Thirty years have passed. Do you still remember this classic female "room fight" tragedy in Zhang Yimou?

Recently, I revisited "Hanging the Red Lantern High" and felt a lot. I remember that I didn't feel so much when I saw it, but I just regarded it as a "kung fu drama" that was defeated in the competition for goodwill. So I watched it again and was surprised. Suddenly I found that the old man's "skill" was really too strong.

Let's pay attention to this work with you.

We all know that Hanging the Red Lantern is adapted by Zhang Yimou according to the novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong, a contemporary literary writer.

Wives and concubines in groups and Red Lantern Hanging High were published in 1978 and 199 1 year respectively. Su Tong and Zhang Yimou both showed the diversity and complexity of the female images in China under the patriarchal feudal ethics.

The background of "Hanging the Red Lantern High" is the civil war in which warlords are independent.

Song Lian, 19 years old, was forced to drop out of school because of his father's death in college.

Later, Song Lian was forced by her stepmother to marry into the Chen family and became a fourth aunt.

In the closed and locked Chen family, lighting, ordering food, kicking feet and sealing lights represent the symbol of status and power;

Song Lian constantly fights wits and wits with her great aunt Yuru, her second aunt Zhuo Yun and her third aunt Meishan to win the favor and attention of her husband, Master Chen.

This is the general plot of the film.

In the novel, Su Tong's Chen Zuoqian, the master of the Chen family, has a distinct appearance and personality, which symbolizes not only the ruler of the feudal family, but also the decadent forces that have not disappeared.

In "Raise the Red Lantern", Song Lian married the Chen family instead of the fourth aunt of Master Chen, and the name "Chen Zuoqian" was never mentioned in the film. In addition, Master Chen's appearance has never appeared. The audience can only observe his dark back and profile and listen to his deep voice, which symbolizes autocratic rule and obscurity.

All good-looking women are vying for men's attention and love.

Secondly, Su Tong's "Yong Lian" is petite and subtle, with short hair shoulder-length. Although hesitant and afraid to murder others, in order to win the favor of Master Chen, she still actively participated in the rivalry of concubines.

The women in China described by her are deeply bound by the patriarchal society and have been unable to grow and resist.

In the film, Gong Li plays a charming and generous ode to the lotus, and the weak ode to the lotus directly becomes a greedy and vicious fourth aunt. Finally, due to the loss of power, anger was transferred to the slave girl Yaner, which directly contributed to Yaner's death, and even regarded life and death as a symbol of women's power.

Song Lian's clothes were mostly white at first, which had a pure meaning. Later, the color of the clothes became heavier and heavier, which meant that her mood became deeper and deeper.

Although Song Lian was once an intellectual, he eventually became a member of decadent feudalism.

The film depicts that Lian Fang was attracted by feudal ethics and power, and finally could not get rid of the control of patriarchy. Zhang Yimou repeatedly shows the sorrow of women in a patriarchal society, and has no independent ability.

Song Lian and Yaner are just a cruel contrast. One is forced to get married, from a senior student to a concubine, and the other is a servant of the lower class who wants to climb up and be a concubine.

Thus, from literary novels to movie texts, the female image of China has changed, and the female image of China under the lens of Zhang Yimou is full of complexity and tension.

In western film and television, the stereotype of China women is as follows:

In the western capital market, movies, paintings and consumer goods simplify the image of women in China and misunderstand the historical and psychological state of traditional women in China.

Although China's female imagination is full of violence and unfairness under Orientalism, it provides a clear background and direction for Zhang Yimou to create "Hanging the Red Lantern High".

In fact, through the forgotten details in the film, we can rediscover the inner complexity of China women's imagination.

The four concubines symbolize different female images in China, namely, the agent of feudal system, the subversive of female morality, the potential rebel and the only liberator.

Therefore, in Hanging Up the Red Lantern, many neglected details and trivial dialogues show the inherent complexity of China's female image.

