Zhang Yimou's powerful film Raise the Red Lantern depicts a young woman's transition and the life of a student named Songlian to the fourth wife of a powerful landlord. Songlian, along with the previous three wives, compete for attention of their husband. Master wisely realizes that there can be no tranquility with all four wives to live under one roof, so he keeps each wife in her own separate apartment. The red lantern is hung outside the home of the wife he chooses to spend the night with. The lantern signifies favor and honor; thus it becomes a status symbol- a symbol status that each wife wants to achieve. The more nights the lantern hangs outside a wife's home the more power she has. The privilege of selecting the day's menu falls to the wife who has had the red lantern in front of the home.

As far as household matters go, her power will be unquestioned. Songlian quickly learns how to survive and to compete with three other wives in the household, though she is well received by them. She is young, innocent, and beautiful. Older, and with their looks fading, the other wives fear she will their husband's attention for too long. Their basic daily activities of stabbing each other in the film lay of the plot for this film that looks into the role of the Chinese female during the early 1920s. The film ends with Songlian turning mad because she realizes that they (the wives) live their lives on the whim of their master. She realizes that women are merely used by the master to satisfy his own needs, and then are discarded when he is finished with them. Her final comprehension is undoing.

Moreover, we can notice that he also portrays woman to have a dead end life. In the movie, after Jinshan's death, society is no longer looking at Ju Dou and Tianqing. But the couple is still trapped by feudalistic society. No matter what, they will never be able to be free from the arms of their society. Another scene is when the two make love for the last time in the storage under the factory. The theme is again reinforced in that the tunnel is airless, and the two have trouble breathing and both are soon unconscious. Another illustration is Tianbai's muteness. His being mute adds to the whole smothering theme. Zhang Yimou's perspective of human condition is somewhat saying that society is trapped (http//:students.washington.edu). They are trapped by society or fate. He also implies that to be a woman is to be a lower status. Like no matter what, if you are a woman, you will live a harder life, and always be at the will of men. It seems that this kind of life is determined by gender.

In the movie, Zhang Yimou uses different camera techniques and angles. He does a lot of shots that are pointing down, a bird's eyes views. This maybe symbolizes the power that one might have. Seeing that when one looks down, it is a sign of superiority (http//:students.washington.edu). These shots symbolize Jinshan's power that he holds over Ju Dou and Tianqing. He also has shots that are looking up, tilt up shots. This can also be symbolic of being in an inferior situation. A position where they are the less powerful, representing the position of Ju Dou and Tianqing. Zhang Yimou also has wide shots, for example, the fields, or the scenery. He seems to like color, and red seems to be the color of his choice. The dyed clothing in the factory shows the viewers bright colors. Yet, although he shows these lively colors, the atmosphere still seems to be a bit somber.

Sex, it is said, is the only luxury with which the poor are as well supplied as the rich. But within the rigid Chinese feudal society depicted by Ju Dou that is not quite the case. One of the greatest injustices of the year in film was the fact that Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou was denied the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film. It is far more powerfully cinematic, and the fact that it was disowned by its country of origin, China, made its failure to win all the more disappointing. Ju Dou is a

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