The film "High Red Lanterns" was adapted from Su Tong's novella "Wives and Concubines", and also won the Silver Bear Award at the 48th Venice International Film Festival. Different from the intuitive feeling given to us by the title of the film, the film changed the warm visual effect of the red lantern, revealed the cruel feudal reality, and highlighted the theme. Songlian's bondage in Chen Mansion is an externalization of the old society's dregs and civilization. This deep-rooted feudal thinking created a strict hierarchy and became the spiritual core of the tragedy.
The film "High Red Lanterns" tells the tragic fate of several women in the Chen family compound in a relatively documentary way, as well as the tragic ending of Song Lian, the intellectual female image, which eventually became a madman. The feudal traditional women, represented by them, were powerless in the face of the oppressive reality of the feudal system, and lived a life of grievances and seeking perfection for a long time in such a social situation, gradually becoming numb until their thoughts were eroded by feudalism, a tragic thought change. Under the high-hanging red lantern, in the way of hammering feet and ordering dishes to satisfy women's vanity, under the control of strict ancestral rules, women of all colors have gone from resistance to forbearance in their hearts, and finally A brief process in which free will disappears.
Every female image in the Chen Family Courtyard is worth savoring by the viewers. The eldest sister who has been tortured and has long since looked down on it, the second sister who hides a knife in her scheming and laughter, the third sister who is brave to resist but cannot escape her fate, Song Lian, who has a noble nature but is eventually assimilated by the environment, and Yan'er who is twisted and jealous in her heart... these one A life that should be alive, a soul that should be respected lives in such an era background, "Live like a cat, live like a dog, but not like a human!" The helpless lament after the real me. No matter how different these women are, the film is instilling in us a concept that no matter how independent and individual women are, if they enter this "big yard", they will still not be able to escape the clutches of the feudal system. will still change. With the changes of Songlian in just one year, what the viewers can see clearly is the demise of a young intellectual as beautiful as a flower, and the birth of a narrow-minded woman who competes for her husband's favor. At the same time of sympathy and sadness, they can't help but lament the injustice and oppression of society against them. The arrival of the fifth wife at the end also indicates that Songlian is only the tip of the iceberg. Such a tragedy has not really ended. As long as the red lantern is still hanging high, these women will still be difficult Escape to heaven.
The film uses a rather special narrative structure. The director divides the whole story into four parts: summer, autumn, winter, and summer of the second year. Each part tells the story that takes Songlian as the main character in the corresponding time period. Each part of the story is organically integrated to show Songlian's post-marriage story is both unexpected and reasonable. It can be clearly seen that there is only spring in the four narrative parts, and spring does not exist in such a yard. The term spring is extraordinarily unfamiliar and extravagant to the women in this yard. One day it was getting farther and farther away. Summer, autumn and winter proceed in chronological order. Songlian's attitude towards the feudal forces represented by the master is also changing day by day. It is worth mentioning that the most chilling thing in feudal thought is not the physical pain. Rather, it penetrated into these vivid souls, changing the lives of them and even those around them.
The just-right handling and delicate details in the film are also handy in the director's hands. Like director Zhang Yimou's debut work "Red Sorghum", "Raise the Red Lantern" is also in color, especially the extensive use of red. The red lanterns, red window paper, and red ceramics highlight the festive atmosphere and the seemingly "happy" lighting, but also make people feel a deep sense of oppression from the feudal system and the invisibility of murder. bloody. Sanjie's room, with red curtains and red costumes, not only attracted the audience's attention, rendered a romantic and seductive atmosphere, but also implied Sanjie's spirit of resistance to a certain extent, as well as her admiration for her rebelliousness , Sanjie's prosperous and enthusiastic temperament is also vividly displayed.
The change of Song Lian's clothes is also a highlight of this film. The color of Song Lian's clothes also symbolizes Song Lian's inner world. Her clothes are an expression carrier of her mentality. It is not difficult to see the layers of Song Lian's inner world. waves. When I first entered the yard, I wore a plain color and a pair of ordinary cloth shoes. When I started to have patterns on my clothes, I wore bright red cloth shoes. Her simple independence at first was no different from others in the end, and it is not difficult to see the general mentality of the people under the heavy pressure of such a feudal system, resigned and wronged. I still remember Song Lian, who was wearing a white cheongsam when she was first admitted to the hospital and was disdainful of waiting outside the door to turn on the lights, but in the end she was wearing a dead black cotton jacket and kept spinning in circles in the yard, which made people feel the tragic ending. sad.
The full or flat characters portrayed in the film "High Red Lanterns" staged such a unique life drama in such a courtyard and such an era background. Under the rule of the feudal system, it has deprived generations of women of their freedom, but what is more sad is their ideological acquiescence, and what is even worse, abusive, twisted and perverted psychology abounds in such a society, they or more To be affected by it to a lesser extent, but can only sigh helplessly after seeing the reality clearly, this is not a human fault, but a drawback of the social form.
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