#Red lantern movie

In a short period, she becomes involved in quarrels between the wives and the desire to gain Mr. On the other hand, she can neither guess what is waiting for her nor predict any changes. Songlian does not understand why such wealthy people have to follow all those orders or demonstrate all those whims, irritating each other. Sometimes, it looks like she hides all her emotions and tries to bury them as far as possible. On the one hand, when Songlian first comes to the house, she feels disappointment and frustration about the quality of life and behaviors of some ladies.

#Red lantern movie

With time, the director focuses on Songlian’s body, showing how confident and relaxed she feels, understanding the fact that she is the chosen one for the night.Īnother peculiarity of the movie is the impossibility to differentiate the progress and degradation of people within the same community. In the beginning, she does not find it necessary to follow the traditions and neglects to kneel before the ancestors, and does not enjoy the massage. Songlian joins the family where history (a housekeeper kneeling the ancestors’ wall), customs (red lanterns to choose a wife for a night), and obligations (satisfaction of a Master after a foot massage) are followed. However, the main point to be made about Raise the Red Lantern is not the role of men or women in society but the place a woman can obtain by following the already defined traditions and orders. In many modern democratic nations, male-centered society is usually criticized and misunderstood, whilst certain countries support the same type of relationships. The Point to DevelopĪ distinctive feature of Chinese culture and traditions is that people can hardly have the same attitudes towards the existing restrictions, high expectations, and unforgiveness of disobedience. In the end, a new fifth wife comes to the house with the same customs, lanterns, and emotions to be represented. In their intentions to obtain as much of their Master’s attention as possible, the wives and their servants lie, betray, and disappoint the man, which results in the deaths, sickness, and madness of the main character.

As long as the girl stays in the house, she gets used to its customs, enjoys the opportunities offered to her, and takes as much as possible from her husband and her position of the youngest wife.Īt the same time, deception and envy continue growing, creating other challenges and concerns. Songlian wants to meet the expectations of Master Chen and establish certain relationships with all the wives without even guessing how cruel the outcomes of her behavior can be. She becomes the fourth wife (the Fourth Mistress) in the Chen family and enters the world where loyalty, sexism, and order cannot be ignored. Summary of the FilmĪ nineteen-year-old girl, Songlian, has to drop her education and marry a wealthy man to pay for the debts of her family because of the recent death of her father. Raise the Red Lantern is a beautiful and simple story of a young girl with several complex issues represented through effective mise-en-scène and roof-top level shots. There are many scenes with red lanterns that underline the uniqueness of Chinese architecture. The film raises such topics as family customs, power, money, sexism, human emotions, loyalty, and female guile. It is hard to define one common theme of the movie. It was directed by Zhang Yimou, a famous Chinese producer and writer, and starring Gong Li, an internationally known Chinese-born actress.