Ju Dou
- -A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband's nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband's heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy. Filmed in glowing technicolour, this tale of romantic and familial love in the face of unbreakable tradition is more universal than its setting.
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A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband’s nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband’s heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy.
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Ju Dou
Ju Dou is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang and starring Gong Li as the title character.
It is notable for being shot in vivid three-strip Technicolor long after the process had been abandoned in the United States.
It was also the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1990.
The film is a tragedy, focusing on the character of Ju Dou, a beautiful young woman who has been sold as a wife to Jinshan, an old cloth dyer.
The film was banned for a few years in China, but the ban has since been lifted.
The Chinese government gave permission for its viewing in July 1992.
Ju Dou Plot
The story begins as Yang Tianqing is returning from a trek to sell silk for his adoptive uncle, Yang Jinshan.
Jinshan, whose trade is dyeing fabrics, is known for his cruelty.
Upon meeting the wife, Ju Dou, Tianqing is immediately enamored with her.
Eventually, Tianqing discovers Ju Dou’s bathing area and spies on her.
Although Tianqing watches luridly, by exposing her bruises to him and sobbing, Ju Dou transforms the meaning of his gaze, forcing him to see her not only as a sexual object, but also as a human being.
When Ju Dou discovers she is pregnant, she and Tianqing pretend that the child is Jinshan’s.
Jinshan suffers a stroke which leaves him paralyzed from the waist down.
Confined to a wheel chair, he nevertheless discovers Ju Dou and Tianqing’s affair and attempts to kill the child.
Jinshan is tied up by Tianqing and hoisted in a large barrel, leaving him dangling helplessly.
Jinshan falls into the dye vat and drowns one day while playing with his son and a funeral is carried out for him.
Ju Dou and Tianqing still run the dye operation, but Tianbai is now a rage-filled teenager.
Upon discovering his parents resting in an underground cellar after one of their trysts, Tianbai drags them out and drowns Tianqing.
Source: Wikipedia