By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Fengliang Yang | Yimou Zhang
Starring: Baotian Li | Ji-an Zheng | Li Gong | Wei Li | Zhang Yi
Country: china, japan
Year: 1990
Running time: 95
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099902/reference
Bob says: “I watched JU DOU tonight. Did you know that it was made in Technicolor? In 1990? In China? So sayeth the Wiki, so it must be true. I do remember, when I first saw it in a theater, how saturated the colors of the dyed fabrics were.
“But the version that’s on Prime is transferred from a faded, scratched print, and it’s in 720p, so the colors don’t exactly pop. It’s still beautiful and brutal, but I guess not in the same way. Still…. Gong Li. Can’t complain about that.”
Michael says: “Part of the Main International Film Festival 2026 retrospective selections, all I really remembered about the first Zhang Yimou film I saw was the amazing visuals of a small, rather twisted family operating a fabric dying operation in the early 20th century. Tianqing works for his cruel adoptive uncle who has recently fired one of the only other workers, leaving the bulk of the work in his hands, along with those of his uncle’s new, young wife, Ju Dom, played by the luminous Gong Li. Romantic entanglements, and cruel abuse follow, in this tragic melodrama that still makes for a sublime viewing today. 4 cats”