Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gao gua) poster & wallpaper
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Li Gong, He Caifei, Ma Jingwu, Cao Cuifeng, Jin Shuyuan ... see more see more... , Lin Kong , Zhao Qi , Ding Weimin , Chu Xiao , Cao Zhengyin , Zhihgang Cui , Saifei He , Cuifen Cao , Jingwu Ma , Qi Zhao , Shuyuan Jin , Weimin Ding

The phenomenal success and international acclaim of Raise the Red Lantern, cemented Zhang Yimou's status as a leading figure in world cinema and reaffirmed the vibrancy of Chinese cinema. Though the f... read more read more...ilm was the topic of great political controversy in China upon its release, it received armfuls of awards from Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and a nomination for an Academy Award. This sumptuously photographed drama, set in Northern China in the 1920s and based on the novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong, stars Gong Li as Songlian, the fourth wife of an elderly landlord. Songlian is a college student who has been married off by her stepmother, so it is with tremendous frustration that this woman, who had hopes of using her education to broaden her horizons, now finds herself reduced to a small enclosure at the beck and call of her husband. Despite being given a maid (Kong Lin) and luxurious surroundings, she feels trapped inside the cheerless walls. Upon her arrival, Songlian realizes that she must keep one step ahead of her rivals, the three other wives. She also learns of her husband's tradition of lighting a lantern outside of the house of the wife with whom he intends to spend the night. During the first night together with her husband, she finds he is called away to tend to his spoiled third wife (He Caifei). Songlian then becomes acquainted with his other wives -- his first wife (Jin Shuyuan), an elderly woman who ignores Songlian; the third wife, an ex-opera singer; and the second wife (Cao Cuifeng), who offers Songlian friendship and helpful advice. But it turns out that the second wife's motives are not exactly innocent--she is conspiring with Songlian's maid to undermine both the third wife and Songlian. Raise the Red Lantern is a moving exploration of power in a suffocating world of ossified tradition and naked ambition-a masterpiece of 1990s world cinema. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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93% liked it

21,142 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

25 critics

PG, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Yimou Zhang

Release Date: September 1, 1991

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DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006

Stats: 1,166 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,166)

  • axadntpron
    May 17, 2012
    axadntpron
    A fantastic film about expectations and societal roles. Director Zhang Yimou exhaustively captures the pomp and circumstance of every tradition, beautifully juxtaposing this grandeur with the desperate plight of the concubines. He shows that under all the bizarre foot massages an... read mored the ceremonial lighting of the lanterns, there is a group woman eagerly laying in wait for the master to come and bestow upon them his light.
    Confined to grounds of this temple, or what seems like a very small prison, he captures both the elegance and the crippling confinement that these women call home. Even in this isolated & relatively small space, Yimou makes the stakes feel so high.
    For me it was an unexpected delight and a film I will not soon forget.
  • fb1216165431
    September 9, 2011
    fb1216165431
    A House of traditions and customs haunted by scandal, hatred, and deceit; Raise The Red Lantern is aesthetically breathtaking strengthened by a young Gong Li's glorious performance. Silently intense and deeply metaphorical. Sublime.
  • adammahler1
    December 26, 2010
    adammahler1
    Elegant staid compositions, flowing rooftops, a hundred shades of red and yellow light surrounded by grey, patriarchy depersonalized with long shots and curtains, Gong Li... The filmmakers seem a bit overeager for their ending, which is out of romantic fiction... Mao is coming, y... read moreou know
  • itsjustme2004
    October 14, 2010
    itsjustme2004
    Well, this movie is definitely not for someone who hates slow paced movies...cuz this is the slowest ever. But, it is so well done, and the storyline so boggles my mind, that I just couldn't stop watching it. This is one crazy culture.
  • flixsterman
    July 10, 2010
    flixsterman
    Picture this: 1920-something China. A rich man has four wives. Each wife has her own house. Each house is connected by a common courtyard. Every night the four wives stand by their door to see which house will get the red lantern. The house with the red lantern gets to 'host... read more' the husband for the night. The wife with the red lantern also gets to decide what's for dinner, has general control of the combined households and, most importantly, gets a foot massage. Throw four women together in vicious competition for a foot massage and you've got the makings of top-notch drama. Five stars.
  • jennifxu
    April 7, 2009
    jennifxu
    Seriously, sometimes I feel like I enjoy Chinese movies more simply because they are in Chinese and I can identify more. Like, there were mannerisms displayed in Songlian I can detect in my mother. I know a woman who is just like the Third Wife, and also the Second Wife, and even... read more the maid. Honestly it's never struck me so completely as it has in this movie, which is weird since it's a period film...but it doesn't feel like a period film. All that aside, this is an intensely searing film whose thin plot line seems to work continuously for two hours and not get tiresome. Or maybe it is the thin plot line that remarks on the ridiculousness of Chinese customs and monarchy at the time.
  • RCCLBC
    March 30, 2009
    RCCLBC
    I'm a sucker for a good "period piece". Throw in a great actress (Gong Li) a intriguing story and some amazing cinematography...and I'm hooked!

