Review of Ju Dou (1990) by Ben L — 10 May 2016

"Ju Dou" tells the story of love between two people at the mercy of a cruel uncle and husband. Yang Tianqing (Li Baotian) is working for his uncle Yang Jinshan (Li Wei) at his textile mill where he dyes fabric. Tianqing learns that his uncle has purchased a new wife, this is his third, he had beat the other two to death for not being able to produce him a boy. It's no fault of these women, he's impotent and takes this anger out on these women. The new wife, and the new aunt to Tianqing, is a beautiful young woman named Ju Dou (Li Gong). Tiaqing becomes smitten with her, spying on her as she undresses and bathes. Soon, the two become lovers and she becomes pregnant with his son. Jinshan believes the kid is his until he becomes paralyzed and is forced to rely upon the two to take care of him. After several failed attempts at trying to kill the kid, he is put in a barrell high above the ground. He eventually comes to love the kid as his son when the kid accidentily refers to him as father setting about a chain of events that will end tragic.

Beautifully filmed by Zhang Yimou on three-strip Technicolor. It has an aged feeling in it's beauty, but magnificently show it's yellows, golds and reds in such exuberance.