Raise the Red Lantern: An Analysis

           Raise the Red Lantern is a well-known Chinese film set in the 1920s, and relates the story of Songlian, who becomes the fourth concubine of a wealthy, older man after her father passes away. When Songlian initially arrives at the compound of the master, she is treated like royalty, receiving foot massages, opulent clothing, and frequent visits from the master himself. Songlian then quickly realizes that this royal treatment is only given to the woman with whom the master decides to spend the night. 

            Songlian is introduced to the other concubines and the recognizes the rift present between them. Initially, she clashes with the third mistress while befriending the second mistress. To ultimately spend more time with the master, Songlian fakes a pregnancy, hoping the additional time spent with the master will actually make her pregnant. Once it is discovered by her servant Yan’er that the pregnancy is indeed fake, it is revealed that Yan’er’s personal room is filled with red lanterns, illustrating Yan’er’s desire to become a mistress. Because of her deception, Songlian’s lanterns are indefinitely covered with black bags. Consequently, Yan’er is forced outside into the snow by Songlian to watch the lanterns from her room burn. Yan’er ultimately dies. While in a drunken state on her birthday, Songlian reveals the secret that the third mistress is having an outside affair. The third mistress dragged to the lone building on the roof of the compound and is subsequently hanged by the servants. A year passes, and it is revealed that the master has a new concubine. As the, the film comes to a close, Songlian is seen pacing around her compound, in a possessed-like state. The viewers never find out what eventually happens to Songlian. 

As suggested by the title, the color red is a recurring trope present throughout the film. First and foremost, the color red is used in the title itself. As discussed in class, the color red symbolizes celebration, luck, happiness, and fertility. Red is commonly associated with lust and passion. In this film, the red lanterns denote impending action. In traditional China, lanterns are lit on days of festivity, such as weddings. When the unseen master returns to his compound of choice, the lanterns are lit and the gong is sounded. Everything revolves around this anticipation of the lantern lighting. The red color also symbolizes power and status among the concubines, as the concubine with the red lanterns lit indicates that they have the master’s attention. 

In addition to happiness, the color red also evokes death. Songlian discovers her maid Yan’er is hiding lit red lanterns in her quarters, as she also vies for the master’s attention and longs to become a concubine (an analysis of this scene to be discussed later). When Yan’er refuses to apologize about having lanterns in her possession, Songlian goes into a fit of rage and makes Yan’er kneel outside in the snow and watch her lanterns burn. Yan’er’s body is later recovered along with the charred pieces of the once vibrant lanterns. The charred rubble is oddly similar to the remains of fireworks, which signify celebration. This suggests that the lanterns and the color red are representative the idea of power, and only those who submit to authority make it out alive. 

              Zhang, the director of this film, used very sharp angles to frame the shots, and all of the décor/artwork are rectangular in shape. This can be seen above, as the tapestries that cover the wall have a very defined rectangular shape. The frequent use of having frames around the characters such as Songlian, illustrate her sense of being trapped. Many times when Songlian spokes, the shot was taken through a doorway, and that rectangular shape framed her body. Similarly, the compound itself had this shape. A birds-eye view revealed the compound was a rectangle, with each mistress having a rectangular courtyard with doors of the same shape. This specific rectangular shape illustrates the feeling of a prison, and the concubines are the trapped prisoners.

                In addition to the shape of the shots, diegetic and nondiegetic sound are used to convey emotions in Raise the Red Lantern. The first time music is heard is after Songlian’s opening discussion with her stepmother. The audience then sees Songlian walking in the opposite direction of the sound, which is coming from a wedding processional. It is later learned that the processional was intended for her. The division of the film into sections or chapters is accompanied by loud, joyful sounds. This instrumental music signifies the beginning of a new chapter, which is in contrast to the somber events that  have just unfolded. Nondiegetic music can be observed when Songlian is awoken one morning by the singing of the third mistress, Meishan. Meishan used to be in the Chinese opera. She sings in times of sadness, and after the master spent the night with Songlian. Her singing is representative of her helplessness and sorrow. After Meishan’s untimely death, Songlian plays a record of Meishan singing to scare the servants. Here, for the first time, her voice represents being content, yet is a haunting reminder of the past.

