Ju Dou

A landmark film in Chinese cinema, Zhang Yimou’s second feature (after Red Sorghum) brought a new eroticism to the screen, and made an international star of his discovery, Gong Li — but it’s the film’s ravishing colour cinematography that’s unforgettable. Like so many others of his “Fifth Generation”, Zhang was sent to work in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, and later in a cotton mill, before establishing himself as a brilliant DP with films like Yellow Earth and The Big Parade. Set in a rural dye factory in 1920s China, Ju Dou is a melodrama about the extra-marital affair of the factory owner’s young wife (Gong Li) and his adopted son. The lovers’ passion challenges patriarchal tradition and conventional morality, a resonant message in the face of the authoritarian crackdown that culminated in Tiananmen Square in 1989. In China its release was blocked for some time — but Zhang went on to win the Best Director prize at Cannes.

Visually stunning… an intellectually and artistically brave film.

Caryn James, New York Times

The film appealed to me for two reasons. First, because of its unabashed, lurid melodrama, in which the days are filled with scheming and the nights with passion and violence. Second, because of its visual beauty.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun

A magnificent melodrama, even more visually sumptuous and emotionally draining than the same director’s earlier Red Sorghum [with the] the stark, searing power of Greek tragedy.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out