Rating: 4.5/5
Asian Cinema Challenge 2023 | 13/52 | Directed by Zhang Yimou
Republic of China, 1920s
Songlian is a nineteen-year-old university student. After six months, however, her father dies, and the family can no longer afford it. For three days, Songlian’s stepmother begs her to get married. Nineteen-year-old Songlian relents sorrowfully, agreeing to marry someone rich, even though she would only be a rich man’s concubine. Summer arrives, and Songlian packs her bag and walks to the Chen family compound, where she becomes the Fourth Mistress. While Chen Baishun, the housekeeper, prepares the house, Songlian tries to help Yan’er, her maid, with washing, but Yan’er forcefully stops Songlian when she realizes Songlian is the Fourth Mistress.
Songlian finds her room filled with red lanterns to celebrate her arrival. The servants prepare a footbath and massage Songlian’s feet. They decorate her hair. Evening falls, and Master Chen arrives in Songlian’s room to visit with her. He asks her to undress and get in bed, where he lies with her into the night, the red lanterns glowing. A servant comes to the door, saying the Third Mistress is ill and needs his attention. He tells her it can wait until morning, but she doesn’t relent. So, Master Chen goes to visit her, and the servants set up lanterns in the third house. It’s only later that Songlian learns that the Third Mistress, Meishan, wasn’t sick but merely demanding Master Chen’s attention, afraid of no longer being the youngest and most beautiful of the mistresses.
The following day, Chen Baishun requests that Songlian visit with the other three mistresses before breakfast as is the house custom. Each of the four mistresses has their own wing of the compound, and she must visit them individually. The First Mistress is surprisingly old and somewhat resigned. The Second Mistress, Zhongyun, is cheerful and warm. She tells Songlian how the mistress chosen for the night receives the foot massage and lighted lanterns and suggests that Songlian, being so young, may receive many nights like this. This favor also extends to choosing what meals she has — a necessity as a vegetarian that is never guaranteed.
The film follows Songlian through the seasons and the daily life of the house as she tries to adapt to the endless family customs and thinly veiled cruelty of her new life.
— Good or bad, it's all playacting. If you play well, you fool the others. If you play poorly, you can only fool yourself. If you can't even fool yourself, you can fool the ghosts. —People breathe; ghosts cannot. That's the only difference. People are ghosts, and ghosts are people.
The Chinese title, 大紅燈籠高高掛 (literally meaning “big red lanterns hung high”), refers to a decorative practice in traditional China for celebrations, such as Chinese New Year. It also functions as an idiom for superficial happiness, which I’m realizing, as I write this, may stem from this movie.
The cinematography is wall-to-wall stunning. From the opening shot, centering on Gong Li as she relents in tears before her mother, my eyes were locked on the screen. The visual of the red lanterns creates a powerful motif, offsetting the brown tones of the Chen house with red-orange cylinders that seem to float in the space. The Quao Family Compound, which they filled as the Chen family compound, is gorgeous.
One of my favorite choices the movie makes is never giving us a clear view of Master Chen — we can assume he is older based on the age of the First Mistress, but we learn little of his physical appearance. We do, however, discover his true character as the film progresses. Early on, for example, Songlian catches him fooling around with Yan’er. But as we learn of his family’s history with women, we see this is a very minor transgression.
The score is killer! Zhao Jiping creates a soundspace that feels traditional and contemporary, blending traditional instrumentation with early 90s production techniques. The textures are lush but disorienting, as though arriving in the middle of someone else’s party. I can see why director Zhang Yimou collaborates with him so extensively.
The sound effects are also rich with nuances. I love the sound of the pipes as they blow out the lanterns.
Gong Li’s performance as Songlian is remarkable. The camera often lingers on her face, allowing us to see the complex shifting of emotions. Songlian, like the other mistresses, are victims with little control over their lives. The house breeds cruelty in some desperate attempt at control in a world ultimately left to the whims of one man.
I’m happy that we get to hear He Saifei sing, as she is a famous Yue opera performer in real life. There’s a scene where she sings directly to the camera, and I love it.
My biggest complaint about the movie is how emotionally distant we stay from the characters. Even as we experience our lead’s mourning and pain, we have limited access to it, as the film prioritizes the visual experience. Also, the servant gossip, while believable, makes too literal and blunt what the film has already suggested.
I would like to know more about why China banned the film for three years and later released it. I know that China later banned Zhang Yimou and Gong Li for To Live, and Yimou made a bunch of crowd-pleasers to try and regain favor. If anyone has any resources on this topic, please let me know.