Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 historical movie directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is based on a 1990 novella titled Raise the Red Lantern (originally Wives and Concubines) by Su Tong, adapted by Ni Zhen. A Chinese-Hong Kong co-production, the film was later turned into a ballet of the same name by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang Yimou. Set during the Warlord Era in the 1920s, the story follows a young woman who becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy man. This film was one of nine projects Zhang Yimou and Gong Li worked on together. It was filmed at the Qiao Family Compound, located near the ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi Province.

The film received a lot of praise from critics. It was shown at the 48th Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion award and won the Silver Lion award. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language. The movie is considered an important part of a movement called the Fifth Generation in Chinese cinema and is one of the most highly regarded films from mainland China internationally. It was listed on The New York Times’ list of the 1000 best films ever made in 2004 and on the BBC’s list of the 100 greatest foreign language films in 2018.

Plot

The film is set in Republican China during the 1920s. Nineteen-year-old Songlian (Gong Li), an educated woman whose father has recently died and left the family without money, is forced by her stepmother to marry into the wealthy Chen family. She becomes the fourth wife, or Fourth Mistress (Sì Tàitai), of the household. When she arrives at the Chen home, she is first treated with great care, receiving foot massages, bright red lanterns, and a visit from her husband, Master Chen (Ma Jingwu), who never shows his face clearly.

Soon, Songlian learns that this special treatment is not guaranteed. The master decides each day which wife will spend the night with him. The chosen wife receives her lanterns lit, gets a foot massage, chooses her meal, and is given more attention by the servants.

The First Mistress, Yuru (Jin Shuyuan), is about the same age as the master. She had a son many years ago and appears strict and serious. The Second Mistress, Zhuoyun (Zhuóyún, Cao Cuifen), becomes friends with Songlian. She praises Songlian’s youth and beauty and gives her expensive silk as a gift. Zhuoyun also warns Songlian about the Third Mistress, Meishan (Méishan, He Saifei), a former opera singer who is spoiled and struggles with no longer being the youngest and most favored wife. Meishan is distant and cold toward Songlian.

Songlian must also deal with her personal maid, Yan'er (Yàn'ér, played by Kong Lin), who resents her because she had hoped to be the fourth wife. Songlian discovers Yan'er in bed with the master.

Later, Songlian meets the grown son of the First Mistress while he plays the flute. She searches for her own flute, a gift from her late father, and finds it missing. While looking for it, she discovers that Yan'er has hidden red lanterns in her room, which is against the rules. Yan'er also hides a cursed charm with Songlian’s name on it. Songlian promises not to tell anyone if Yan'er reveals who wrote her name on the charm. Yan'er says it was Zhuoyun.

Zhuoyun asks Songlian to give her a haircut. During the haircut, Songlian accidentally cuts Zhuoyun’s ear and claims it was an accident. Meishan later tells Songlian that Zhuoyun tried to poison her when they were both pregnant. Meishan advises Songlian to have a son with the master to keep her position in the household.

Songlian pretends to be pregnant to gain the master’s attention and also tries to become pregnant for real. Zhuoyun, working with Yan'er, finds stained undergarments that prove Songlian is not pregnant. Zhuoyun tells the master to summon the family doctor, pretending to be concerned about Songlian’s "pregnancy." Doctor Gao (Gao-yisheng, Cui Zhigang) examines Songlian and finds the pregnancy is fake. The master orders Songlian’s lanterns covered with black cloth forever. Blaming Yan'er, Songlian reveals that Yan'er’s room has forbidden red lanterns.

Yan'er is punished by being made to kneel in the snow until she apologizes. She refuses and remains kneeling all night until she collapses. She becomes sick and is taken to the hospital.

Songlian tells Meishan that she wishes she could hang herself. Meishan says she copes by finding things to amuse herself. Songlian notes that Meishan has an affair with Doctor Gao to stay happy. Meishan warns Songlian that if she reveals the affair, she will face consequences.

Songlian asks for alcohol and a meal to celebrate her twentieth birthday alone. A servant tells her that Yan'er has died and said her name before passing. Songlian drinks heavily and laments being alone. Zhuoyun arrives with a servant to stop her drunken behavior. Songlian accidentally reveals Meishan’s affair with Doctor Gao.

When Songlian wakes, she hears Meishan being taken away by servants. Zhuoyun thanks Songlian for exposing the affair. Zhuoyun’s servant explains that Zhuoyun found Meishan and Doctor Gao together in a hotel, and Songlian told Zhuoyun about it while drunk.

Songlian sees Meishan being taken to a room on the estate’s roof, a place where women were once hanged for adultery. After the servants leave, Songlian enters the room and becomes extremely upset, calling everyone murderers.

The master asks Songlian what she saw. She says they are murderers. The master tells her she saw nothing.

Later, servants find all of Meishan’s lanterns lit and hear a phonograph of her singing. They run out, claiming the room is haunted by Meishan’s ghost. Songlian is seen as the one who created this illusion and sits alone in the room.

The following summer, after the master marries another wife, the new wife receives a foot massage and asks who the person in the courtyard is. A servant says it was the fourth mistress, who has gone mad.

Songlian is shown wandering aimlessly in the compound wearing her old schoolgirl clothes.

