Semilla de crisantemo

Mesmerizing melodrama set in 1920's China about a young woman who is forced to wed an abusive dye mill owner, who tortures her like an animal for not giving him a son, but more importantly, an heir. She decides to indulge in an affair with the nephew of her husband. Enthralling study of passion, sensation and burning for revenge brought to life in an extraordinary fashion which earned the film an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film of 1990.

I have become a huge fan of Gong Li and have now purchased five films that she has appeared in. Ju Dou is by far her sexiest and most daring performance. She plays the lead character in the film named Ju Dou. She is a poor woman who is purchased by an old, impotent, and extremely cruel and abusive man who owns a Dye Factory. His name is Yang Jinshan. He wants to have an heir to succeed him but is having trouble getting his battered bride to conceive. At this juncture, his nephew, named Yang Tianqing, who is a mild mannered pervert who likes to be voyeuristic and watch his Uncle's new bride wash herself. Before he knows it, as the uncle is out on a trip, Ju Dou seduces him in one of the most erotic seduction scenes of all time. This is done in a very classy way, there is no nudity, but what is implied is quite obvious. In the aftermath of these proceedings, Ju Dou becomes pregnant and informs her "jackass" of a husband that she is going to give him a son. He is quite pleased and they end up naming the son, Yang Tianbi. Eventually the husband is crippled in an accident, and is later killed in an accident involving his son. For some odd reason, the son is as evil as can be and hates his mother and real Dad with a passion and proceeds with a plot to kill them. 2/3 of this movie is great. The last third in my opinion is that it is stupid. It is kind of like they tried to make Damien, The Omen, Part 4. The cinematography is excellent, but the last third of the movie was poorly done in my opinion. Like I said, this was Gong Li's sexiest role. She really has a way to express herself to the camera. However, the movie falls short of the mark.

A very well done story about the illicit relationship between a man and his "aunt" in 1920's China that results in disaster for all concerned. I've seen Gong Li in a couple of movies recently, and it's clear that she is both beautiful and talented. Here she plays the title character of Ju Dou, a young woman forced into marriage to Yang Jinshan, the brutal and sadistic owner of a dye mill, who beats and tortures her, and also wants her to bear him a son and heir. The mill is also home to Yang Tianqing, Jinshan's adopted nephew. Ju Dou and Tianqing fall in love with each other, and have a child, who is assumed to be Jinshan's. The result is tragedy all around eventually.

The story is both unpleasant and yet interesting. Few of the characters (with the exception of Ju Dou) really connected with me. Ju Dou, on the other hand, becomes the object of sympathy right from the start. Her life is horrible, and even the relationship with Tianqing (a gentle and loving one for the most part) ultimately strikes me as unsatisfying, because frankly Tianqing is a wimp. The character (well portrayed by Li Baotian) comes across as childish and immature and afraid the whole way through. In a way, the most powerful (and frightening in many ways) character was the adolescent Tianbai, Ju Dou's son. He only appears in the last third of the movie or so, but he comes across as completely hateful toward both his mother and Tianqing and totally unemotional. It all leads up to a tragic (and yet appropriate) ending.

One thing I really enjoyed in this movie was the depiction of the rituals around Jinshan's funeral procession. That was quite fascinating. Overall, this was an unpleasant movie with many unpleasant or at least unlikable characters, but still quite interesting. 7/10

'Ju Dou' is a fine example of cinema at its rawest. Director Zhang Yimou hardly makes any use of special effects, keeps the background score at a minimum, makes the sets look very real (they don't even look like movie-sets) and yet he avoids his movie to look like a documentary. He seems to have relied most on the camera and actors to do the work. Even though the film is set in the 20s, 'Ju Dou' was one of the most controversial movies in China and it was banned arguably due to the way a powerful elderly man was depicted, a woman rebelling against a man and/or the depiction of injustice towards women in China and preference for a male heir.

A natural beauty, Gong Li in her early days, plays the title role of a peasant girl who's sold to an evil old man. This couldn't have been an easy part for a young actress to play but Li makes it look otherwise. She is phenomenal to watch. Li Wei as the cruel master does a great job too and he adds a humanity to his character that makes us sympathize for him. Li Baotian, as the evil master's nephew with whom Ju Dou has an illicit relationship, is just as brilliant.

The cinematography deserves special mention and some of the visuals and sceneries of the Chinese landscape are breathtaking. The writing is very good as the film sticks to the main story (no subplots) and the characters are rich, even that of the child who doesn't say anything. 'Ju Dou' does tackle a lot of issues (which is perhaps why it was banned) that are displayed graphically or hinted specifically. Also there's a lot of irony in the story that beautifully works. For example how the impotent evil master was once so intimidating that he tortured his previous wives to death but how quickly this turns around after Ju Dou gives birth and later on he sees hope in the child and uses him to vindicate his helpless state but that too has consequences. Yimou presents it all without throwing it at the audiences face.

Apart from the aforementioned, there's a visually poetic feel about 'Ju Dou'. It's executed in a very artistic way. The way he shows the dye mill, (which looks like any other old overused mill), and then the colourful sheets of cloth make is dazzling to look at. Also the mountains and river are shot in such a way that they look like beautiful postcards. Then there's another shot of a beaten up Gong Li sitting next to a lantern while the flickering firelight reveals her sad face.

I found the ending a little too abrupt. Perhaps Yimou should have developed this. Lastly, Yimou's intentions seem honest in the way he tells the story. He does not go over the top by including melodrama or making it preachy nor does he make it too simplistic. It's one of his finest works and some might find it difficult to watch but in the end it's a fine work of art that tells a relevant story.

Gong Li is just about one of the most beautiful actresses in the world today. It is hard to believe that she has been acting for 20 years.

This is one of her earlier works, and it is an excellent example of her talent. It is also one of the early films for Yimou Zhang, who also directed Gong Li in Curse of the Golden Flower. He shows the promise of a great director in this film.

There is not much that is pleasant her. Ju Dou (Gong Li) is bought by an evil man who has beaten two wives to death for not bearing him a son. She is beaten mercilessly and he has constant sex with her to have a son.

The problem is not his wives, but him, and she has a son secretly with his nephew (Baotian Li). It saves her life, but matters continue to get more and more complicated until the final tragedy.

One of the really interesting features of the film is the Chinese funeral ritual.

The film is a great example of the early work of two great talents, but do not think that early means weak, as they were bother strong from the beginning.