RAISE THE RED LANTERN

Special Features: New 4K Restoration | 35th Anniversary

[大红灯笼高高挂]
Nineteen-year-old Songlian (Gong Li), a promising student whose family has been destroyed by her father’s death, is forced to abandon her studies and marry into wealth, becoming the fourth and newest concubine of the aging, unseen Master Chen. Inside his walled estate, she discovers a household ruled by a merciless ritual: Each night, red lanterns are lit outside the chambers of whichever wife the master chooses to visit, granting her privilege and status while the others are cast into cold irrelevance. Songlian is drawn into the orbit of her rivals, each shaped by years of fighting for the same scraps of attention. Determined at first to rise above the games, Songlian is gradually worn down by isolation and humiliation until she strikes back, trading secrets and favors to secure her place in Master Chen’s hierarchy. As petty cruelty turns even more dire, Songlian is forced to confront what these desperate measures will cost her soul. (Note courtesy of Film Movement.) DIR Zhang Yimou; SCR Ni Zhen, from the novel by Su Tong; PROD Chiu Fu-sheng. China/Hong Kong, 1991, color, 125 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. RATED PG

The 4K restoration of RAISE THE RED LANTERN was carried out by the Udine Far East Film Festival on the occasion of its 26th edition. The original image and sound negatives were used under the supervision of Director Zhang Yimou. The vintage positive copy, presented at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival and preserved at the Venice Biennale’s Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts, was used for color reference. The restoration was made in 2024 at L’Immagine Ritrovata (Hong Kong - Bologna).

Run Time: 125 Minutes

Opening Date: Sunday, November 15, 2026

Genre: Romance drama

View Series Page