Chinese Cinema

A Character Analysis on

the Film Raise the Red Lantern

There is an old Chinese saying, “three women are enough for a drama.” When Songlian, the fourth mistress in the film Raise the Red Lantern, arrives at Chen’s home, we immediately become aware that days at Chen’s household will not be peaceful. Four mistresses and one maid make up the protagonists of the story and together they put on a play full of conspiracy and jealousy in Chen’s compound of several courtyards. Despite the relative luxury of the surroundings, the repetitive uses of overhead shot of Songlian’s courtyard reveals confinement and imprisonment of the women under ethic codes of feudal and patriarchal society in which family customs matters and infringement will be punished. In fact, the closed-space big house is a microcosm of the entire feudal culture. Once a women enters, there is no way to get out and their fates are doomed. Nevertheless, we do not witness an absolute surrender by those women to fedual ideas and patriarchal power. Rather, some do fight agaisnt their fate and rebel vigorously for themselves in this compound where there is no freedom, love, or real comfort. This essay is written to examine the diffence in the rebelious behavior of Songlian and Meishan - partcularly the difference in what they rebel against, and how they rebel – and also reveal that their rebellions help them both break free from the prison of the feudal forces in spite of their tragic fate.

The historical background of the film is set in the early years of the Republic China. This is a period with ongoing social transformation. The dialogue in the film constantly reminds us that Songlian has received education of the new era; thus, Songlian can be seen as the shadow of a “New Era Women”. She carries some characteristics of the new women- simple, sensitive, and the pursuit of ideal life. However, the feudal forces and ideas still keep people’s soul imprisoned, persecuting people (Groh 4). Thus,...