    While ultimately a very sad tale, it presents many interesting questions and is intriguing on many levels.

    An enjoyable experienc... read moree over all.
  • binky013
    March 23, 2009
    binky013
    A beautifully shot film with a beautiful mid-20s Gong Li. The subject, the life of the concubine, is not, however, beautiful. La vita is not bella. It is a tradition of slavery made palatable only to the point that it permits a lavish and pampered lifestyle -- in some ways the... read morese women are like calves being fatted for slaughter. Other than that, it is slavery by any other name, and it does not smell sweet. Brutal, harsh, mindless, insufferable, suffocating, soul-killing -- these are some of the adjectives that come to mind for the life depicted in these sumptuous settings.
  • mvieaddict
    July 7, 2010
    mvieaddict
    It took me 3 days to finish this Yimou Zhang's movie Raise the Red Lantern but it was a fantastic movie with great acting by Gong Li and the rest of the cast.It was about 4 women of different ages,who were wives of a rich man. Although they had their own house and personal maids... read more, still they were like slaves,and must be prepared to do their master services of love, whenever he felt like. Then lanterns were lighted in front of the chosen house, just to warn the other concubines that they were not the chosen ones for their master that night. In the beginning it started very slow and came over quite boring, due to the dark mood of the story and the lack of variation of the camera,as it was set in one place at a time. However, there was a lot importance scenes ,good story line and good acting and impressive ending that made this movie another masterpiece of Yimou Zhang.
  • hawkledge
    March 2, 2009
    hawkledge
    Voluptuous, visually astonishing and dramatically devastating, a damning portrait of women at the mercy of a rigid patriarchal power structure. Gong Li is scintillating.

View All Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gao gua) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rob Nelson
February 27, 2007
Rob Nelson, Village Voice

Visually ravishing and emotionally cold, Zhang's third feature is one long series of pushes and pulls. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

A beautifully crafted and richly detailed feat of consciousness-raising and a serious drama with the verve of a good soap opera. Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Gong Li delivers a performance of exquisite expressiveness that, like the film itself, is unnerving in its emotional nakedness.

John Hartl
January 1, 2000
John Hartl, Film.com

A near-perfect movie that often recalls the visual purity and intensity of silent films.

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

In purely aesthetic terms, Raise the Red Lantern is breathtaking. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

The story never amounts to much more than a rather tepid Chinese rendition of The Women. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

A defining example of Chinese movie-making and one of the best films of the '90s. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A Chinese film of voluptuous physical beauty and angry passions. Full Review

Amber Wilkinson
December 7, 2007
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

With its beautiful look and haunting themes and sublime performances, Raise The Red Lantern is Yimou's master work. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
October 31, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

One of Yimou's two or three masterpieces, this visually stunning film offers an extraordinary view of gender, sexuality, female rivalry and bonding in a historical context (1920s China) that bears som... Full Review

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