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Symbolic
Reviewer: The Rebecca Review.com
In the depths of the human soul, we want to be free. Free
to choose who we will love, free to live in peace, free to
follow our own dreams.
In Ju Dou, everyone is trapped. This is part of the horror.
Two people who are deeply "in love" are not free to
love. They must love in secret, always fearing death if they are
discovered.
It is a completely opposite situation to Yumou Zhang’s lush
and beautiful “The Road Home.” In this movie, the home the
characters share is a Dye Mill where fabric almost seems
symbolic of freedom and oppression. Red can symbolize passion,
but it can also represent death. Red is also the color of good
fortune. This movie is drenched in passion, the forbidden and
the horror of not being free.
The setting is rural China in the 1920s. When Ju Dou (Gong
Li) is purchased by the aging textile-dying mill owner Yang Jin-shan
(Li Wei), she seems to accept her fate until she realizes she
will be treated no better than an animal. Her sadistic, impotent
husband wants a child, yet all he does is tie up his wife and
beat her mercilessly until she wishes she could die.
She finds freedom in her love for the dye mill owner’s
nephew Yang Tian-qing (Li Bao-Tian) who seems to feel helpless
to rescue her due to his strong family connections.
When Ju Dou becomes pregnant with Yang Tian-qing’s child,
she reaches her most beautiful moment. The child turns out to be
a main cause of the horror in this movie and both Ju Dou and
Yang Tian-qing seem to have no real connection to the child they
created in a moment of love. Ju Dou seems to be a rebellious
character who we can sympathize with although she rejects the
traditional conception of a virtuous wife and good mother.
What is rather chilling is the fact of the child taking out
revenge on his parents for a crime he committed. After Jin-shan
is paralyzed the two lovers almost seem sadistic themselves as
they seek revenge on Jin-shan and make him aware their
relationship. He seeks his own revenge.
More dramatic than erotic. More horrifying than beautiful.
This is the second film the celebrated “fifth generation”
filmmaker from China who trained as a cinematographer before
becoming a director.
“I regret that many good movies cannot be shown to the
public in the mainland after a lot of money has been spent on
them. These are the painstaking efforts and energies of cultural
workers. I think those films should go to the public if they
have been produced.” - Gong Li
The Chinese government routinely censors and bans films or
plays. This film was banned in China because the leaders saw it
as a metaphor for Chinese life and it clearly highlights the
nature of exploitation and the victimization of women.
Ju Dou is a romantic tragedy with moments of horror
set within a world of social control.
Gong
Li
If you enjoy this movie for
it's artistic qualities,
just wait until you see: The
Road Home
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