Sadly Over-hyped

One of my all time favorites.

A lot of fun.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Perhaps I've conditioned myself to some of director Yimou Zhang's later films, because this movie had none of the appeal that I was expecting. Not that I was looking for a colorful and exciting display of martial arts, I can get that anytime. But the story line here was frustratingly static and virtually relegated to a single location inside the fortress of a wealthy Chinese land owner. And unless my DVD copy of the movie was somehow degraded, the early portions of the picture had a scratchy quality to it, almost like a 1920's silent film. But maybe that's just an outlier I experienced.The story itself is compelling in it's own way, and the use and symbolism of the lanterns lends an ethereal quality to the Master's choice of bedtime partners each evening. I probably should have expected the infighting and power play of the four 'mistresses' conspiring against each other, however I don't know how any of them thought they could get away with their schemes. Perhaps that's why the oldest First Mistress (Shuyuan Jin) managed to keep herself mostly out of the fray, having been around the longest and realizing she was no longer a preferred 'wife'. The question of how long Songlian (Li Gong) thought she could affect the ruse of a pregnancy was brought up but never really answered. Perhaps she was going mad well before witnessing Meishan's (Saifei He) execution.Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the story is the virtual absence of The Master (Jingwu Ma), a shadowy presence for the most part who's commands and directions are handled off screen or in dim lighting so as not to intrude on the machinations of the four mistresses. I was also taken aback by what appeared to be a voodoo type of doll used by Songlian's servant girl Yan'er (Lin Kong), to call upon the spirits to demean the lady she served. Even with all of that though, I didn't find the movie to be that compelling over all, and if I were to offer a recommendation. I'd say stick with Yimou Zhang's films of two decades later - "Hero" (2002), "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), or "Curse of the Golden Flower" (2006). Watch any of those and 'Red Lantern' pales by comparison.

Although the strong rhythm of the first half of the script did not run through the whole time, the excellent scheduling, photography and sound effects finally maintained the tension of the film. After all, the main plot still didn't break through the comfort zone of a typical Chinese realism, in contrast to the metaphorical and emotional details that spill over through the suffocating atmosphere. Of course, the structure of story, color application and role shaping are all achieved with excellent and appropriate execution effect.

Raise the Red Lantern is masterful piece of film history.A bleak tale of sexual subjugation and ruthless scheming in a single opulent household in 1920s China, Raise the Red Lantern portrays four women locked in struggle for attention from the master of the house, who every day favours one of his concubines with special honour of spending a night with him. And as usual among the hereditary nobility, the highest achievement is pregnancy resulting a male child.The tense plot is perfected by the backdrop of suffocating ancient mansion built out of dull bricks and adorned expensively with etchings and drapery, and staffed with servants. The watcher barely gets a glimpse of the outside world as if nothing even existed outside the walls of the compound where the women are imprisoned in concubinage. And almost as faceless is the master himself, whose face we never see in close up shot.Cinematography and set building stand out as excellent, with stark reds of the drapery and lanterns, contrasting with the muted greys of the mansion itself, later covered by a blanket of snow.

It's no secret that Zhang Yimou directs some of the beautiful movies in cinema history. His extensive and vivid use of colour is gorgeous. More than 10 years before he directed his modern-classics, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern was there. The film has a simple storyline, a restricted location and a great cinematography. Oh, and it also employs beautiful use of colour. Sometimes I think Zhang Yimou is a product of an explosion in a colour factory. Raise the Red Lantern quite literally pits 4 women against each other and the film observes enviness, jealousy, hatred, anger, love & sorrow. Also, to some extend, Totalitarianism. Every woman wants to be the top mistress in front of the master and wants the red lanterns hung in front of their house. The 4th Mistress quickly catches the eye of her personal maid, Ya'ver, the 3rd Mistress & the 2nd Mistress. One thing leads to another and the 3rd Mistress ends up dead, the maid ends up dead, and the 4th Mistress goes insane, causing The Master to marry once more. Enter 5th Mistress, but thank goodness the film ends there, because another 2 hours would've been hectic. Not that I would've minded it, but enough is enough! I think the appropriate title should've been Personality Clash or This is how Women silently kill each other, or something like that.The pacing of the film is good. The slow and smooth camera movements did the trick. Red Lantern also employs repetition and I think it was a good move. It kept reminding us of what we're watching and what the film's story is all about. Unlike Hero or House of Flying Daggers which were clearly story-driven, this film was more character-and-music driven. The heavy metal? background music was awesome and I think it perfectly matches the mood and characteristics of the film and the women, respectively. From the performances, Gong-Li had the upper-hand, while He Caifi was just a rung below, but both were amazing in their characters. They both, out of all, portrayed the frustration, the anger, the hidden hatred, and then a sudden affection for each other, almost perfectly. The film was entirely on their shoulders and both handled the weight flawlessly!My ending note will be: Not just a great film. A landmark film! It has characters which are divided in two: Either you end up hating them, or loving them. A quite-powerful film that demands a repeat!