Rent Ju Dou (1990)
3.7 of 5 from 84 ratings
1h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A dark, sensual, and visually sumptuous drama, 'Ju Don' centres on the title character, the wife of a wealthy silk dyer in 1920's China. Forced into marriage, Ju Dou (Gong Li) is repeatedly mistreated and tortured by her husband for failing to bear him a heir, even though he is infertile. Her suffering attracts the sympathy of her husband's younger, kinder nephew, and the two begin a secret affair that could lead to tragic consequences.
- Actors:
- Li Gong, Wei Li, Baotian Li, Ma Chong, Zhijun Cong, Wu Fa, Jia Jin, Xingli Niu, Yang Qianbin, Zhang Yi, Jia Zhaoji, Ji-an Zheng
- Directors:
- Fengliang Yang, Yimou Zhang
- Producers:
- Hu Jian, Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Wenze Zhang
- Writers:
- Heng Liu
- Aka:
- Cúc Đậu
- Studio:
- Escapi
- Genres:
- Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like: Raise the Red Lantern, Films to Watch If You Like..., Top 10 Films By Year, Top Films of 1990: Vol. 2
- Countries:
- China
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Reviews (2) of Ju Dou
Mad Love - Ju Dou review by Steve
An opening title informs us the year is 1920, and yet this reflects the sort of feudalism which stretches back to the middle ages. Which is presumably a political position taken by Zhang Yimou, and a criticism of Chinese history which might have appealed to the Communist Party...
Instead, they banned it because they felt the unsympathetic patriarch might be assumed to represent the present day government! Which is crazy! Anyway, the malign elder (Wei Li) runs a successful dying business and purchases a beautiful young wife (Gong Li) to provide an heir.
Only he is cruel, and drives her into the arms of his nephew (Baotian Li). So who actually is the father of her little boy? This is romantic melodrama- with supernatural implications- and reminiscent of the postwar cinema of Kenji Mizoguchi... Except for the utterly gorgeous colour process.
Zhang Yimou was a graduate in cinematography and has an artistic feel for composition, plus the spectacular use of light and filters. While this will appeal to fans of melodrama or with an interest in Chinese social history, it's really the exquisite photography* which makes it a heartbreaker.
*please note the current dvd release looks like a transfer from a video cassette cropped for tv use. Plus the sound is poor. All Zhang's early films are overdue restoration and bluray release.
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This DVD is so technically poor it's unwatchable - Ju Dou review by BS
The original film was a visual masterpiece using a theme of swathes of silk fabric with beautiful colours. This DVD version is terrible, it looks as though someone copied it on a mobile phone from a cinema screen the colours are so yellow and washed out its unwatchable.
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