Ju Dou (1990)

Ju Dou: Directed by Yimou Zhang, Fengliang Yang. With Gong Li, Baotian Li, Wei Li, Zhang Yi. A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband’s nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband’s heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy.

“8 STARS – No Need To Understand Chinese – Ju Douu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e You donu0026#39;t need to understand a word of Chinese, even if you view this film in its native language without English subtitles. This story of a suffering Chinese wife in 1920s China who seeks sexual gratification outside of her impotent husband is a straightforward tale of passion. It is told in magnificent fashion via one beautiful shot after another by master Zhang Yimou. Gong Li, as always, is incomparable. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e Zhang uses the same formula with her that Carlo Ponti used with Sophia Loren, the large-breasted star of Italy, who was a great actress trapped in a super-sexy body. In Two Women, Ponti did everything he could to downplay Lorenu0026#39;s natural assets: plain clothes, dirt on her face, and mundane surroundings. Zhang does the same exact thing with Gong Li and is successful. Ju Dou is not the best work of Zhang, but that is like saying The Birds or Psycho was not the best work of Hitchcock. This film is gorgeous and shot to perfection. Millions of women will identify with it. Highly recommended.”