Cast

• Gong Li as Songlian (simplified Chinese: 颂莲; traditional Chinese: 頌蓮; pinyin: Sònglián) – Known as Lotus in the English version of the novel.
• He Saifei as Meishan (梅珊; Méishān), the third mistress (三太太; Sān tàitai) – Known as Coral in the English version of the novel.
• Cao Cuifen as Zhuoyun (卓云; 卓雲; Zhuóyún), the second mistress (二太太; Èr tàitai) – Known as Cloud in the English version of the novel.
• Kong Lin as Yan'er (雁儿; 雁兒; Yàn'ér), Songlian's young servant – Known as Swallow in the English version of the novel.
• Zhou Qi (Chinese: 周琦) as housekeeper Chen Baishun (陈百顺; 陳百順; Chén Bǎishùn).
• Jin Shuyuan (金淑媛) as Yuru (毓如; Yùrú), the first wife (大太太; dà tàitai) – Known as Joy in the English version of the novel.
• Ma Jingwu [zh] as Chen Zuoqian (陈佐千; 陳佐韆; Chén Zuǒqiān) or Master Chen.
• Cui Zhihgang as Doctor Gao (高医生; 高醫生; Gāo-yīshēng).
• Chu Xiao (初曉; Chū Xiǎo) as Feipu (飞浦; 飛浦; Fēipǔ), the master's eldest son.
• Cao Zhengyin as Songlian's old servant.
• Ding Weimin as Songlian's mother.

Soundtrack

All songs were composed by Zhao Jiping.

• "Opening Credits, Prologue, Zhouyun, Lanterns"
• "First Night With Master, Alone on First Night, Second Night, Third Night"
• "Summer"
• "Flute Solo"
• "Record"
• "Autumn"
• "Births, The Peking Theme"
• "Pregnancy, Yan'er's Punishment"
• "Meishan Sings"
• "Young Master Returns, Meishan's Punishment"
• "Realization"
• "Winter"
• "Ghost"
• "Seasons"
• "Next Summer"
• "House of Death"
• "Fifth Mistress"
• "Songlian's Madness, End Credits"

Distribution

The movie Raise the Red Lantern has been sold on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD by many companies. Some of these releases have been criticized for their low quality.

The DVD released by Razor Digital Entertainment has received much negative feedback. DVD Times said, "Many viewers find this DVD release very hard to watch." DVDTown gave the video quality a score of 1 out of 10 and the audio quality a score of 6 out of 10, stating, "the video is a disaster." DVDFile added, "this poor-quality DVD is only for people who love the movie so much they will accept anything to own a Region 1 version." The translation on this version has also been criticized for many mistakes. A release by Rajon Vision has also been poorly reviewed.

ERA’s first release received similar criticism, but their second edition, which was digitally improved, was more positively received. DVD Times said, "This film needs a high-quality version, but in its absence, the Era Hong Kong edition is the best available." DVDBeaver agreed, saying, "This is not the best image quality, but it is not bad. It is the best digital version of the film currently available." DVD Talk said, "This new version is excellent."

A new DVD released by MGM in 2007 also received some good reviews.

In March 2026, Film Movement announced they have the rights to distribute Raise the Red Lantern in North America. After restoring the film using 4K technology, they plan to show it in theaters before making it available on streaming platforms.

Reception

Raise the Red Lantern has sold the rights to use the film in 35 countries worldwide. It was very popular in Europe, with 43 copies shown in Italy, from large cities to small towns, earning more than $3 million. France had nine copies, earning more than $2 million. The film was released on March 13, 1992, and earned $2,603,061 in the United States. Outside of Asia, the film earned $11 million for the production company HK ERA International.

Jonathan Crow of AllMovie called Raise the Red Lantern "one of the landmark films of the 1990s," giving it a five-out-of-five rating. James Berardinelli named it his 7th best film of the 1990s. The film has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 29 reviews, with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes said: "Visually thrilling and rich with emotion, Raise the Red Lantern offers an engrossing period drama anchored by an outstanding performance from Gong Li." TV Guide gave it a five-out-of-five rating. Some reviews were less positive, such as Hal Hinson of The Washington Post, who said the story "never amounts to much more than a rather tepid Chinese rendition of The Women." The film ranked #28 in Empire magazine’s "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.

Critics praised the film’s artistic quality. Desson Howe of The Washington Post said, "In purely aesthetic terms, Raise the Red Lantern is breathtaking." James Berardinelli wrote that the film’s visual style "heightens the movie’s emotional power." John Hartl of Film.com called it "a near-perfect movie that often recalls the visual purity and intensity of silent films." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four out of four stars, praising the screenplay, actors, and visuals. He wrote, "There is a sense in which Raise the Red Lantern exists solely for the eyes. Entirely apart from the plot, there is the sensuous pleasure of the architecture, the fabrics, the color contrasts, the faces of the actresses. But beneath the beauty is the cruel reality of this life." Ebert later added the film to his "Great Movies" list.

The film’s popularity has also been linked to a rise in Chinese tourism after the government’s response to the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, due to its use of exotic locations.

Raise the Red Lantern was one of the most frequently listed films on 1992’s year-end lists, appearing on 36 lists.

• Empire 100 Best Films of World Cinema – #28
• Time Out 100 Best Chinese Mainland Films – #13
• Included in The New York Times’ list of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made in 2004
• Included in BBC’s 2018 list of The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films, voted on by 209 film critics from 43 countries worldwide.