First of all, Sister Tai Yuru symbolizes the loyal guardian of the feudal system. Yuru is very old and often recites scriptures in her room. On the surface, she doesn't take part in the game of concubines. But when Mr. Chen went to work in the city, he arranged for the ladies to eat;

After the four concubines assembled, Yuru ordered "eating" and the other three dared to eat. Therefore, Zhang Yimou skillfully criticized Yu as the defender of patriarchy.

During Master Chen's absence, Yuru became an agent of the feudal system, and her aunt's status and power were unshakable.

My second aunt, Zhuo Yun, subverted China's image of women's virtue.

On the surface, Zhuo Yun is considerate, careful in handling family affairs, faithful to Master Chen's love, and also helps Zanlian. In fact, she is good at calculation, flattery, sowing dissension and safeguarding her own interests by different means.

Finally, Zhuo Yun directly contributed to the death of Meishan and the madness of singing lotus, and became the winner in the competition, successfully subverting the image of traditional female virtues in China.

Then, the third aunt, Meishan, symbolizes the potential rebels of the feudal system.

On the surface, Meishan inherited China's traditional opera, with beautiful appearance and superb singing skills. She is a China woman who is both internal and external. In fact, Meishan knows the truth that "acting is not good and you can only lie to yourself". She understood the oppression of light games, and she could not escape its feudal system.

However, she chose to have an extramarital affair with Dr. Gao, which shows that she is loyal to her feelings and unwilling to be oppressed by the patriarchal system at the expense of freedom.

More importantly, the film shows that the monitoring of red lanterns is everywhere, while Meishan's affair reflects the loopholes in the political system. Although Meishan died because of Zhuo Yun's informer, her unyielding image directly contributed to Song Lian's awakening and showed the potential resistance of China women.

As an intellectual, Song Lian initially resisted her marriage system and even refused to bow to the ancestors of the Chen family. She is a rebel of the feudal system.

With the light game shining on Song Lian's cheek, she pretended to be pregnant and poisoned the goose, actively participated in the power game of concubines, and completely became the defender and successor of the system.

Later, Song Lian was exposed to fake pregnancy and suffered from turning off the lights. She and Mei Shan lamented the vagaries and pain of life.

Later, Meishan's death made Song Lian completely awake. After seeing Meishan buried alive, Song Lian constantly accused Chen Guren of "killing people".

Under the autocratic rule, she was the only woman who dared to accuse and accuse the feudal ethics of corruption. On the surface, Song Lian was oppressed by the feudal system, but she was the only sober person who really got rid of the control of the Chen family.

What impressed me the most was the scene when Song Lian came to her yard to light a red lantern and put on the phonograph after Meishan died.

At that time, the picture was full of red light, accompanied by the weeping song of Meishan and the cold expression of lotus, all of which exuded a strange and heavy feeling.

Turn on the lights, turn off the lights, turn off the lights. If you really don't feel anything about all this, why are you so sad? ...

The scene at that time gave people the impression that women in China were helpless and pathetic under the feudal system.

At the end of the initial work, Chen Zuoqian married Mrs. Zhu Wen, the fifth aunt.

At the end of the film, Chen Jia held another wedding, and Master Chen also married his fifth aunt.

This ending can't be simply explained as the cycle of feudalism. Women in China are still a group of oppressed people.

It is worth noting that the fifth aunt was not named in the ending of the movie J, which shows that Zhang Yimou has given readers unlimited imagination and allowed women in China to continue to grow.

The Fifth Concubine symbolizes that China's female image is still in an uncertain stage, which gives other new China directors and audiences room to think deeply and continue to explore China's female imagination.

There is still room for the same self-evident technique as the last master's appearance

Apart from Ode to Love's opening song "Oedipus Talking about Marriage" and "A short trip before Oedipus married Chen Jia", there are no other scenes outside Chen Jia's home. The topics discussed by the characters are almost all the people and things of the Chen family, and there are not many external interviews. There are three people who can freely enter and leave the Chen family in the film, namely Fei Pu and Dr. Gao, the son of the eldest wife Yuru, and these three people are all men.

