"Red Sorghum" - overwhelming visual beauty, director Zhang Yimou's shocking debut

Summary of "Red Sorghum"

In the late 1920s, in a small village in Shandong Province, China, Jiu'er, the daughter of a poor farmer, was practically sold to marry Li, a wine brewer, to save her family from financial difficulties. On the way to her wedding, she was attacked by robbers in a sorghum field, but was saved by Yu Zhan'ao. After her wedding, Jiu'er returned to her parents' home, where she met Yu again in the sorghum field, and the two were united in marriage. Jiu'er returned to her husband's home, but her husband was missing, and she became a widow, running the wine shop instead, and eventually marrying Yu. They had a child and lived happily together until the Japanese army invaded the village...

Index

• A shocking debut work bursting with young talent
• The film is full of stunning visual beauty and the powerful performances of these talented actors, all of whom are still new to the industry.
• Outstanding visual sense

A shocking debut work bursting with young talent

The screen is vividly dyed in red with intense high energy. Director Zhang Yimou (born 1950) has become a master of Chinese cinema in both name and reality, having served as the general director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer and 2022 Winter Olympics. Three of his early works, in which he developed his unique aesthetic, have been released in Japan in HD restored versions. The special screening "Zhang Yimou: The Glamorous World of Red" will be held from Friday, December 27, 2024 (Cinemart Shinjuku and other theaters nationwide). The lineup includes his shocking directorial debut "Red Sorghum" from 1987, " Ju Dou" from 1990 (executive producer: Tokuma Yasuyoshi, a Chinese-Japanese coproduction), and " Raise the Red Lantern " from 1991. This film is a collaboration with Gong Li (born 1965), an actor who was the director's partner in both public and private life when he was still a newcomer. A unique story set in China in the 1920s (and 1930s) unfolds on the screen.

"Zhang Yimou: The Glamorous Red World"

China's "Fifth Generation" New Wave of the time - young filmmakers of the post-Cultural Revolution generation who experienced the pain and bitterness of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976, the end of which was announced the following year in 1977) in their youth and emerged in the 1980s, made their talents known worldwide, mainly through European film festivals. Their mentor was Wu Tianming (born 1939-died 2014), director of The Old Well (1987), and the new talents who had just The Graduate from the Beijing Film Academy were nurtured at the Xi'an Film Studio, where he served as director. The flag-bearers of the Fifth Generation, such as Chen Kaige (born 1952), Tian Zhuangzhuang (born 1952), and Zhang Yimou, were a decisive turning point in the history of Chinese cinema that could be called the Nouvelle Vague. The overall historical background was the "Reform and Opening Up" policy, which began in 1978 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, and saw China's full-scale economic modernization and the arrival of a trend toward speaking freely.

Among them, the star director who has received outstanding international acclaim is Zhang Yimou. His film "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear (Grand Prix) at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in February 1988, " Ju Dou " won the Luis Bunuel Award at the 43rd Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards, and "Red Raise the Red Lantern " won the Silver Bear at the 48th Venice International Film Festival, boasting a brilliant track record. His first three films, which display his young and sharp talent, are all must-sees, fitting for the breakthrough that opened the way for the Fifth Generation and Chinese films to enter the world. If I had to choose just one, it would be the first, "Red Sorghum." It is the origin of the stylized beauty of Zhang Yimou's style, which would later expand and mature to a huge audience with films such as " HERO " (2002) and " LOVERS " (2004), but it is also full of the initial impulsive and rough dynamism that is unique to his debut work. We have never seen Zhang Yimou in such an edgy and brilliant form since.

The film is full of stunning visual beauty and the powerful performances of these talented actors, all of whom are still new to the industry.