Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s breakthrough film Raise The Red Lantern (1991) lost the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar to Meditarraneo, but he’s been on the American radar ever since, especially with his elevated treatment of chop-socky movies like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Shadow. His most famous film may in fact be his most visible flop, the Matt Damon starrer The Great Wall, which I’m told (whatever its faults) looks good. (And apparently, it’s become a kind of streaming sleeper hit.)

But here we have a movie from a time when Hollywood reigned supreme, and foreign markets were helpful to secure profits rather than expected to drive them.

The story is simple: An abusive man, Jinshan, has an adopted “nephew,” Tianqing, whom he raised from an orphan and treats like crap. Recently, he’s purchased Ju Dou, his third wife (after killing the first two for not giving him children, apparently), and tortures her in an attempt to get her pregnant. (I mean, he’s doing the regular stuff to get her pregnant, too, but he’s also torturing her.)

Tianqing, over 40, is not allowed a wife, because Jinshan just sees that as another mouth to feed. He does have a knothole through which he can spy on Ju Dou’s shoulder blades—a knothole which she discovers and blocks until one morning, after a particularly savage beating, she disrobes and her shoulder blades are now scarred and bruised.

Still, the faithful Tianqing refuses her advances when his uncle goes into town—for a while.

Then…he doesn’t.

Then, whaddayaknow, Ju Dou is pregnant. Nine months later, she’s got a baby. (The Chinese can only produce some things faster than everyone else.)

That this is going to happen is pretty obvious from the first five minutes of the movie. From there on, though, the movie becomes an interesting morality tale. (In the book, Tianqin is actually Jinshan’s nephew by blood!) The story takes place in the ’20s in rural China, so things are basically medieval.

Jinshan is a propserous dye mill giving Zhang and excuse to hang gorgeous dyed silks all around, and The Boy especially enjoyed the “insiders” look at old-time crafting work, with dye pits and donkeys powered machines, and so on.

It’s really a simple story, in terms of what happens, and the drama comes from the social expectations of the Chinese village, as well as the presence of the menacing Tianbai, the offspring who grows up, silently watching and growing angrier at the perceived immorality of his mother.

But it’s all in the telling, isn’t it? The visuals are always interesting, the characters strongly drawn, the conflicts apparent, the doom inevitable.

Wonderful performances from the lovely Gong Li (Raise The Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine, Memoirs of Geisha and many more), Baotian Li (as Tianqin), Wei Li (as Jinshan), and the kid(s) who play the son.

Definitely worth a watch.