Movie Report

[Name of the Institute]

Movie Report

Introduction

It is on rare occasions that mainstream movies are able to highlight genuine social concerns effectively (Kaplan, 1986). The primary concern for the majority of the movies is to achieve financial success. Directors, who are brave enough to highlight profound dilemmas occurring within the country; often suffer adverse consequences. When a movie challenges the long standing traditions and cultural norms of a society, the population forms a sense of resentment towards the film. Such films may achieve critical acclaim from the world media, yet the directors face adversities in their home countries.

Zhang Yimou is a Chinese movie director, who wants to highlight the societal problems that exist in the traditional Chinese culture. Her movies highlight several societal dilemmas due to which, she has faced strong opposition from the Chinese government and the national film fraternity. Raise the Red Lantern was Yimou's fourth movie of her career. This movie was preceded by three films, with a similar agenda of highlighting the flaws of the Chinese culture. Red Sorghum (1987) and Judou (1990) were the two movies Yimou directed before Raise the Red Lantern, which displayed her contempt for certain aspects of the traditional Chinese culture. The fact is that, the Chinese film industry is very sensitive towards the cultural and societal based movies (Tunzelmann, 2012). The government has a strong influence over the film industry, and it is due to this reason that this movie was banned. It never had the opportunity to make it to the silver screen in China, hence causing financial difficulties for the movie makers. After the ban, the movie was still not shown in the cinemas; it was severely marginalized and was broadcasted directly on television for a limited time.

Discussion

The director had a clear objective to highlight the oppression that women faced in the traditional Chinese culture. Set in the early 1920's China, the movie displays the plight of women in a feudalistic society. In this society, there is no fair justice for women, where men subjugate them through several socio- economic measures and anti- feministic cultural norms. The women are treated similar to dispensable property items for the mighty men, where they have to compete viciously to fulfill the desires of their husbands. The women are subjugated to this negative role through the norms of the culture, where after the girls marry wealthy men at young ages, have to perform with strict obedience.

Gender Role

The movie displayed a highly male centric culture, where the women did not possess any rights. The culture binds the women to their submissive role, as at an early age the girls are expected to get married. After the death of her father, 19 year old Songlian knew that she would have to get married imminently. She exclaims, “Alright I'll get married” in a manner that suggests that she was resigned to her fate. She knew that marriage was the social reality her culture; where she would have to get married, regardless of her ...