Red Sorghum

"Red Sorghum" (1988) is the first film in a trilogy, further comprising "Ju Dou" (1990) and "Raise the red lantern" (1991). In the Netherlands the film was released after the success of the latter two.

The trilogy has coherence both with regard to the themes and the style. In all three films a young woman is married with a much older man, giving rise of course to the temptation of adultery. All three films use bright colors, in particular red. In two of them the color red is also used in the title, in "Ju Dou" the bright colors are due to the fact that the film is situated in a wool dyeing factory.

"Red Sorghum" was Zhang Yimou's debut film and (thus) also his first co-operation with lead actress Gong Li. Some lack of routine is visible by both, for example in the mixing up of genre conventions of relationship drama, Western and war movie. The last element is probably added to please the Chinese censor. In later films Zhang Yimou turned out to be more brave in this resect.

The official (old) husband of lead actress Gong Li dies early in the movie (under suspect circumstances), and she inherits his distillery. In the rest of the movie Gong Li has a relationship with two men. One is physically attractive, impulsive, showing up only now and then and the father of her child. To the other she can talk, he is toughtful, ever present and is helping to raise her child. The lead character gives the impression that she doesn't mind this division of labor, proving her to be an independent and strong woman.

Credit goes to Yimou for stripping this epic 2 novel series down to this spare and gorgeous little hour and a half. For all the recent fantastic forays into Chinese fantasy, this story (which is allegedly true) shown as it is, is as close to a fairy tale as it gets, at least until the very end. Every shot is a painting. For some reason this film is still near-impossible to find on DVD. I truly hope it is not being suppressed for anti-Japanese sentiment expressed in it. That would be a terrible shame. This film was released shortly before Tienanmenn (sp) and it has a boldness and frank humor rarely seen in Chinese film since.

This film captures the Chinese landscape with a touch of love, love that the filmmakers had for their people and their culture which fuses with the sorghum fields and the folk songs they sing when they are happy or when they are in pain and anguish, beautifully. I felt the Japanese effect or the tyrannical force with which they subdued the Chinese should have been shown a little more, it all happened in a jiffy. The storytelling is pretty but fails to connect on many levels. Like the transition of a poor village girl into a strong distillery owner and the level of trust and love she is shown by the workers and the sudden infatuation that develops and is accepted between her and Yu. Also the way we are shown the attack sequence was not at all engaging, it only had slow-mo shots of people falling/running but the final shot of redness surrounding Yu and his son was brilliant. Watch it, for you'll get a peek into Chinese culture, the position of women in it, their traditions and songs and most importantly the red wine, red like blood mingling to mark a jarringly tough Chinese wartime life.

Here is a solid film by Yimou Zhang, from the fifth generation of Chinese directors. Red Sorghum is told as a flashback, a narration by the main character's grandson. Gong Li plays an attractive lower-class Chinese woman who is sent, against her will, to be married to an old leper who runs a winery.

The story takes place on the eve of the Japanese occupation before World War II and later features some ugly scenes from their invasion. There is an underlying motif regarding feminism (a lot of this generation of Chinese directors seemed to deal with this) and the inability of females to be even remotely empowered in this time and place. I enjoyed seeing the class boundaries and customs of late-Qing China, the occasionally goofy sense of humor, and the almost lawless, ruthless communities out in the desert.

The film takes place in only a handful of locations, but features some gorgeous cinematography. The vibrant red colors (perhaps an allusion to Communist rule and foreshadowing bloodshed? It's hard to tell whether this film is for or against Communist China) are illustrated vividly by the sorghum wine and the long views of the sun setting across the Chinese desert. The pacing is slow but efficient and the story is a memorable one.

It's quite indisputable (to me, at least!) that, although this was Yimou Zhang's first film, it's loads better than his later movies, "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers". Hopefully one day he'll catch up to where he started.

Red Sorghum will delight those that enjoy the art of cinematography. This visually stunning film truly deserves its international acclaim simply because of the way it presents the tale through its remarkable use of imagery, lighting, and filters.

Until I saw this film, I would have never thought that one could say so much about character, setting, mood and plot simply through the use of layout and image composition. This controversial film set in the 1920's - 1930's, by the rebellious Zhang Yimou, follows the life of sorghum wine farmers from Northern China.

If you follow the history of Chinese film, you will see how nicely this film combines motif's of many of its precursor films. Chinese history and culture has been vastly explored through many Chinese films, however I believe that this is a good film for the average American film goer to get a taste of the Chinese film industry and culture through their perspective. I say this for a variety of reasons, the pacing of this drama is quicker and faster moving compared to other related Chinese films before its time. Generally Chinese film have a tendency to be slow, when set aside the general American preferred standards.

It presents to us some of the Northern Chinese cultural traditions. Its display of the Japanese brutality could not have been better presented. The Japanese have been quite swinish during this period in Chinese history. All I can say is it says it all as it really was, very well indeed.

This is the last but most important reason to watch this film... look at its cinematography. It has to be among the best I have ever seen. It amazed me to see how resourceful a cinematographer can be when working for a film of little budget. Yimou showed me how simple things can be filmed to be works of art. Unfortunately I have not been able to see the film in its original cinematic scope however, even in full screen it is still quite visually stunning. The aperture, f-stop and lens settings were set just perfectly giving the film a very rich vibrant look making Yimou my favorite Chinese film cinematographer/director of all time to date. Oh, it is a film that you just have to see for yourself! Hope you enjoy it! Happy Viewing!