Ju Dou (1990)

I have become a huge fan of Gong Li and have now purchased five films that she has appeared in. Ju Dou is by far her sexiest and most daring performance. She plays the lead character in the film named Ju Dou. She is a poor woman who is purchased by an old, impotent, and extremely cruel and abusive man who owns a Dye Factory. His name is Yang Jinshan. He wants to have an heir to succeed him but is having trouble getting his battered bride to conceive. At this juncture, his nephew, named Yang Tianqing, who is a mild mannered pervert who likes to be voyeuristic and watch his Uncle's new bride wash herself. Before he knows it, as the uncle is out on a trip, Ju Dou seduces him in one of the most erotic seduction scenes of all time. This is done in a very classy way, there is no nudity, but what is implied is quite obvious. In the aftermath of these proceedings, Ju Dou becomes pregnant and informs her "jackass" of a husband that she is going to give him a son. He is quite pleased and they end up naming the son, Yang Tianbi. Eventually the husband is crippled in an accident, and is later killed in an accident involving his son. For some odd reason, the son is as evil as can be and hates his mother and real Dad with a passion and proceeds with a plot to kill them. 2/3 of this movie is great. The last third in my opinion is that it is stupid. It is kind of like they tried to make Damien, The Omen, Part 4. The cinematography is excellent, but the last third of the movie was poorly done in my opinion. Like I said, this was Gong Li's sexiest role. She really has a way to express herself to the camera. However, the movie falls short of the mark.

Fmovies: I found this movie to be gripping cinema, even if some things weren't really explicable to me, an Occidental. I understand (or at least am aware of) the basics of Chinese society enough to get most things in this film, but like "ebossert" said, many of the things that the child does seem to bear little relation to the reality around him. Yes, he suspects bad behavior by some of the other characters, but is that enough to drive him to such lengths? Kudos to the lovely Gong Li, for carrying this films title role so well. Also to the other two main actors who I was unfamiliar with, Li Bao-tian and Li Wei. At least, that is my impression, even though it is difficult to judge acting performances in a language one doesn't understand. As an aside, I suppose the 1920's are a popular setting for Chinese movies, as that was really the last time that China was a normal country, being wracked by war in the 30's and 40's, and smothered under Communism and (Communism-caused famine) after that. Even with it's flaws, a pretty damn good flick.

A sense of impending doom foretells the end of this striking film. Impressive cinematography and symbolic use of colors make the storytelling gripping and arresting. So much of the picture is told through images that subtitles are almost superfluous.

Ju Dou fmovies. Gong Li is just about one of the most beautiful actresses in the world today. It is hard to believe that she has been acting for 20 years.

This is one of her earlier works, and it is an excellent example of her talent. It is also one of the early films for Yimou Zhang, who also directed Gong Li in Curse of the Golden Flower. He shows the promise of a great director in this film.

There is not much that is pleasant her. Ju Dou (Gong Li) is bought by an evil man who has beaten two wives to death for not bearing him a son. She is beaten mercilessly and he has constant sex with her to have a son.

The problem is not his wives, but him, and she has a son secretly with his nephew (Baotian Li). It saves her life, but matters continue to get more and more complicated until the final tragedy.

One of the really interesting features of the film is the Chinese funeral ritual.

The film is a great example of the early work of two great talents, but do not think that early means weak, as they were bother strong from the beginning.

When watching Ju Dou it suddenly occurred to me that although Zhang Yimou is known for his political arguments the film seems to breathe through a warm and loving hope from Tianqing and Ju Dou. The political references and damnation of the treatment of women resonate but I found myself taking this hope theme and putting it out front. The beauty of the photography is unmatched, in particular the stunning shot of Tianqing working in the dye mill with the whole background illuminated with the suns reddened glare but there is the lack of visual plausibility, being the narrow minded baffoon that I am, the first thought to enter my head was that Ju Dou would never go for Tianqing, look how skinny and ugly the guy is! But the plausibility is increased once they get it together due to their quality performances, Gong Li's fragile "wolf" is probably one of the most mesmerising performances in history. It is truly hypnotic, and Li Baotian shows the contradictory nature of Tianqing, especially his tortured obedience in front of his "uncle" and his masculine dependence on Ju Dou that gives the film so much heart, despite his obvious lack of meat.

What isn't so great is the episodic feel that is helped none by the titles indicating the passage of time. Surely this could have been achieved visually, even on a small budget. Pacing feels a little disjointed, probably because the inciting incident happens quite a long way into the film, but maybe I got that and the act climax confused, note: must watch again.

Small discrepancies aside, my problem is with the narrative. Of course film can do more than to tell a story, but I feel that when you start one you should tell it properly and with skill. Of course, Ju Dou is one Zhang's earliest films and none of his later films that I have seen have suffered from this, but then again they do not portray a claustrophobic feeling so well in streets and houses as well as showing the vastness of the country itself. A visual metaphor for the people being close, feeling each other's pain and joy, with the money, the government for instance, far away, unable, or not wanting to see the plight of the citizens.

And on a final note, the uncle's mean streak and his black heart did not make me feel any less sorry for him in the middle of the film, which although adds a little hostility to Ju Dou, gives us another wonderful character in the film. No one is perfect.

I would highly recommend Ju Dou to all fans of Chinese cinema, especially those who prefer this to the action movies they produce by the bucket load in Hong Kong and are rarely any good unless they star Jet Li, or anyone who has a love of ambience in their movies. This achieves it ten fold.

Now I'm off to see Zhang Yimou's latest, 'The Road Home' in London. High expectations but not quite on the same level as Wong Kar-Wai's 'In the Mood for Love' released here on Friday October 27th. Looking forward to that too.

Mesmerizing melodrama set in 1920's China about a young woman who is forced to wed an abusive dye mill owner, who tortures her like an animal for not giving him a son, but more importantly, an heir. She decides to indulge in an affair with the nephew of her husband. Enthralling study of passion, sensation and burning for revenge brought to life in an extraordinary fashion which earned the film an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film of 1990.