From this perspective, women are simply confined at home, just like birds in cages and fish in ponds. Home is their whole world and space, and everything outside is male and has nothing to do with them.

In addition, the conversion of symbols has also become a symbolic image of the film.

In the original work, its symbol is a well. The shape of the well is round, which means that the cycle is endless, symbolizing that the beginning, growth and death of women in China are also controlled by the male owner Chen Zuoqian.

Later, Meishan died in the well, and Song Lian sat beside the well like a madman, which shows that the women in Su Tong's works are desperate, not rebellious.

In the movie, the well doesn't exist, instead, it takes the red lantern as the image.

On the surface, lanterns and lanterns control the fate of women in China.

The fourth concubine regards the lamp as a symbol of luck and power, and regards it as out of favor and misfortune. Although the women in China under Zhang Yimou's lens have grown up, they have not awakened.

More importantly, the color of the lantern is red. In China society, red not only represents auspiciousness and happiness, but also symbolizes absolute power. Red is sexual desire, a passionate emotion, and the blood color that wives strive for. Red lanterns are hung in every corner of the Chen family, reflecting the oppression of patriarchy.

As for the photos overlooking Chen Fu, most of them are presented in dark blue tones. The bright red in the room contrasts with the cool color outside, pointing out the loneliness and desolation of the unsuccessful wives.

The position in the plot is also one of the symbols of Zhang Yimou's power.

Only Meishan and Song Lian really climbed high in the plot. Meishan is singing on the roof, and Song Lian is peeping on the watchtower. They broke through the life height of ordinary wives and the power height that ordinary wives should have. This is a challenge to the image of power structure.

Look at the dialogue between Song Lian and Meishan in the pavilion again;

In fact, the feeling of that situation, the lament that you can't play yourself, is an "escape".

Cheating, stealing fire or lying about pregnancy symbolizes the growth of female consciousness, which is why the director deliberately omits the meaning of spring in the plot arrangement. Forgetting spring symbolizes the loss of hope.

However, in the arrangement of the plot, Zhang Yimou deliberately acquiesced and affirmed the "escape" of women by not presenting it.

Yaner's death was said by Ma Song himself, and no one could see it.

Meishan's death was presented as an exclamation in Lian Song, which was not confirmed.

Even Song Lian's last madness was relayed by his second aunt Cao's reply to his fifth wife, but compared with Song Lian's deliberate burning of Meishan's room, it can't prove that she is really crazy.

Deliberately not showing "death" and "madness" is a kind of sympathy and a kind of acquiescence.

In the original novel Wives and Concubines, Zhang Yimou cleverly and deliberately avoided the background of the times, moved the location of the story from south to north, and chose the symbol of traditional culture-Qiao Family Courtyard as the scene to carry the story, combining national history with realistic movies, so that the audience could feel the sense of order and restraint generated by ethical culture.

"Hanging the Red Lantern High" takes the Qiao Family Courtyard as the shooting scene. In the film, Chen Fu is a cultural carrier with rich resources, bearing the epitome of the whole China culture.

The characteristics of compound buildings reflect the traditional ethical system of China culture.

In the dialogue of the film, the word "light" appeared 48 times, and the plot related to "lighting" also appeared 19 times.

From the initial worship and taboo, to the symbol of celebration and love, and finally to power and bloody violence, a series of lighting, kicking and ordering activities symbolized by "red lanterns" are actually a feudal worship and taboo belief.

With the constant strengthening and repetition, The Red Lantern has formed a special symbol related to the theme, which is also another metaphor of ethics and rules.

The light of lanterns is in the dark, giving people a feeling of peace and warmth; However, under its warm and warm surface, there is great potential-when it shows its dominant power, it will devour everything that is against it, punish and destroy it, and hang the destroyed ruins high on the podium as a warning.

Chen Fu is a microcosm of the feudal society, especially its closeness keeps a complete set of "crimes" of ethics and morality, which can be said to be a field of complete practice of ethics and morality. Without this field, all the symbols and themes created by the director will lose their dependence.

