Nonetheless the treatment is appropriate since Red Sorghum is a masculine, lusty film suggesting the influence of Akira Kurosawa with perhaps a bit of Clint Eastwood blended in. The depiction of the barbarity and cruelty of the Japanese soldiers is accurate from what I know, but I must say that this film would never have seen the light of day had communist soldiers been depicted in such a manner. Indeed the film is a little crude at times and represents a view of pre-communist China and its culture that the present rulers find agreeable. I should warn the viewer that this film contains striking violence and would be rated R in the United States for that and for showing a little boy always naked and for the 'watering' of the wine by Jiang Wen and the boy. His courageous and sometimes boorish behavior seems exactly right. Jiang Wen is also very good and brings both a comedic quality to the screen as well as an invigorating vitality. If you haven't seen her, Red Sorghum is a good place to start. (Obviously the leprous old man is going to miss out!) Zhang Yimou's technique here, as in all of his films that I have seen, is to tell a story as simply as possible from a strong moral viewpoint with as little dialogue as possible and to rely on sumptuous sets, intense, highly focused camera work, veracious acting by a carefully directed cast, and of course to feature the great beauty of his star, the incomparable and mesmerizing Gong Li. The young man doing the voice-over identifies them as his Grandmother and Grandfather. A little later after a bit of unsuccessful highway robbery during which she is released from her confinement, they exchange meaningful glances.

Through a break in the sedan's enclosure as she sits alone in fear and dread she catches sight of Jiang Wen, a burly, naturalistic man with a piercing countenance. They joust her about according to tradition and sing a most scary song about how horrible her life is going to be married to the leprous old man. The film opens with her being carried in a covered sedan chair to the consummation of her wedding by a rowdy crew from the sorghum winery. Gong Li stars as the betrothed of an old leprous wine maker. Although I don't think this is quite as good as some of the other films that master Chinese film maker Zhang Yimou has made-e.g., Raise the Red Lantern (1991) The Story of Qiu Ju (1991) Ju Duo (1990)-Red Sorghum is nonetheless an outstanding film strikingly presented visually and thematically.

Red sorghum book review