Red Sorghum Directed by the Zhang Yimou - Movie Review Example

Red sorghum Red sorghum is a movie that was directed by the Zhang Yimou and it addresses the social, political and the economic history of the Chinese People. The red sorghum was set in the early 1920s and 1930s in a Shandong province which is the northern region of china. The movie is a storyline narrated through omniscient narrator by a grandson of the main character and grandmother Jiu’er (Gong Li) or only Nine. The movie starts when Jiu’er is being prepared to be taken to her new husband who is an old wine maker. The winemaker who is also infected with leprosy has given Jiu’ler’s father a new mule in exchange of the bride. Jiu’er has no option rather than accepting the offer and she feels neglected because she is getting married off to the old man. Li Datou is the owner of the wine press and he is a capitalist who does not share what he gets with the workers equally. The movie depicts him a representative of capitalists since his ideologies and principles match the capitalist regime (Yimou). Among the men who were hired to carry Jiu’er was Yu Jiang Wen who later turns out to be the grandfather of the narrator. He leads the rest of the muscular and shirtless men in a song that only scares and irritates Jiu’er since for she is not willing to marry the old man, and worst of all a man with leprosy. Jiu’ler sobs and feigns sickness and this forces them to stop and that is when the bandits came in and waylaid them. They try to rob Jiu’er and rape her, but the young men accompanied by Yu overpower them. After Jiu’er arrives at the winery and lives for some time Yu comes in the winery wearing the bandit mask and she abducts her when she was coming from her parent’s home. The scene is characterized with intimations of rape though Jiu’er does not show any signs of resistance or unwillingness. They proceed engage in sexual intercourse and that marked the point of conception of the narrator’s father (Yimou). In as much Jiu’er was forced into marriage and severally carried by men as a potato sack, she is not just a simple victim and she is a headstrong character who confronts issues. At one point, she is portrayed as headstrong when she condemned his father after learning that he had sold her to the old for just a new mule. Later, Li Datong – the wine press owner is murdered under mysterious circumstances and Jiu’er manages to take over the winepress. Contrary to the dictatorial leadership of Li Datong, Jiu’er learns it collectively with other workers as equal partners and business go well. The leadership of Jiu’er puts the Red Sorghum solidly under good footing of the communist ideology having overthrown the evil capitalism castigated by Li Datong. After some time, Yu drunkenly returns to Jiu’er, and proclaims himself as the new husband though at first she throws him out. Later he claims his prize after he urinates at the wine vats the fact that improves the flavor of the wine. Through the performance, he wins the favor from Jiu’er and they develop a very intimate relationship (Hui 44). The movie drastically changes from humorous fairy tale to a more realistic and tragic. The Japanese invade China and they destroy the winery process, kill and destroy property belonging to the Chinese. The Japanese are brutal and inhuman and they kill the Chinese at will. They even skin them alive by forcing the fellow Chinese to do the work. They hang them in hundreds and this infuriates Jiu’er among other residents. Jiu’er infuriated by the atrocities summons the people and under leadership of Yu they march ahead and fight the Japanese. They destroy their vehicles and kill many of them, but Jiu’er is machine gunned and dies. The movie red sorghum depicts the historical set up of the Chinese people. Women could be sold out to the husbands cheaply just as Jiu’er was sold to the wine presser for just a mule. She has no choice but conform to the traditions yet she feels that it is against her right to be married off to the old man. She feels devastated to the extent that she admires being raped by the bandits than be married off to an old man. Moreover, the young and masculine men who were paid to take the young girl to the family feel no remorse for her, rather they sings songs of ridicule and showing no remorse to her. Moreover, there are kidnappers who steal girls who are getting married(Hui 45). For instance, Jiu’er was kidnapped by the bandits and, were it not for Yu, the bride, would have been raped by the bandits. This shows that women had no right in the years of 1920s and 1930s and they were exposed to harsh conditions yet they still struggled to emancipate themselves. Despite the fact that they were exposed to severe situations, some of them like Jiu’er prove to be very kind and bold. Jiu’er goes ahead and confronts her father who had sold him to an old man for just a mule and her father sees the sense behind the whole thing. Jui’er is used a symbol of struggle and emancipation of women in the era. His husband dies and she is left to manage the winepress (Landry 67). However, she does not keep the business to himself, she abolishes the capitalist policies that used by Li Datong and starts using communism