Review of Raise the Red Lantern (1991) by Komal S — 14 Apr 2010

Raise the Red Lantern is a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing Chinese film. It's full of rich, intriguing characters, profoundly gorgeous settings, and a surprising storyline.

Gong Li gives an absolutely breathtaking performance in the lead role, playing a character known mostly as The Fourth Mistress. Her character is easily sympathized with and is one of the most well rounded female characters I have seen.

The strengths of this film lie in several areas, grounding it as a thoroughly entertaining film all around.

The first strength lies in the visuals. Every shot of this mvoie is beautiful. The sets are majestically designed, and the use of color hits the audience home in a very well-defined way.

Then there's the script. I've seen a couple of foreign films and have noticed that, at times, the translation of the dialogue can seem a little off. If that occured with Raise the Red Lantern, I didn't notice. The dialogue was fantastically written. Every line had a deep poetic meaning that I rarely see in modern films. No line was predictable, all though that could possibly be attributed to the fact that this was not an English film.

Characters are my favorite parts of the movies, and I absolutely loved all of these characters (or, loved to hate them). There is something to be identified with in each of the Master's four wives, and even many of the servants. The goals, wants, needs, and aspirations of all the characters are not difficult to keep track of, witch is great for a film that focuses so heavily on so many characters.

The camerawork in this film is absolutely brilliant. The audience is exposed to dozens of scenes that go with long cuts that register on a deeper level, and the cinematography is beautifully and richly done. The Master, whom Gong Li's character married in order to have a financially stable life, is never clearly seen. Every shot of the Master is from far away, or he is behind a curtain of some kind. The mysterious nature the Master is depcited puts a lot of focus and attention on him.

The themes of this movie are what stand out most. Sexual competition is an obviously grand theme of the movie. But there is a constant sense of imprisonment here too. Gong Li's character wanted this life in order to become happier and more financially stable, but instead she finds her freedoms completely diminished. But the most prominant theme of the movie is that of tradition and custom. Every single aspect of the Master's house and life comes with a tradition: lighting the lanterns of the house of the wife he will spend the night with, the foot massages given before sex, and so on.

This is just one of the most beautiful and profound movies I have seen in a long time.

10/10.