Raise the Red Lantern Review

Raise the Red Lantern (1991) 

Classic Movies

5/5

“Raise the Red Lantern,” directed by Zhang Yimou, is a 1991 historical drama film set in 1920’s China, years before the Chinese civil war (1927-1950). Songlian is a 19 year old woman who just left her family after her father’s passing and decides to marry into the aristocratic Chen family.

There is a striking scene between the master and fourth mistress and he says “Light the lanterns. They will be the symbol of longevity.” A hoarse and cold sound the lanterns give off as they are lit, builds upon the weight and tension of the inward suffering that Songlian and the other women feel. Red lanterns are the symbol of auspiciousness and raised in front of the houses during festivals even today. The use of red lanterns is informational the film suggests that the social and ethical corruption exists in some red lantern districts and also the households of the rich. The hammering rhythms heard in the film are typical in massage or other parts of the body; it was done on the feet for sexual desire and pleasure.

The strongest two cuts in this film is when Yan'er is punished. Songlian gets irritated and throws the lanterns outside on the ground in front of the servant. She says “lets stay with the tradition.” The scene cuts to the lanterns caught on fire and Yan’er watches in shock as they burn. The scene cuts a third time and the lanterns are reduced to ash. Yan'er becomes ill and eventually dies at the hospital she is sent to soon after.

A long close-up shot transitioning to a farther away shot of Yan’er

Image Source: http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2012/5/1/hit-me-with-your-best-shot-raise-the-red-lantern.html

Yimou uses serene camera movements to pictorialize and externalize the young girl’s subjectivity. The symmetrical and stately compositions with the number of lanterns and dynamic lines seen in 1920’s architecture further indicates the tedious, unchanging, and oppressive lifestyle for a woman living in a feudal society dominated by men.

The intimacy in this film is not the kind we’re familiar of in western arthouse cinema. Yimou does not reveal any physical intimacy between the man and mistress; instead, the preliminary motifs such as, lit lanterns and foot massages suggest the erotic pleasures that are associated with it. The absence of sexual intimacy evokes pleasure with an emptiness, causing us to question when these women are satisfied or the moments after, when they reveal their dissatisfaction with the aristocratic lifestyle.