Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

Although a lesser film than Ju Dou, this is still one of the jewels of Chinese cinema in the 1990s. Zhang Yimou fashions a compelling and at times erotic story about the repression of women in 1920s China through exceptional use of bright colour, symbolic compositions, stylised sets and rural landscape, with standout performances from Gong Li and He Caifei.

The film is a haunting, beautiful study of repression and women's subjugation in a feudal Chinese household, with Zhang's aesthetic subtlety and Gong Li's performance making it compelling and courageous.

The film had a startling international impact as a claustrophobic, richly beautiful political allegory and romantic tragedy set in 1920s China; Gong Li's presence is essential to its success.

Zhang Yimou delivers a calmly shattering portrait of systematic oppression of women in a 1920s noble household, with astonishing beauty and terror that evokes Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. The formal visuals and color use powerfully underscore the rigid rules and power plays among the wives.

The critic calls the film marvellously structured, richly imagined and well-acted, with a central performance that holds attention throughout, and deems it Yimou's most resonant and perhaps most lavish work. He singles out the rich colours, claustrophobic atmosphere and the way the film captures the scent of sex, jealousy and impending disaster through Gong Li's preparation for the marital bed.

The critic praises Zhang Yimou's sober, still visual style that heightens the melodrama and socio-historical resonance of a young woman's entrapment as a concubine. He singles out the economical static compositions, the first close-up of Gong Li, and the lantern-lighting rituals as creating a claustrophobic indictment of feudal society.

The film draws viewers into the sealed, hothouse world of a rich man's household where four wives compete for favor through rituals and intrigues. It works as absorbing melodrama while highlighting the cruelty beneath the opulent visuals and performances, especially Gong Li's.

The story focuses on the women trapped in a feudal household's rigid rituals and power struggles after a new educated wife arrives. It is a beautifully crafted drama with the verve of a soap opera that raises consciousness about their constrained lives.

The film elicits a strong sense of déjà vu as it revisits themes from Zhang's earlier works of a young woman struggling in an oppressive patriarchal society. The lavish schematic colours hold considerable appeal, the atypical symmetry and stillness of the compositions stress the strait-jacket mores of a stagnant feudal culture, and the acting is excellent, but one can't help but feel that Zhang has said it all before and more imaginatively.

The critic questions whether a film can be too beautiful while discussing the revival of Zhang Yimou’s 1991 drama about a fourth wife ensnared in household rivalries. It lacks the emotional vigor of 'Ju Dou' yet stands out for its bold color palette and lingering political provocation.

The critic calls it Zhang Yimou’s master work for its beautiful look, haunting themes and sublime performances. They highlight the complex female characters and the film’s dual indictment of the treatment of women and broader political systems in China.