Ju Dou
| Ju Dou | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by |
Zhang Yimou Yang Fengliang |
| Produced by |
Hu Jian Yasuyoshi Tokuma Zhang Wenze |
| Written by | Liu Heng |
| Based on | Liu Heng's Fuxi Fuxi |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
Xia Ru-jin Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography |
Gu Changwei Yang Lun |
| Edited by | Du Yuan |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language | Mandarin |
Ju Dou (Chinese: 菊豆; pinyin: Jú Dòu) is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang (though it is almost universally considered to be a product of Zhang's vision as director) and starring Gong Li as the title character. It is notable for being shot in vivid three-strip Technicolor long after the process had been abandoned in the United States. It was also the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1990.
The film is a tragedy, focusing on the character of Ju Dou, a beautiful young woman who has been sold as a wife to Jinshan, an old cloth dyer.
The film was banned for a few years in China, but the ban has since been lifted. The Chinese government gave permission for its viewing in July 1992.
The story originates from a novel.
Ju Dou takes place in the early 20th century in rural China. The story begins as Yang Tianqing (the regular Zhang collaborator Li Baotian) is returning from a trek to sell silk for his adoptive uncle, Yang Jinshan (Li Wei). Jinshan, whose trade is dyeing fabrics, is known for his cruelty. Tianqing learns that Jinshan has just recently purchased a new wife, having beaten two previous wives to death after they failed to produce a son, the cruel irony being that Jinshan is in fact impotent.
Upon meeting the wife, Ju Dou (Gong Li), Tianqing is immediately enamored with her. At night, Jinshan tortures Ju Dou. Eventually, Tianqing discovers Ju Dou's bathing area and spies on her. Soon, the two are unable to control their passions any longer, and they engage in sexual intercourse. When Ju Dou discovers she is pregnant, she and Tianqing pretend that the child is Jinshan's. Jinshan suffers a stroke which leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. Confined to a wheel chair, he nevertheless discovers Ju Dou and Tianqing's affair and attempts to kill the child. Jinshan is tied up by Tianqing and hoisted in a large barrel, leaving him dangling helplessly. Knowing that society would never accept her infidelities, Ju Dou goes to a nunnery to get contraceptives.
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