Songlian is almost forced to marry Master Chen due to her family circumstances. For other uses, see, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Dancing the Red Lantern: Zhang Yimou’s Fusion of Western Ballet and Peking Opera, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Long Gao Gao Gua) (1991)", "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 28. Foot binding also ensured that women would take smaller, daintier steps, attaining a more graceful gait. A lot of people in this world don't actually have much choice in how they get to live their lives. After her father dies, leaving the family penniless, Songlian leaves university to become Chen's Fourth Mistress, moving into an estate with his three other mistresses. Nineteen-year-old Songlian ( Sònglián, played by Gong Li), whose father has recently died and left the family bankrupt, marries into the wealthy Chen family, becoming the fourth wife or rather the third concubine or, as she is referred to, the Fourth Mistress ( Sì tàitai) of the household. "[19] The film ranked #28 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. Blaming the sequence of events on Yan'er, Songlian reveals to the house that Yan'er's room is filled with lit red lanterns, showing that Yan'er dreams of becoming a mistress instead of a lowly servant; it is suggested earlier that Yan'er is in love with the master and has even slept with him in the Fourth Mistress' bed. Raise the Red Lantern portrays life in a stifling and constrictive sanheyuan or Chinese courtyard house (which usually belong to families established for many generations). In previous generations within the Chen household it was hinted that two women were murdered for cheating on their husbands. What looks like a life of luxury could actually function more like a golden cage. [13], Described as "one of the landmark films of the 1990s" by Jonathan Crow of AllMovie,[15] where it received 5 stars, since its release Raise the Red Lantern has been very well received. Within these high walls, the writing of poetry and the study of Confucian philosophy were supposed to be pursued in celestial peace (4). On her twentieth birthday, severely intoxicated and despondent over her bitter fate, Songlian inadvertently blurts out the details of the love affair between Meishan and Doctor Gao to Zhuoyun, who later catches the adulterous couple together. But this is certainly not the idyllic setting that we find in Raise the Red Lantern, where infighting is rife and the web of deceit spun by the wives and maids is impenetrable! Many reviews praise Raise the Red Lantern for its visuals, and it deserves every bit of praise it gets. The foot massage is a fetish for both the patriarch and his wives (this fetish acting as a substitute for a woman’s “lack” (9)). Sanheyuan(s) were self-contained and everything that one needed could be found within these courtyard houses; doctors and even entertainment were brought into the compound when required; at auspicious occasions, Chinese operas would be staged to entertain the household and guests. The cinematography isn't flashy, but each shot is framed very carefully and often centered on the subject. The many students murdered at the square are represented by the cruel execution of Third Mistress. Sometimes this works in a way where everyone involved is satisfied, but it can be hard to tell whether that satisfaction is actually silent, prolonged suffering. Her fate is so inevitable, and her life so controlled, that after a few weeks at the estate she can't even think to be angry at her husband, her true oppressor, and spends her time playing the petty game he has set before her. Songlian is quickly taken in by the petty intrigue of the estate and develops rivalries with the Second Mistress, the Third Mistress, and her servant Yan'er who aspires to be a concubine herself. This is artfully portrayed in Raise the Red Lantern – having received more education compared to the other wives in the Chen household, we expect Songlian to be above the deceit of the wives and maids, but she becomes entrapped in household intrigues and is later instrumental in her maid’s death and the execution of the Third Mistress.
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