Handout for 7 December 2007

RAISE THE RED LANTERN
7 December 2007

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On Friday you'll see Zhang Yimou's film, Raise the Red Lantern (1991) so you can study composition, mise-en-scene, and familiar images, such as the ones above. Our final image of the main character, Songlian (Gong Li), where she resembles a rat in a maze, is one of many examples of expressive composition and mise-en-scene in the film (right). See also attached study pictures.
    But some elements of film cannot be shown in pictures. That includes the soundtrack. Although we will be studying the soundtrack in another chapter, you should pay attention to the soundtrack in this film too, because, through the soundtrack, the women are given voices they are denied in the film. Try to note the moments in the film (it's called "spotting" in film terminology) when women sing (=speak) on the soundtrack. These are called soundtrack cues.

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