by the Chinese government because it dangerously paralleled the corruption in the mainland and its ruthless exposition of the powers that oppress people and make lives miserable for the citizens.

A beautifully haunting movie meant to be seen by everyone.

Director: Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou, To Live, The Long Road Home, House of Flying Daggers)
Cast: Gong Li, Kong Lin, Hei Caifei, Cao Cuifen
Country: China
Released: 1991