 But, perhaps the most well-known sound from the film is from the first mistress’s son, Feipu, and his playing of the flute. After hearing the sound of the flute, Songlian approaches Feipu. He is the first person she has a genuine connection with, despite them being similar in age. After this interaction, he continues to play the flute, a sad reminder for Songlian of the chapter in her life that has abruptly ended: her childhood. Her father is gone, her prized possession is gone, and so is her innocence. 

While the recurring motif of red lanterns is prominent symbol in the film Raise the Red Lantern, there is one pivotal scene involving the lanterns that is at the climax of the film. This is when Songlian discovers Yan’er, a maid, has risen and lit these lanterns in her own personal living quarters. This particular scene was chosen for this analysis.

After being accused of stealing Songlian’s flute, a prized possession from her late father, Songlian storms into Yan’er’s personal room, only to discover that Yan’er has many lit red lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and the room illuminates red.  These lanterns are only used by the master of the compound; as red lanterns are lit outside of the mistress’s home of whom he decides to spend the night. Enraged, Songlian begins looking through Yan’er’s belongings to find her flute. While rummaging through the red illuminated room, Songlian finds a voodoo doll with her name on it, and pins sticking out of the doll. These pins are everywhere; in the dolls face, chest, and abdomen. Outraged, Songlian begins to roughly handle Yan’er until she confesses who helped her make the voodoo doll. As a poor servant, Yan’er is illiterate, and Songlian knows that she could not write her name on the doll. To Songlians disbelief, the second mistress is responsible for aiding in the construction of the doll.

    These two screencaps of the three-and-a-half-minute scene provide much insight into formalistic elements of the scene in addition to telling the viewer information beyond the scene itself. In the first screencap, there is a close up image of Songlian, with Yan’er visible behind her. While the audience cannot see what Songlian sees, it is ultimately foreshadowed by the red light illuminating her face and the shocked look she possesses. Songlian herself is wearing red, a color that symbolizes happiness, marriage, and fertility, making it even more ironic that Yan’er, a servant, has red lanterns in her personal quarters. The color palette of this scene is quite warm. Red, dark browns, and black are mainly present. The darkness of Yan’er’s room gives off an eerie-like feeling. Surprisingly, the brightest color in this scene is Yan’er’s pink shirt, which is somewhat unexpected, as all of the other servants in the film wore black shirts. Yan’er’s face is somewhat blurred in the first image, but still visible to the viewer. The second image provides an opportunity to see inside of Yan’er’s living space. Two lit lanterns are visible in this frame. This shot allows the audience to see Songlian’s opulent dress and earrings, vastly different from Yan’er’s old, worn out clothing. Songlian appears to be distressed, as she is holding the voodoo doll in her hand. Also present in the frame is a teapot, teacup, a chair, and a candlestick without a candle.

            The scene begins with Songlian holding Yan’er by the arm, dragging her to her room through the complex, maze-like compound to look for her flute. When they reach her room and the door is forced open by Songlian, the camera pans to the left in order to get a full view of room. All of the camera movements appear to be motivated. For the beginning of the scene, the camera distance remains constant; all of Songlian is in the frame as is the background. Once Songlian discovers the doll, the camera cranes downward so the viewer can get a glimpse of what she is holding. The camera then pans to the left so the audience can see Yan’er, crying in the corner of the room and Songlian swiftly runs to her. The camera then zooms to both women, and the viewer has an up-close view of how Songlian is shaking Yan’er to get an answer of why she had this doll and how it was made. After a few seconds of shaking, the camera zooms out as Songlian rises and paces, and the camera follows Songlian’s movement. Songlian then comes back toYan’er and gets on her level. The camera is focused on both women at this time. Once it is revealed that the second mistress had helped Yan’er make the doll of Songlian, the camera zooms in on Songlian, and her shocked expression is observed. Here, it is rag focused, as Songlian’s face is clear, yet Yan’er’s face is slightly blurred. It is quite remarkable that this whole scene was filmed in a single shot. This scene is significant in regards to the entire film, as this short sequence begins the downfall of Songlian.