6/24/09

Zhang's Raise The Red Lantern


















Yimou Zhang is one of those "true" Chinese directors. His movies though gained international attention remained with a well defined Chinese identity. He is famous outside China for his visually beautiful film Raise The Red Lantern, and later for his trilogy in the mid 90's.

Red Lantern is a straight forward story set in the 1920's, Songlian (Zhang's classical actress Gong Li) is a 19 year-old beautiful lady that is forced by familial financial needs to be the fourth concubine of a wealthy Chinese man. The movie detects different aspects of her life in the isolated mansion, paralleled beautifully with the changing of the four seasons, it also notes her progressive mental breakdown.

This is the Trailer

A short scene depicting few of the many architectural shots in the movie.



WASSIM