I am traumatized right now.

Don't worry, Dolce. Somewhere I did read that although the film is a martial arts epic, she won't do any fighting in the movie. She will be the 'quality touch'. Btw, Chow Yun-Fat is in this too.

Well, I couldn't get my hands on Red Sorghum, not even for sale! I can't believe it, I know for a fact most of her late eighties and early nineties movies have been transferred to DVD. There was a short-order stock at the store I went to, so the woman I spoke with said Sorghum was probably on order and hadn't arrived yet. Ju Dou wasn't for rental either, but I did buy it. I remember really liking it a few years back, so it better be worth the not so cheap purchase. I can't wait, I am going to watch it this afternoon.

I hope it has cleaner sub-titles than Raise the Red Lantern did, though. It was starting to get in the way of the emotional intensity, all the typos. And Lantern was part of the remastered Zhang Yimou set that was just released, so I have no idea why they didn't catch all of the errors?

Anyways, has anyone managed to see any of her work this weekend?

There's some red sorghum on ebay for cheap

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... ed+sorghum

If you really want it. I can't vouch for it of course, just alerting that it's there. There's also some copies available on VHS at amazon.com

Let Gongathon '06 begin.

It has begun!

*some spoilers, though I try to be vague*

I rewatched Raise the Red Lantern last week to put a review up in anticipation, and I think it served as an interesting counter-point to Ju Dou, which I just finished watching now. I have to say Ju Dou is a bit different than I remember it being, mostly because its much more Shakespearian. It more timeless in that sense, and I don't actually think it was as poignant today as some of Zhang's other films. It felt more fantastic because of the way her son responds, and the second murder.

Though I understand where Zhang was trying to go with it...I think. There's two ways this film can be read. Either that the couple's transgressions lead to the entire family's demise, or that the oppressive husband lead to the family's demise. I tend to think its the latter because the movie opens with a comment that the first two wives (Ju Dou is the third) already died because of the husband's abuse...but this could go the other way, like, say Crimes of Padre Amaro did. Thoughts? Feelings?

It pretty much about the specter of conservative gender and tradition, which is what Raise the Red Lantern was as well. If there is one thing Zhang clearly is against, its primogeniture.

Here is Ju Dou, I was somewhat frustrated Tianqing's inability to transgress against his uncle both while they lived and in his uncle's death. Ju Dou was much more aggressive in desiring to make their relationship public, or to run away, or even to kill the husband, and he always hangs back indicisively. He straddles the two lives and ends up doin the most damage.

Gong Li was great in this, but I was so sure in the beginning she was going to be more conniving. I thought this was going to be an "open book" Double Indemnity, where she get Tianqing to kill her husband for her. As when she optionally leaves the peephole open so that she can show off her wounds to him. In the end, the impotent husband ends up ruining everything that entered his house, and driving everyone crazy even in maintaining the tradition of his household after his death. And Ju Dou is left to clean up the mess when she was the only one that had been more adament about shedding past pretenses.

She has a wonderful early scene where she strips before the peephole. Nice to see her early work, and its very sensual even while its repulsize and depressing. She really carried her scenes the best. I know that a bit of bias, but its true. :-) I'm still going to try and get my hands on Red Sorghum, but I do not have VHS player, so will need to figure something out.

Anyone else seen Ju Dou? What did you think. There's something that never quite grabs me about Oedipus stories. Its beautifully filmed (though a bit cheesy at parts, heh). I liked all the hanging fabrics after they were dyed.

Goodness! I ended up staying up until 3 am watching Shanghai Triad yesterday. I still like it alot. Two quick observations upon the re-watch:

*some spoilers*

1. Zhang isn't quite sure what to do with the little village boy. He serves as the outside onlooked, but he's very nuetral, and his bias is expected. He approaches everything with equal mezmerization and disdain, rather than being drawn to some things and repulsed by others. Zhang could have done a little better job developing the character of the young boy, which would strengthen his eventual support of the mistress.

2. Gong Li is superb in the scene where she realizes both sides have been playing her as their trump card, and that she is pretty much just a pawn in the entire experience. She's crushed when she learns Song was just seeing her to follow Boss's movements. Its very hard to tell though, if he liked her or not. When she withdraws and just looks on with red eyes, starts laughing. Its great.

On a side note though, I don't think she's so great a singer as alot of the critics make her out to be, but I'm not familiar with the singing style, so maybe someone knows better? This was the last movie I think she did with Zhang before they broke up, no?

Early mentions in Miami Vice:

Right, shipped back a movie to Netflix today. What is the one film I must see, if I only see one?

That's a toughie. Farewell My Concubine because its her most famous role, but as a healthy counterpart I'd watch To Live, which is one of my favorite movies, and where Gong plays a completely different character. The two of those should show her range. They're both really different, so I guess it depends on what mood you're in. But yes, Farewell is her most well-known role.

Ju Dou Review:

I'm sorry that I couldn't participate in this festival. I just finished school today.


I will, however, try to watch some Gong Li films this month.

Unrelated to Gong Li, but I did re-watch Zhang Yimou's Not One Less this week and was reminded how good Yimou is at turning a simple story into something memorable.

Oh no, I forgot