It was. Seriously. I saw the whole thing for the first time, (In Subtitles of course) and it is a really great movie. for all who have not seen this Cinese film, It is about a girl in China who becomes the Concubine of a businessman. I know I don’t do it justice, but It is REALLY good and you all need to see it. At least I thought so. I am tired, so I won’t write about how it really presents great social issues and cultural ideas bout women, but maybe later.
This movie rates a DGM on the martinez scale - Damn Good Movie
Now that you’ve seen that, may I also recommend some of Yimou Zhang’s other films
The Story of Qiu Ju,
Ju Dou,
and To Live
All three are absolutely top drawer. ** To Live ** is especailly interesting because it dipicts the Communist takeover of the country from the point of view of one family, absolutely fascinating. ** Ju Dou ** is visually exquisite, as well as being a great tale, and ** The Story of Qiu Ju ** is actually funny. All three star Gong Li, the star of Raise the Red Lantern. She is his muse, understandably.
Ya know, subtitled foriegn fillms about a woman’s anguish over the roll society has assigned her and the phrase “SO kewl” just don’t come together as often as they should.
I liked all of Zhang Yimou’s stuff. **The Old Well ** is pretty old these days and describes a chinese countryside of 20 years ago, but it’s pretty cool as well. Oh ya, he’s the lead actor as well as director. I am also a fan of Red Sorghum and Qiuju Goes to Court. Don’t know if I could pick a favorite.
King of the Children, Black Cannon Incident and Yellow Earth are three other films from the Xi’an Film studio that I would recommend (although not Zhang Yimou’s films). They are all from the same era and studio as Zhang Yimou (eg, 1980’s)
Gotta agree with Stoid and China Guy. Unfortunately, only Ju Dou is available on DVD, but I fortunately have all the others on VHS.
[hijack]
There used to be a mom-and-pop video store in the area. One of their draws was that they carried the largest selection of “specialty” videos in the city, including a huge selection of foreign movies. The couple that ran the place retired and were moving, and were going to put everything on sale. I happened to be in the store a few days before they sold every tape they had, and jokingly asked what it would cost for their entire foreign language section. They conferred and told me $500 if I paid them right away and could get the videos out by Friday (the day the sale began). I wrote a check on the spot. 361 VHS tapes, most of which had never been played, for an average of $0.72 each.
A few more recommendations:
Not One Less (same director, Zhang Yimou)
Flowers of Shanghai (similar theme, beautiful photography)
Xiu-Xiu, The Sent Down Girl (similar theme)
None of these is as good as Raise the Red Lantern, but they’re all quite compelling.
Yeah, it was, and I liked Zhang Yimou’s other earlier films, too. I also liked Not One Less. But why is it that his latest stuff (comedy) isn’t available on video on the US? Not to mention other lighter Chinese fare? Could it be that the arty-pharty (ooops, getting a little close phartizan, there ) types only want to see Chinese women suffering? Or the troubles of gay Chinese men?
A nitpick: Gong Li married some rich guy, and hasn’t acted in any of Zhang’s films lately. Meanwhile he discovers Zhang Ziyi (The Road Home), who promptly gets snapped up for Crouching Tiger. Life is tough.
Anyway, here’s a list of Zhang’s behind the camera work:
Director:
Happy Day (2000)
Not One Less (1999)
Road Home, The (1999)
Keep Cool (1997)
Shanghai Triad (1995)
To Live (1994)
Story of Qiu Ju, The (1992)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Ju Dou (1990)
Operation Cougar (1989)
Red Sorghum (1987)
Director of Cinematography
Old Well (1987)
Big Parade, The (1986)
Yellow Earth (1984)