whereby all the individuals have equal rights to the production. The act of Jui’er changing the policies of the business from that of the capitalist to that of communist does not only make things easy for the workers but it also ensures that justly get what belongs to them. Jui’er is used as a tool of change. She manages to change the thinking of women from that of mere submissive to that of people who can stand and fight for what is right. First, she tells her father that it was not right for him to sold to an old for just a mule. It would be better if he had been married to a young, poor man rather than marrying her off to an old man for just a mule. The action was bravely depicting the struggle and plight of women in the Chinese tradition (Landry 77). The act of Japanese attacking china marked the beginning of the long-standing conflict between the two countries. According to the movie, the Japanese started fighting the Chinese and destroyed the winepress killing the workers. The only source of livelihood for these individuals was destroyed and furthermore massive killing took place. The Japanese were forcing the Chinese men to skin their fellows alive and this was experienced for a long time. Jiu’er courageously faced the people and advised to go to war against Japan and in the war they killed many Japanese men and destroyed their tanks and vehicles. That war was later to be known as the Sino-Japanese war (Lim 65). History The movie Red Sorghum does not only talk about the social history of the Chinese people, it also addresses the poli9tical history of China and its war to try and maintain the communist policies. The case o f Li Datong death and consequential development of his capitalist policies to that of the communism show how the Chinese people loathed the capitalism enhanced and each and every possible measure to ensure that capitalism did not get a space anymore. The attack by Japan also illustrates the long history of war between Japan and china. The described war where Jui’er died eludes the Sino-Japanese war where many Chinese and Japanese died in the course of the war. The Sino Japanese war involved war between republics China and the empire of Japan from around 1937-1941(Hui 55). The Chinese received support from the Germans, and Russians as well as the United States. The war continued and the Japanese Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 and it marked the beginning of World War II. The second Sino-Japanese war the largest war of the 20th century among the Asians. Moreover, this war made up more than 50 % of the casualties in the pacific war around 1937-1941.The originated from Japanese imperialist policies to dominate china in terms of politics and military. For example, in the movie red sorghum, the Japanese are seen destroying the wine press and killing lots of people using machine guns and other ammunitions. It is worth noting that the main character Jiu’er got killed in the war and that was a great blow to the “husband Yu." Initially, the two countries used to fight in small cases but the Sino-Japanese war was the major war that ever took place between the two countries (Hui 59). The future of china Having fought with Japan and retained its sovereignty, it is paramount to note that China republic has the great foundation and most likely it will be among the best nations in the world. It has had agreements with capitalist countries, but it has maintained its communist policies. For example, during the Sino-Japanese war, it managed to make agreements with USA, but it retained its policy on communist. Mao Ze Dong policies have managed to help the country move forward with communism and the economy has remained standard despite the economic upheavals experienced here and there. The future of the country seems to be much brighter taking into account communist policies help the country to distribute wealth equally amongst all people (Spechler 14). Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that red sorghum is description of the Chinese society ranging from the social set up, economic and political. Jui’er being the protagonist in the movie highlights all the ideas through her life. Through the storyline and given by omniscient grandson, the movie is a thrilling and tragic reality of love and politics. Such a movie is among the best movies ever produced in china. Works Cited Collinson, Patrick. "Analysis: China-bashing will never catch on.” Fund Strategy 13 June 2005: 12. Print. Hui, Yew. Strangers at Home History and Subjectivity Among the Chinese Communities of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.. Leiden: BRILL, 2011. Print. Landry, Pierre F.. Decentralized authoritarianism in China: the Communist Party's control of local elites in the post-Mao era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. Lim, Song Hwee, and Julian Ward. The Chinese cinema book. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan ;, 2011. Print. Red sorghum. Dir. Yimou Zhang. Perf. chinese . Xi'an Film Studio [producer] ;, 1988. DVD. Spechler, Martin C.. "Divergent Paths in Post-Communist Transformation. Capitalism for Art or Capitalism for the Few?." Comparative Economic Studies 1 Dec. 2007: 14. Print. Read More