4/02/2012
Red Sorghum (1989) Review
Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)A debut of Zhang Yimou and Gong Li but among the last that I had the chance to watch and all the waiting was absolutely worth it. It was surreal, great cinematography, powerful drama but very sensual and sexy, eventhough you don't directly see the steamy stuff. The cast were great. Not to mention grandpapa (Jiang Wen)was extremely HILARIOUS and FUNNY and what a foreboding, muscular hunk too. I can understand why grandmama (Gong Li ) melting and quivering all over ! Yes, Jiang Wen is famous in Asia...perhaps not so in the western world unless you are a world/Chinese cinema fan.
I can imagine him "drooling" when he first laid eye on Grandmama (gorgeous Gong Li). And the song that he sings to Gong Li in the Sorghum field was in fact teasing her and very very funny. In a drunk scene, he was soooooo pathetic, that Gong Li didnt know what to do but to punish him with a broom , had me reeling on the floor laughing myself silly.
Eventhough mandarin is not my first language, I understand most part of the language and the nuance and usage of the word is incredible and made the characters seems really really comical and silly. Excellent !!!
The movie are shot in a hue of reddish orangy glow and the effect was stunning. The first half of the movie basically concentrate on the two lovers and the sorghum field that they work on and their relationship to the staff workers.
The second half of the movie is a totally different subject and rather brutal depicting the arrival of the Japanese invasion including bondage,interrogation and torture.
Lets just say its quite sad and tragic. The period of the Japanese invasion, in which my own grandma and granpa had gone through, often fascinates me and yet it gave me goosebumps.
No doubt, Zhang Yimou is among the best directors in the world. The video presentation is very good...but I am definitely wanting a DVD version for this classic, along with "A Mongolian Tale" and the new movie "Devils at my Doorstep" acted and directed by my favourite Jiang Wen.
Now I am having all this imaginations of how my own grandpapa woos my grandmama :))...
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Labels:
chinese film,
gong li,
pacific war
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