In the movie, Auntie Four longs for the right to be beaten on the foot, the right to light a lamp to order food, the right to hold on to slaves, and the power to dominate other concubines. The dispute over lighting a lamp, ordering food by kicking, and the dispute over wives and concubines are all the products of a set of ethical practices that are running stably in this deep house.

Therefore, the power struggle with ethics as the core is the theme of Hanging the Red Lantern, and Chen Fu is the platform to carry this theme.

Therefore, the most concrete performance in the film is a series of ethical norms symbolized by "rules"-seemingly gorgeous but shocking stories such as murder, rivalry, infidelity and polygamy.

In fact, "rules" are symbols of ethics and power in movies. Under the constant repetition, the ethical theme hidden behind the plot is clearly highlighted, and all activities in the mansion cannot escape the control of "rules".

In challenging authority and taboos, Song Lian or Meishan can enjoy the happiness that he has never experienced before, which comes from the separation of self and ethics.

Getting rid of the bondage of ethics means the awakening of self-cognition. Getting rid of imprisonment, manipulation and bullying, Meishan suddenly found her own existence value.

Zhang Yimou also likes to combine history and reality with folk customs.

In Hanging the Red Lantern, he presents a series of dazzling symbols: red lanterns, jumping feet, lighting and ordering food, houses and prisons, dead buildings and tattered embroidered shoes. , tells a gorgeous and shocking story about murder, rivalry, deception, polygamy and concubinage in traditional society.

These symbols operate almost purely on the principle of iconicity, and do not need a realistic basis at all, so even if the old society does not exist in folk ceremonies such as "lighting" in the film, it is not enough.

Shanxi Qiao's family rules are strict, and there is a tradition of "no concubinage" in the family training. There are no flashy scenes with lights on in several courtyards in the movie.

The Shanxi Bank of Huitong World will open a new bank in its stronghold and light red lanterns to celebrate.

Therefore, the initial lighting ceremony has nothing to do with the rules of concubinage, kicking and ordering food in the film.

But "Lighting a Lamp" was cleverly expressed in the film by Zhang Yimou in the form of fable.

The "hanging" and "falling" of red lanterns are vivid symbols, symbols of the status of wives and concubines, and changes in the relationship with other aunts and grandmothers.

The honor and disgrace, favor, disgrace and demotion of all wives and concubines are concentrated on lighting, extinguishing and sealing the lights. Whoever has the right to hang lanterns has the highest power below Master Chen.

Jenny Tseng, the screenwriter, deliberately changed the plot of the original novel Wives and Concubines, and changed the scene in which Meishan sang from "Female Hanging" and "Du Shiniang" to "Su San Qi Jie".

On the surface, such a change does not seem to hinder the development of the plot. In fact, due to Susan Qi Jie's repeated chanting, a series of symbols related to the theme of the film have been formed.

To "untie" means to start escorting prisoners on their way. Where to go on the way? Prison! In other words, Chen Fu is a prison.

Susan Qi Jie's tunes appear repeatedly as the background of some ideographic symbol.

It can be said that Zhang Yimou's self-confident "mystery" is always presented in the plot in a paradoxical way.

Destiny is hidden in those casual symbols.

Zhang Yimou often uses frames in her composition to express the pain of being imprisoned mentally and physically by the heroine Song Lian.

For example, although Song Lian fell in love with Philip the first time he met him, he was unable to develop this relationship because of the ethical code.

Therefore, in the design of the lens, Zhang Yimou deliberately framed Ode to the Lotus, which watched his lover go away. The symbolic meaning of the frame imprisonment in the lens was constantly strengthened, which strengthened the binding force of intangible ethics in composition.

From the smallest doorframe and window frame to the bedstead of the relationship between men and women, and even to the high wall of ethics, Song Lian is like this. Throughout the Chen family, all women are unequally imprisoned in this transparent ethical prison.

The unfathomable heart of a woman within a high wall is full of jealousy, but in the end she can't break through the cage of ethics. ...

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