Raise the Red Lantern

Zhang Yimou, China, 1991 (8.7*)
In 20's China, nineteen-yr old Songlian, wonderfully played by Gong Li, China's best actress, is forced to marry a wealthy merchant after her father's death. The fifty-yr old 'Master', Jingwu Ma, already has three wives in a strictly ritualistic and traditional household. Each wife has her own home within the family compound, with the wives grouped together.

Each night he decides which wife to spend the night with, and the servants place a red lantern in front of that door. With favoritism from the master, wives gain more status within their own group, and of course any new wife is looked upon with suspicion and immediately jealousy. First Wife (Shuyuan Jin) tries to maintain her own superiority among the women; at least for seniority, her position can never be usurped. However, with each new wife, she risks losing more of the Master's favor, his time, and at the same time faces possible unions among her spousal rivals.

This is an interesting look at a culture not found in the west. As such, it was the first of Zhang Yimou's films to find large interest on our side of the planet. Add to that gorgeous cinematography, and the interest of women being considered little more than property in a patriarchal society, where their paths are chosen for them, and their lives are held under rigid and strict traditions, and you have a film that spoke of universal concerns and values.

Lantern won 15 awards, including 10 for best foreign film, a couple more went to the beautiful cinematography of Fei Zhao

For more of Zhang Yimou, see these reviews:
Hero (2002) China [my favorite]
House of Flying Daggers (2004) China
The Road Home (1999) China
To Live (1994) China [2nd favorite]
Not One Less (1999) China

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House of Flying Daggers

Zhang Yimou, 2004, China (8.1*)
Following his tremendous success with Hero, top-grossing film in Chinese history, Zhang Yimou continued with martial arts adventures with this story of a group of women who oppose the Tang Dynasty's male leaders continually involving the kingdom in wars. Believing if they overthrow the men and allow the women to take over, they can stop the wars and bring peace to the kingdom.

Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, The Road Home) is a member of the subversive revolutionary group known as House of Flying Daggers for their penchant of committing assassinations with daggers, made so that they can be thrown in curves, like a boomerang - so hiding behind a tree is useless. This is more exciting filmmaking from Yimou, who seems to have hit his stride in this genre: the historical, costume, epic action adventure, and the more intrigue the better. Along with Zhang, this stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. Time Magazine and others called this the "best picture of the year".

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Hero (China)

Zhang Yimou, 2002, China (10*)

This astounding film is quite simply one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion; it's also the highest grossing film in Chinese history which gives you some indication. Jet Li said it was the best script he has ever read, and left him in tears. The film's visual lyricism is sheer poetry, and the sound is so good that Bose used it for a tv ad for their surround system. The plot is full of twists and turns, as an assassin is telling the film's narrative to the King of Qin of how he defeated three assassins, one of them Ziyi Zhang, long-time enemies of the king from neighboring kingdoms, and the story changes as he tells it.

Director Zhang Yimou's (director of 2008 Olympic opening) masterpiece, at least two years in the making, and Yimou had to employ another director for the martial arts sequences - this was a major epic undertaking, which also used thousands of extras from the Chinese army. This is a film you'll watch over and over, and likely in Mandarin without subtitles once you know the story, so that the awesome visual compositions have no distractions.

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Not One Less

Dir: Zhang Yimou, China, 2000 (7.8*)

This is one of the slower Yimou films, but still worth seeing, as are they all. The story involves a 13-yr old girl who must substitute in a rural mountain school when the teacher has to go on personal leave for one month. He offers her an extra 50 yuan if there is "not one less student" when he returns (due to kids dropping out), so it becomes the girls guiding principle in running the school, full of students not much younger than her. When one student goes to a nearby city to work to pay his family's debt, the girl, brilliantly portrayed by Wei Minzhi, is determined to bring him back. This is a more touching story for the fact that Yimou used not professional actors but actual real life people to portray their own "fictional" roles in the movie; that is, the head of a tv station was played by a real tv station manager, the teacher was a real elementary school teacher. The performances he elicits from children and the message of this almost propogandist statement make this film a must-see.

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The Road Home

Dir: Zhang Yimou, China, 2000 (8.5*)

Zhang Yimou (Hero, To Live, House of Flying Daggers) scores big again with this Sundance award winner that covers a love story from beginning to end, lasting several decades. The story is told in flashback after a young man’s father dies and he goes home for the funeral, and his mother insists that since the father died in another village, his body must be carried home by friends and relatives, "or the spirit can’t find its way home". In the flashbacks, the mother is played by Ziyi Zhang (her first starring role) as she meets and loves a new schoolteacher in the village who came there from a city. This is a simple romance, and a beautiful blend of scenery with Chinese folk traditions. Zhang was stunning in her first film.

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To Live

Dir: Zhang Yimou, 1994, China (9.2*)
Yet another Yimou (Hero, Road Home, House of Flying Daggers) classic, this one an epic, covering four decades in a family’s life, from just after WW2 until the late 80’s. Ge You as the husband won Best Actor at Cannes, and its hard to imagine that Gong Li as his wife did not win best actress, she has to have been one of the world's best actresses in the 90’s.

Yimou tells a long story but maintains the interest, and includes several massive scenes, one during war (the Maoist Revolution), one at a steel foundry, both unforgettable and among the best in any epic. Films like this one got him selected to direct the 2008 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, and they were even more mind-blowing, creating a 'once in a lifetime experience' for all Olympic fans. Yimou is a true visionary, a rare artist among filmmakers.

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