Raise the Red Lantern

“China, 1920. One master, four wives.”

In the 1920s, the nineteen-year-old Songlian (Gong Li) is sent to a wealthy lord's household to become his fourth wife, joining three others who already compete for his favor. Zhang Yimou shot it inside the Qiao Family Compound near Pingyao, and the rivalry among the wives plays out within its walls and courtyards. The lord's attention is the prize, and Songlian crosses the grey courtyard to the lantern-lit doorway.