Review of Raise the Red Lantern (1991) by Mel J — 06 Aug 2008

First I would like to thank a dear friend for providing me with the name of this wonderful flick. I had seen it a few years ago, but did not catch the name of it. So as I was sharing the film with my friend and mentioned how the lantern was lit he recalled the name. I am grateful as I now plan to add this film to my collection.

I will share here the same information I imparted to my friend about the film.

I enjoyed the film because of the dynamics between the women. The focus of the film, to me, was the relationships between all the wives. My friend asked me if any of the women had children. I did not remember there being any small children in the film. He asked what occupation the husband held. Again, I did not recall because I tried to explain the focus of the film was on the women. Then I mentioned how when the lantern was lit, that was the wife the husband was spending the night with. That was when he came up with the title.

Being a woman myself, I really enjoyed the film, even if it had the political undertones, which also appeal to me. If you look at the film as a man having several wives, unfortunately, to a woman's chagrine, biologically that is how a man is programmed. Forcing men to be monogamous, goes against their physical make up. A woman is programmed to be monogamous, for the most part (there are always exceptions), due to the fact a woman bears the offspring and is the primary caretaker of the offspring. She needs to rely on the man as the provider. And as long as a man can provide for as many women and children he may have, then more power to him.