Ran's Movie Image Exercise

 

Summary: The film is based on the novel “Wives and Concubines” by Su Tong. It tells the story of a young woman (19 years old), Songlian, an educated woman who becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy man, whose face is never clearly shown during the 1920s in China.

The film explores themes of power, control, tradition, and patriarchy as Songlian becomes embroiled in the intense competition and jealousy between the four wives for the attention and favor of their husband. The wives' lives are highly regimented and controlled, with strict rules and rituals that they must follow.

In fact, the master decides on a daily basis the concubine with whom he will spend the night; whomever he chooses gets her lanterns lit, receives the foot massage, gets her choice of menu items at mealtime, and gets the most attention and respect from the servants. 

Songlian, who had briefly attended university before the passing of her father and being forced into marriage, comes to the conclusion that she is happier in solitude; she eventually sees the competition between the concubines as a useless endeavor, as each woman is merely a "robe" that the master may wear and discard at his discretion. The following summer, after the Master's marriage to yet another concubine, Songlian is shown wandering the compound in her old schoolgirl clothes, appearing to have gone completely insane.

Ran