Raise the Red Lantern: Amazon.ca: Li Gong, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao, Qi Zhao, Lin Kong, Shuyuan Jin, Weimin Ding, Zhengyin Cao, Zhihgang Cui, Chu Xiao, Baotian Li, Fei Zhao, Lun Yang, Yimou Zhang, Fu-Sheng Chiu, Hsiao-hsien Hou, Wenze Zhang, Ni Zhen, Su Tong: DVD

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Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou) directed this fascinating, visually formal 1991 film about an educated woman (Gong Li) who is sent off to become the newest wife of a feudal nobleman in 1920s China. Nearly isolated in his spooky, palatial home, she develops relationships with several of the other wives and slowly becomes aware of a hideous legacy of punishment toward more willful women. The film has a brittle and dry quality that is deliberate, but also suggestive of Zhang working through various explorations of his own style (which he resolved in his next film, The Story of Qiu Ju). Gong Li, one of the world's great actresses, is superb. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Raise the Red Lantern = FANTASTIC. This release? Not., Mar 29 2006

By

"ellstar" (Canada) - See all my reviews

Ce commentaire est de: Raise the Red Lantern-Mandarin (DVD)

This is a beautiful film, amazing, touching, moving and unique in many ways. But this is one of the WORST DVD releases I have ever seen. I know it's hard to get foreign language films, especially ones so removed from Western Cinema released in the West, but this dvd was atrocious.

It had the worst transfer, the film looked horrible, the quality was insulting to such a great film. The subtitles were few and far between, MAJOR dialogues are missing and even the title is mistranslated! How this could EVER be a mainstream DVD release I will never know but DO NOT PURCHASE IT, it will only make you cry a bit at the injustice this release has done for the film.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gong Li is the Best Unknown Actress in Movies, May 21 2004

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ZenPenguin (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Ce commentaire est de: Raise the Red Lantern (VHS Tape)

If there were any fairness in Hollywood, Gong Li would have won the Academy Award for Best Actress for any one of her many movies. Besides being drop-dead gorgeous, she is an exquisite actress of the first order. The opening scene, a close-up of her face as she resigns herself to her nihilistic future, will convince anyone of this fact. Raise the Red Lantern is a thinking, engrossing movie that dispenses with special effects and overwhelming scores and concentrates on story and acting. Zhang Yimou is famous for delivering biting criticism of the oppressive, delusional aspects of Chinese society. Raise the Red Lantern shows one very strong, independent woman's attempt to overcome thousands of years of historic oppression in early 20th ca China. Women are collectables for rich men, mere objects of possession. The horrific backstabbing and betrayal is among the women themselves as they vie for most-desired-object status. When the human need for dignity and respect surface, the repercussions are catastrophic.

The plot has been well documented, although this is one of those movies where the less you know going in the better. Suffice to say the first thing you'll want to do once the movie is over is to watch it again.

It is disappointing to see a number of very mediocre movies receiving 4 and 5 stars simply because they shun the standard Hollywood formula, as if mainstream automatically equals bad and independent automatically equals good. The mediocrity of these films becomes apparent when compared to indy films of the highest caliber, such as Raise the Red Lantern. Highly, highly recommended.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Astounding, Mar 18 2004

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ESQ - See all my reviews

Ce commentaire est de: Raise the Red Lantern (VHS Tape)

This movie is an absolute must-see. I first saw it on assignment from a film class. I absolutely loved it! The plot was most intriguing and engaging. The female is obviously a very talented woman as her acting was superb.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent film-making
Zhang Yimou is a great Chinese film-director and all of his works are worth watching. Gorgeous cinematography and fascinating story.

Published on Oct 7 2009 by nobody

1.0 out of 5 stars Subtitler on drugs
This is a wonderful, spectacular movie, one of my favourites, but this particular distributor has butchered it horribly. Lisez davantage

Published on Aug 24 2009 by Zione