Ju Dou

Ju Dou
Directed by	Zhang Yimou Yang Fengliang
Produced by	Hu Jian Yasuyoshi Tokuma Zhang Wenze
Written by	Liu Heng
Starring	Gong Li Li Baotian Li Wei
Music by	Xia Ru-jin Zhao Jiping
Cinematography	Gu Changwei Yang Lun
Editing by	Du Yuan
Distributed by	United States: Miramax Films
Release date(s)	Toronto: September 7, 1990 United States: March 6, 1991
Running time	95 minutes
Country	China Japan
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 Technicolor long after the process had been abandoned in the United States. It was also the first Mainland Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1990.

The film is a tragedy, focusing on the characters 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.

Plot summary

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 and treats Tianqing with much scorn. Upon returning, 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. During the day they act with some detachment from one another, both living in fear of Jinshan. At night, Jinshan tortures Ju Dou as Tianqing is forced to listen to her cries. Eventually, Tianqing discovers Ju Dou's bathing area and spies on her. When she discovers the peephole, she is at first concerned, but eventually uses the hole to expose her bruises to him. Soon, the two are unable to control their passions any longer, and they engage in sexual intercourse next to the dye vats. When Ju Dou discovers she is pregnant, she and Tianqing carry on the façade that the child is in fact Jinshan's. The child, Tianbai is soon born and carries on Jinshan's and not Tianqing's name.

At this point, however, 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. Stopped by the parents, Jinshan's past cruelty is repaid upon him as he is hoisted in a large barrel, leaving him dangling helplessly during the night. Despite their happiness, Tianqing and Ju Dou suffer another setback when Ju Dou believes that she is yet again pregnant. However, later she receives her period and the couple is relieved. Knowing that society would infer and could never accept her infidelities, Ju Dou goes to a nunnery to get contraceptives. The contraceptives given to her turn out to be hot chili powder and they leave her barren.

Meanwhile Tianbai has grown into a sullen child (Yi Zhang). He has yet to speak, and both Ju Dou and Tianqing worry about him. Jin Shan meanwhile is still left in his barrel. When he sees the child, he at first attempts to push him into the dye vat, but when Tianbai calls him "Father," his heart immediately melts and he accepts the boy as his son. While Ju Dou and Tianqing are horrified, they know they can say nothing. Jinshan's happiness is short-lived, however, as he himself falls into the dye vat and drowns one day while playing with his "son," who watches the man flail helplessly but does nothing to save him. The funeral is treated with much pomp and circumstance as Confucian dogma requires both Ju Dou and Tianqing to "beg" the casket not to leave. Ju Dou, moreover, is never allowed to be with another man.

The film then cuts to ten years later. Ju Dou and Tianqing still run the dye operation, but Tianbai (now played by Zheng Ji'an) is now a rage-filled teenager. Rumors of his parents' infidelities drive him to nearly kill a local gossip. Upon discovering his parents passed out in a stifling underground cellar after one of their trysts, Tianbai drags them into the open before throwing his father into a vat. Although disoriented and short of oxygen, it seems as if Tianqing will get out. However, Tianbai clubs him with a heavy stick and knocks him unconscious, resulting in Tianqing drowning. Ju Dou then burns the mill down, and watches as the flames engulf the rolls of silk around her as the film ends.

Cast

• Gong Li, as Ju Dou (S: 菊豆, T: 菊荳, P: Jú Dòu);
• Li Baotian, as Yang Tianqing (S: 杨天青, T: 楊天青, P: Yáng Tiānqīng), Ju Dou's lover and Yang Jinshan's adopted nephew;
• Li Wei, as Yang Jinshan (S: 杨金山, T: 楊金山, P: Yáng Jīn​shān), the owner of the dye mill and Ju Dou's husband;
• Yi Zhang, as Yang Tianbai (S: 杨天白, T: 楊天白, P: Yáng Tiānbái) as a child; Ju Dou and Tianqing's son;
• Zheng Ji'an, as Tianbai as a youth.

Reception

Awards

• Cannes Film Festival, 1990
  • Luis Buñuel Special Award
  • Palme d'Or (nominate)
• Valladolid International Film Festival, 1990
  • Golden Spike
• Chicago International Film Festival, 1990
  • Gold Hugo
• Norwegian International Film Festival, 1990
  • Best Foreign Feature Film (Amanda)
• 63rd Academy Awards, 1991
  • Best Foreign Language Film (nominated)

DVD release

Ju Dou was initially released on DVD in the United States as an all-region disc on the Pioneer label, Geneon Entertainment, on June 29, 1999. The disc included English subtitles.

The film was re-released by Razor Digital Entertainment on February 14, 2006 as part of the new Zhang Yimou collection to capitalize on Zhang's recent international successes of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The new edition was Region 1 and included English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese subtitles. Despite the DVD box stating that the film is presented in widescreen, it is actually presented in full frame.

External links

• Ju Dou at the Internet Movie Database
• Ju Dou at AllRovi
• Ju Dou at Rotten Tomatoes