Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13580 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-11-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: Chinese
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Customer Reviews

Cute,sensual,breathtaking and brutal
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 :))...

Nine�s Red Wine
Red Sorghum is almost two movies in one. The first half is comical and fun-spirited, while the second half (once the Japanese attack China) is full of horror, death, and sadness. There is a lot of symbolism and historical commentary in the movie, and anyone who appreciates Chinese culture and history will probably enjoy the movie.

Red Sorghum is an outstanding movie that is filled with beautiful imagery and lush colors. As I sat watching it, I found myself noticing the red splashes displayed about the screen like a Jackson Pollock painting and hearing the reverberation of numbers. I began to attempt to analyze the symbolism, but lacking the Chinese or Eastern background needed to "feel" the innate meaning, I stumbled over my own thoughts. Nonetheless, I will at least give note to the things that stood out and try my best to give my own impression about what they might mean.

Red, which is the color of luck, and, consequently, the most common color for wedding gowns and gift wrapping, is photographed in Red Sorghum like no other in my memory. From the red gown that graces Gong Li's body to the sun above and from the wine that flows from fired pots to the blood that runs from opened veins, hues of red permeate every inch of the screen. There are many possibilities for the meaning in the movie. It would be too simplistic to say that it means luck, because it just does not fit every circumstance in the movie. More than that, it most often seems to signify the life giving force. Blood is red, as is the nourishment of the wine, the color of the sun's rays upon the land, the sensuousness of the silk wedding gown, etc. The entire first half of the film are celebrations of life and it is filled with basic essences of the spirit and passion. But the second half of the movie is dominated by the Japanese invasion and violence of attack and retribution. The very end of the movie is entirely cast in red during a solar eclipse. Thus, red could be used to contrast the celebratory nature of living with the emptiness felt after a great loss. But I also thought that the ending was possibly just showing the eclipse of the red sun of the Japanese flag and replaced by the piercing red of the Chinese Communist Party. It is hard to say exactly, and I was unable to find any commentary on the use of color specifically.

Another very prevalent use of symbolism was the number nine. Nine is typically associated with longevity, since the two words sound identical. The heroine's name was nine and she was the ninth child, there were 9990 li on the road to Qingshakou, additionally the wine was prepared and blessed on the 9th of September, which was also Nine's birthday. The wine was called "18 Mile Red" [which is two nines together or the one added to eight is nine] and wine itself is pronounced the same as the number nine. On top of all that, the Japanese invaded nine years after the beginning of the story. This screamed to be analyzed much beyond the traditional meaning associated with the number. This could simply be a patriotic depiction of how the Chinese civilization will go on forever, even in the face of adversity; but the root meaning is still unknown to me. I am unable to find any commentary discussing this topic. Additionally, any attempt to change the traditional meaning to fit the circumstances of the movie would be a stretch being that I'm Western and I lack the full cultural awareness necessary to fully understand such subtleties.

One use of symbolism which did seem evident to me was the use of the Japanese execution of two characters in the story, San Pao and Liu Louhan. San Pao was used to symbolize the KMT, since rather than cursing the Japanese, he instead cursed the Chinese butcher ordered to flay him. San Pao was portrayed as a weak spirited villain who cowered from the Japanese and spat on the face of the Chinese butcher. Liu Louhan, on the other hand, symbolized the CCP and was shown to be very brave. He cursed the Japanese until his last breath, the movie says.
These are just a few of the uses of symbolism in the movie Red Sorghum. There are certainly more. However, I have barely scratched the surface of the meanings of these alone. Perhaps only the filmmakers know the symbols full extent and meaning. Maybe one day I may be able to ask them...

beautiful
This the first film zhang yimou directed, and it is one of his best. unlike some of his later works, red sorghum was produced in china by xian studios(instead of being funded by foreign investors with expectations of profit). the colors are vibrant. this is a wonderful visual experience.