''Red Sorghum'' is a 1988
Chinese film about a young woman's life working in a distillery for
sorghum liquor. It is based on the first two parts of the novel ''
Red Sorghum'' by Nobel laureate
Mo Yan
Guan Moye (; born 17 February 1955), better known by the pen name Mo Yan (, ), is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. Donald Morrison of U.S. news magazine ''TIME'' referred to him as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirate ...
.
The film marked the directorial debut of internationally acclaimed filmmaker
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...
, and the acting debut of film star
Gong Li
Gong Li (Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...
. With its lush and lusty portrayal of peasant life, it immediately vaulted Zhang to the forefront of the
Fifth Generation directors. The film won the Golden Bear Award at Berlin Film Festival.
Synopsis
The film takes place in a rural village in China's eastern province of
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in His ...
during the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...
. It is narrated from the point of view of the protagonist’s grandson, who reminisces about his grandmother, Jiu'er. She was a poor girl who was sent by her parents into a pre-arranged marriage with an old man, Li Datou, who owned a sorghum wine distillery and who had leprosy.
As Jiu'er's wedding party crosses a field of sorghum, they are attacked by a bandit. One of the men hired to carry Jiu'er's sedan chair manages to fight off the assailant. After Jiu'er safely reaches the distillery, her rescuer, whom she has been eyeing during the trip, disappears. During Jiu'er's trip back to her parents' village, a bandit with a mask jumps out of the sorghum field and, after chasing down Jiu'er, carries her off into the sorghum stalks. Jiu'er runs away at first, but when the bandit takes off his mask and reveals himself to be her chair man and rescuer, she stops resisting his pursuit and has sex with him.
Upon Jiu'er's return to the distillery, it is discovered that Li Datou has died of mysterious causes, leading many of the distillery's workers to suspect murder. Nothing is proven, however, and since Jiu'er's late husband was without heir, it is she who takes ownership of the distillery, which has recently fallen on hard times. She inspires the workers to take new pride in their wine. One day, Jiu'er's lover and the narrator's grandfather becomes drunk and loudly insists to the group of men accompanying him that he is going to share her bed. When he enters the bedroom, however, she, embarrassed, tosses him out. The other men on the scene carry him away, sticking him in an empty wine vat where he remains for the next three days. Meanwhile, a group of bandits kidnap Jiu'er, forcing the distillery workers to pay a ransom for her freedom.
After emerging from the vat, the narrator's grandfather witnesses the worn down Jiu'er. The narrator's grandfather goes to confront the leader of the bandits, demanding to know whether the leader raped Jiu'er. The leader said he did not rape Jiu'er, because Jiu'er told the leader that she already slept with the disease-ridden old man Li Datou. The narrator's grandfather returns, but takes out his anger on the workers by urinating into four vats of liquor. To the clan's surprise, the urine somehow makes the liquor taste better than ever. Its product newly improved, the distillery begins to see financial success.
The War begins and Imperial Japanese Army troops invade the area. The Japanese soldiers then torture and kill Jiu'er's friend Luohan, a respected distillery worker. Jiu'er incites the workers to avenge his death. In the early dawn, they hide themselves in the sorghum field, prepared to ambush the Japanese military vehicles the moment they pass by. While waiting, however, the workers become distracted by hunger. When Jiu'er is informed of this by her young child (the narrator's father), she brings out some lunch for the workers. Arriving just as the Japanese soldiers do, Jiu'er is shot and killed in the chaotic skirmish that ensues, and the explosive traps meant for the Japanese trucks end up killing almost everyone at the scene. Only the narrator's grandfather and father manage to survive the encounter.
Cast
*
Gong Li
Gong Li (Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...
as "My Grandma"
*
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...
as "My Grandpa"
*
Ji Chunhua
Ji Chunhua (; 20 July 1961 – 11 July 2018), sometimes romanized as Gai Chun Wa, was a Chinese actor and action choreographer. Just like Jet Li and Yu Chenghui, he was a Mainland China-trained wushu athlete who started his acting career in th ...
as Sanbao the bandit chieftain
*
Teng Rujun
Teng Rujun (; also credited as Ten Rujun) is a Chinese actor. He has appeared in Zhang Yimou's '' Red Sorghum'' and Huo Jianqi's ''Postmen in the Mountains
''Postmen in the Mountains'' () is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. It is ba ...
as Uncle Luohan
Style
Like Zhang's later film, ''
The Road Home'' (1999), ''Red Sorghum'' is narrated by the main characters' grandson, but ''Red Sorghum'' lacks the flashback framing device of ''The Road Home'' (the viewer never sees the narrator).
The cinematography by cinematographer
Gu Changwei makes use of rich, intense colors. Zhang himself was a cinematographer prior to his directorial debut, and worked closely with Gu. The use of red showcases the rich vitality of the sorghum fields, as well as the director's personal style.
Reception
Upon its release, ''Red Sorghum'' garnered international acclaim, most notably winning the coveted
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
at the 1988
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
said, in his review and synopsis in ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'', "There is a strength in the simplicity of this story, in the almost fairy-tale quality of its images and the shocking suddenness of its violence, that Hollywood in its sophistication has lost."
Awards
*
38th Berlin International Film Festival
The 38th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 February 1988. The festival opened with musical film ''Linie 1'' by Reinhard Hauff. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Chinese film '' Red Sorghum'' directed by Zhang Yimo ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
**
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
Award
*
Hundred Flowers Awards
The Hundred Flowers Awards () are, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards honouring the best in Chinese cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema and the Cinema of Taiwan, they are classified as the Chinese equiv ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
**Best Feature
*
Golden Rooster Awards
The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the shap ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
**Best Feature
**Best Cinematography -
Gu Changwei
**Best Sound
**Best Music -
Zhao Jiping
**Best Director - Zhang Yimou (nominated)
**Best Actor -
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...
(nominated)
**Best Art Direction -
Yang Gang (nominated)
*
Zimbabwe International Film Festival
The Zimbabwe International Film Festival (abbreviated as ZIFF) is an annual ten-day film festival held in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
**Best Picture
**Best Director - Zhang Yimou
**Best Artistic Achievement
*
Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
**Film Critics Award
*
Brussels International Film Festival,
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
**Belgian French Radio Young Jury Award for Best Picture
*
Montreal World Film Festival,
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
**Silver Panda
*
Hong Kong International Film Festival
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong.
HKIFF screens around 230 films ...
,
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
**Top Ten Chinese Language Films
*
German Democratic Republic Filmmakers Award,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
**Annual Award
*
Cuba Film Festival,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
**Best Feature Film
Accolades
*''
Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an engine ...
'' 100 Best Chinese Mainland Films – #12
See also
*
List of submissions to the 61st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
*
Further reading
*
Mo Yan
Guan Moye (; born 17 February 1955), better known by the pen name Mo Yan (, ), is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. Donald Morrison of U.S. news magazine ''TIME'' referred to him as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirate ...
. ''Red Sorghum: A Novel of China''. .
References
External links
*
*
*
''Red Sorghum''at the Chinese Movie Database
{{Authority control
1987 films
1987 romantic drama films
1980s historical films
1980s war films
Chinese romantic drama films
Chinese historical films
Chinese war drama films
Films based on Chinese novels
Films directed by Zhang Yimou
Films set in the 1930s
Films set in Shandong
Golden Bear winners
Golden Rooster Best Film recipients
1980s Mandarin-language films
Second Sino-Japanese War films
Chinese historical romance films
1987 directorial debut films