Of course, the film belongs to Zhang Yimou, not Su Tong.
The orange-yellow color of the lantern has become a breathtaking color in the rigid courtyards that are stacked up. The lantern is lit, and the feudalism or humanity you want to criticize is covered in this orange halo.
Zhang Yimou replaced the well with a dead man's house on the top of the building, and he immediately got rid of Su Tong's taste. Without the well, without the rain, Song Lian's tears no longer have the gentle and distant meaning. Without water, there will be less tenderness that has been turned over and over again, leaving the bitterness and desolation of orange-yellow.
I like Su Tong's description, with style, characters, environment and psychology, blending together and revolving in a low level. Zhang Yimou's descriptions are skillful, like the master's never showing his face, the unity or monotony of tones, the switching and editing of shots, he is a master of using forms.
Zhang Yimou is good at this kind of harshness and desolation, and "Red Sorghum" is also such a warm tone desolate and more atmospheric, and the form is used just right, so all the meaning is in the clear. When "Hero" has water, there is only form. See, play with form too much and you're nothing, you're not symbolism after all.
Two kinds of chills, Su Tong soaks you with icy coldness, and Zhang Yimou is cold and desolate in warm colors.
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