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Chinese direc for calibrate isn't a colo ? modern Chii malice. by TAN YE M^bf i mood. As Chinese ha> Although I loved Raise the Red too reserved Lantern, it was not a movie I would sorghum fi go see twice. But, being asked to excitement, serve as a discussant after its strained lust Nickelodeon premiere, I did arrive Lust for 1 at the theater before the movie end- fact that Yii ed?not so much to watch the had a misers 1-hie Cothar n 1IIUV1C U> IU I1MCII IVJ UIC ClUUlCllLC. mo luinvi m A Chinese tragedy usually pro- hence a "b vides no comic relief, yet the audi- mother was ence laughed on every episode that good elemen might be interpreted as funny. The When th< audience's unfamiliarity with the broke out, hi historical background actually try to be "re enhanced their appreciation of the Later, he b< movie in the sense that they were still unable not loaded down with the weight of Yimp sold h cultural sentimentality. camera. Wit During the follow-up discussion, the picture the participants, which were pri- opportunity marily USC students, tried to find phy at Beijir out what Zhang Yimo, the director, After gra< intended to tell his audience, the best c; Where were the political messages? Yellow Earth What did the red lantern mean? another direc The color red is Yimo's trade- tion in 1984 mark. After Red Lantern, his Red awards. Next Snrohum was shown at the Old Well. v Nickelodeon. Undeniably, the red title of Be; sorghum (Red Sorghum), red silk Tokyo Intern (Judou), red lantern (Raise the Red His dir Lantern) and red dress (Quiju Goes Sorghum, w to Court) etc. are all symbolic. Bear at the Traditional Chinese theater is Two years 1< full of symbols: a red face symbol- the Luis B ized loyalty; a black face, bravery; Cannes Filr and a white face, evil. Some com- months ago mentators liken the setting red sun Festival, wi at the end of Red Sorghum to a Court, Yimt Japanese national flag; some think The first Asi the red lantern reveals the sexual Gold Lion \ Hnminonrp n f (hp mtri orphol Rnshnmnn i : : J | \| Come by H: \W I f f I j | Remembe uv/aiiuuiivu v/i inv j7uvi iui vnui despot, but the setting sun can also If we re elegize the perished heroine and the Tiananmen red lantern can connote the fulfill- still hanging ment of the concubines' desire. will apprecii Yimo's red, like his other sym- talent but als bols, defies narrow interpretation, No conter because it is at once an inheritence is free of p< from and a rebellion against tradi- are either in tion. Red is no more simply a color ties or imp] We're not good b we're the olbe I ? OiWIIIIIWKwVI!ll^llV'V'll?g^gw llLASl II ^ ^ m: m ml i< N ^ Kit 1 tor explores syr 3n, as in old China. It t of revolution, as in ta; nor is it the color of e should treat it as a ifimo once said, "We /e been too moderate, ... the boundless red of elds arouses sensual .. it encourages unrefor life." ife was unrestrained, a mo knew too well. He ible childhood, because /as related to Taiwan, ad element," and his a medical doctor, not a it, either. I i Cultural Revolution e was sent to the coun it Actor at thc^ ational Film Festival. Zhang Yimo, director of ecting debut, Red as awarded the Gold mose wno are interested in t Berlin Film Festival, kind of message, Zhang's red co iter, his Judou received does carry one, but it may not unuel Award at the political; all Fifth generation dir n Festival. And three tors try to be apolitical. , at the Venice Film Red represents a commeration th his Qiuju Goes to freedom, exuberance and the m ) took the Gold Lion, primal aspiration of the hum ian movie that won the race, which have been long den vas Akira Kurosawa's by Confucianism and communisr There is little surprise that alize that the post- movies were banned in Chii Square art control is Critics quipped socialist realis over Yimo's head, we denouncing Yimo's movies ite not only his artistic being untrue to nistory. o his strategic talent. The critics have a point. No m nporary Chinese movie ter how many concubines a fue )litical messages. They l?rd possessed, he would raise aposed by the authori- red lantern only when he was r< lied by the artist. For ally awarded as a moral parag .cause TheG~ y->?- ^ /, X"V" y-y'-y r koun The Final )93 Garnet & B Portrait Sitting? the Russell House beta Pictures quick and open to i Graduates ar ;r to sign up for an < 1 A yf 1 vji ana iviarj * Questions? G JI^iii^M"!^-"*^ -^1? */r-.~/r-.^.^'r-.~S.-.~/r..^{'xyrSrSr....* ?^fr^"--.-.-^ ^ - ?^.. ^...i^,...I<...,^<...,^ nbolism _1 Bp6|fip Jpl^ '-Si^- ?'-&%& ^IK/I 111 '!;^:i ':<' -ft f'.t~.. ^ '^ ~ % wTll ?? *^p88BSwP?' ? " 2. Varioi the acclaimed Raise the Red Lantern. 3?V31*101 his And, surely, human urine could 4. Vic ci lor never redden sorghum wine. ^ * be What Yimo has been endeavoring. ? J6SU? ec- to glorify is not history, not the least g Sfl3tl those official paragons, but humani- * of ty caught in history. If his movies i 7.7 Yea ost are historically untrue, they are uni- Q I. lan versally true, because in them we : O. L0V6( ied find the pathos that can also be 9. Bedla n. found in Oedipus the King, Ghosts, his and Desire Under the Elms. I'm a Pun na. Peng Xiaolian, Yimo's school- \/arfni ;m, mate at Beijing Film Academy, and lw? Var|||l for a fellow director of the fifth gener- * ation, will lecture at USC in March. Sourer WUSC-FM lat- Perhaps she will be able to tell us dal more about the meaning of the colthe or red and other symbols. || U oy- Ton Ye is a professor of Chinese JL/ll on. Theater at USC. let & Black be! DT ~~ Day for lack Yearbook _ inrvrv A \/ll ? IS IUUAI:! veen 9am and 7pm righ ^ a6soCutdyfru, itf students! id Seniors: appointment in fron I _ _ i T>1 sei nace. all Student Media at; .j s..s....s /. ^ ^ ^ ,.i<?..^....^M.l^ S n,S n^nuSuxS^U^Mul f the Mohicans mX * n i it* Je and Men . ^ arry Glen Ross ."3JT Tp F adyguard J J 7 Siege 7"?' 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