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Raise the Red Lantern Movie Review

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Actors: Gong Li
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Raise the Red Lantern
In the 1920s, a well-educated young woman becomes the fourth wife of a powerful, wealthy Chinese lord. Each of his wives lives in a separate building in the compound, and the master indicates which one he will sleep with that night by having a red lantern hung over her door. Power struggles between the women are of course intense, and our young heroine has to learn how to maneuver through this thicket of intrigue. The movie could be taken as a parable for any sort of unequal power relation (capitalist boss and workers, for example) as much as a portrait of a specific place and time. It is beautifully shot, and Gong Li is both painfully gorgeous and superb in her acting of this tragic story.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar




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Analysis of Raise the Red Lantern
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Plot
Time/era of movie: - 1900-1920's
Romance/Love/Hugging Yes
Kind of romance: - love triangle/polygon - seduction (yum!)
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story? Yes
Culture of surrounding area: - Chinese

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Hair color? - brunette (Black)
Hair type - (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Unclothed? - Chest and Buttocks
Events of movie makes character more... - sad - tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality - Chinese
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor? - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Asia/Pacific/Middle East Yes
Asian country: - China
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel... - in awe
Sex/nudity in movie? Yes
What kind of sex: - actual description of sex - seeing breasts - seeing nude female butt - sex under blankets
Non-American film? Yes
What language? - Chinese
Subtitles? - Yes
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).