| The type of action in this movie is slow-paced but never boring. The opening scene sets the pace. As Songlian finishes telling her step-mother with a combination of determination and resignation of her decision to become a concubine, tears gradually well up and eventually roll down her cheeks. One needs time to portray the subtle change of expression that Gong Li is so adept at. The movies Zhang Yimou made a decade and a half later, though "exciting" and full of outrageous action, aren't a patch on this one.
Gong Li is perfectly cast, and so are all the other female characters. I say female characters because the male characters are very sketchy -- even the Master whom we never even get to see properly. It's as though the camera totally ignores him. We only see him if he happens to be where the camera was directed for some other purpose. This isn't a story about him, it's about the women.
This is the type of story which takes time to develop. But that is easy to do when one sees such exquisite cinematography. Nearly every frame could make a superb still on its own. Even without a story or dialogue, it's worth seeing just to see some skillful camera work.
While not much happens, a lot can be inferred from the story. It could be construed as the type of tragic social situation that the communist party brought to an end. On the other hand, it finishes with those in authority telling their underlings that they "didn't see anything" which could be a reference to the unsavoury aspects of the totalitarian system that has replaced it. There is a French saying which translates as something like: The more things change, the more they stay the same. This type of story could equally refer to pre- and post-revolution. |
