Ju Dou

Ju Dou
Directed by Zhang Yimou
Yang Fengliang
Produced by Hu Jian
Yasuyoshi Tokuma
Zhang Wenze
Written by Liu Heng
Based on Liu Heng's Fuxi Fuxi[1]
Starring
Music by Xia Ru-jin
Zhao Jiping
Cinematography Gu Changwei
Yang Lun
Edited by Du Yuan
Release dates
  • 7 September 1990 (1990-09-07) (TIFF)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country China
Language Mandarin

Ju Dou (Chinese: 菊豆; pinyin: Jú Dòu) is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang (though it is almost universally considered to be a product of Zhang's vision as director) and starring Gong Li as the title character. It is notable for being shot in vivid three-strip Technicolor long after the process had been abandoned in the United States.[2][3] It was also the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1990.[4][5]

The film is a tragedy, focusing on the character of Ju Dou, a beautiful young woman who has been sold as a wife to Jinshan, an old cloth dyer.

The film was banned for a few years in China, but the ban has since been lifted.[6] The Chinese government gave permission for its viewing in July 1992.[7]

The story originates from a novel.[8]

Plot

Ju Dou takes place in the early 20th century in rural China. The story begins as Yang Tianqing (the regular Zhang collaborator Li Baotian) is returning from a trek to sell silk for his adoptive uncle, Yang Jinshan (Li Wei). Jinshan, whose trade is dyeing fabrics, is known for his cruelty. Tianqing learns that Jinshan has just recently purchased a new wife, having beaten two previous wives to death after they failed to produce a son, the cruel irony being that Jinshan is in fact impotent.

Upon meeting the wife, Ju Dou (Gong Li), Tianqing is immediately enamored with her. At night, Jinshan tortures Ju Dou. Eventually, Tianqing discovers Ju Dou's bathing area and spies on her. Soon, the two are unable to control their passions any longer, and they engage in sexual intercourse. When Ju Dou discovers she is pregnant, she and Tianqing pretend that the child is Jinshan's. Jinshan suffers a stroke which leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. Confined to a wheel chair, he nevertheless discovers Ju Dou and Tianqing's affair and attempts to kill the child. Jinshan is tied up by Tianqing and hoisted in a large barrel, leaving him dangling helplessly. Knowing that society would never accept her infidelities, Ju Dou goes to a nunnery to get contraceptives.

Meanwhile, Tianbai has grown into a sullen child (Yi Zhang), but when he calls Jinshan "Father", Jinshan accepts the boy as his son. Jinshan falls into the dye vat and drowns one day while playing with his son and a funeral is carried out for him.

Ten years later. Ju Dou and Tianqing still run the dye operation, but Tianbai (now played by Zheng Ji'an) is now a rage-filled teenager. Rumors of his parents' infidelities drive him to nearly kill a local gossip. Upon discovering his parents resting in an underground cellar after one of their trysts, Tianbai drags them out and drowns Tianqing. Ju Dou then burns the mill down as the film ends.

Adaptation

In the original novel Tianqing is the biological nephew of Jinshan and the story itself is about incest. The makers of the film version decided not to use the incest angle. In the film, Tianqing and Jinshan are not biologically related, and Ju Dou only begins her relationship with Tianqing after learning that he and Jinshan are not related.[8]

Cast

Reception

Awards

Accolades

DVD release

Ju Dou was initially released on DVD in the United States as an all-region disc on the Pioneer label, Geneon Entertainment, on June 29, 1999. The disc included English subtitles.

The film was re-released by Razor Digital Entertainment on February 14, 2006 as part of the new Zhang Yimou collection to capitalize on Zhang's recent international successes of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The new edition was Region 1 and included English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese subtitles. Despite the DVD box stating that the film is presented in widescreen, it is actually presented in full frame.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kuoshu, Harry (2002). Celluloid China: Cinematic Encounters with Culture and Society. SIU Press. p. 151. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Bonet, Christopher (2006-12-18). "The Glory that is Gong Li". IFC News. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  3. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1991-04-12). "Ju Dou". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  4. ↑ Neo, David (September 2003). "Red Sorghum: A Search for Roots". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  5. ↑ "The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Zhang Yimou. Frances K. Gateward, Yimou Zhang, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2001, pp. 26-7.
  7. ↑ Zhang Yimou. Frances K. Gateward, Yimou Zhang, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2001, p. 42.
  8. 1 2 Gateward, Frances K. Zhang Yimou: Interviews (Conversations with filmmakers series, ISSN 1556-1593). University Press of Mississippi, 2001. ISBN 1578062624, 9781578062621. p. 159.
  9. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Ju Dou". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  10. ↑ "100 best Chinese Mainland Films". Time Out. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 March 2016.

External links

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