Product Details

• Actors: Li Gong, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao, Qi Zhao
• Directors: Yimou Zhang
• Writers: Ni Zhen, Su Tong
• Producers: Fu-Sheng Chiu, Hsiao-hsien Hou, Wenze Zhang
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• VHS Release Date: July 11, 1995
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (203 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302645891
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,201 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou) directed this fascinating, visually formal 1991 film about an educated woman (Gong Li) who is sent off to become the newest wife of a feudal nobleman in 1920s China. Nearly isolated in his spooky, palatial home, she develops relationships with several of the other wives and slowly becomes aware of a hideous legacy of punishment toward more willful women. The film has a brittle and dry quality that is deliberate, but also suggestive of Zhang working through various explorations of his own style (which he resolved in his next film, The Story of Qiu Ju). Gong Li, one of the world's great actresses, is superb. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Item Name: Raise the Red Lantern (MGM World Films); Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 162 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD version clarification, July 25, 2007

By 

Blue Lew (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raise the Red Lantern (MGM World Films) (DVD)

There is no need for me to praise the movie. It's one of the best movies ever made. I am here to clarify some information so that others won't be too confused.
Last year (January 2006) Razor Digital Entertainment released the DVD version of Raise the Red Lantern, with the poorest quality one can imagine: red isn't red (Raise the Jack-o'-Lantern), black isn't black, horrific subtitles, cropped screen, etc. It wasn't a restoration of a great film, but a decomposition.
This year (July 2007) MGM World Films released the DVD, and this time, I can say the problems are fixed. This is a much much better version. (Except the subtitles. I didn't look at them this time so I didn't pay attention to see if there are many mistakes)

Some 1-star reviews posted here in Amazon were referring to the 2006 DVD quality, not the movie. Some reviews said "excellent movie but do not buy the DVD" and that's because they were talking about the 2006 DVD. Now the 2007 DVD is out, you know which version to buy.

97 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gong Li is the Best Unknown Actress in Movies, May 21, 2004

By 

ZenPenguin (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raise the Red Lantern [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If there were any fairness in Hollywood, Gong Li would have won the Academy Award for Best Actress for any one of her many movies. Besides being drop-dead gorgeous, she is an exquisite actress of the first order. The opening scene, a close-up of her face as she resigns herself to her nihilistic future, will convince anyone of this fact. Raise the Red Lantern is a thinking, engrossing movie that dispenses with special effects and overwhelming scores and concentrates on story and acting. Zhang Yimou is famous for delivering biting criticism of the oppressive, delusional aspects of Chinese society. Raise the Red Lantern shows one very strong, independent woman's attempt to overcome thousands of years of historic oppression in early 20th ca China. Women are collectables for rich men, mere objects of possession. The horrific backstabbing and betrayal is among the women themselves as they vie for most-desired-object status. When the human need for dignity and respect surface, the repercussions are catastrophic.

The plot has been well documented, although this is one of those movies where the less you know going in the better. Suffice to say the first thing you'll want to do once the movie is over is to watch it again.

It is disappointing to see a number of very mediocre movies receiving 4 and 5 stars simply because they shun the standard Hollywood formula, as if mainstream automatically equals bad and independent automatically equals good. The mediocrity of these films becomes apparent when compared to indy films of the highest caliber, such as Raise the Red Lantern. Highly, highly recommended.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Quality to DVD is Appalling!, August 27, 2006

By 

T. Alanis "MovieFan" (Azusa, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raise the Red Lantern (DVD)

Raise the Red Lantern is a wonderful movie with a great story. When I had heard that this movie was going to be transfered to DVD format, I was thrilled. And then I bought the DVD, and to my dismay, within the first couple of minutes into the movie, there were white lines and distortion. Since I loved the movie so much, I thought I would make an exception for the first few minutes, but as the movie continued, so did the white lines. I could not believe what I was seeing. The DVD copy of this movie, reminded me of the old movies I use to see years ago, when there were only 7 channels on TV.
And not only is the visual appearance of this movie distorted so is the sound. It's very harsh and nasally.
I am on my way out the door to return this DVD and ask for a refund.