Ju Dou, 菊豆 (1990 film)

This Chinese film originated from a novel and was directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Feng Liang. This film was released in 1990. It was nominated for the “Academy Awards, USA 1991” for the Best Foreign Language Film which they never won. But, they managed to clinch the award for Best Feature at the “Chicago International Film Festival, 1990”.

I must say the genre for this film would be a mixture of drama, romance and a subconscious touch of history and eroticism. This film depicted the life of a woman that was paid to be a wife for a wealthy old man who had a business in selling dyed textiles. The woman named Ju Dou was not treated lovingly as a wife but as an enslavement for his own lustful purposes and to make use of her for an heir/son.

THE MAIN CASTS

This film stars Gong Li as Ju Dou. Li Bao Tian as Yang Tian-Qing, the nephew of the old man and Ju Dou’s secret love affair. Li Wei as Yang Jin – Shan, the wealthy old man and Ju Dou’s husband who wants an heir for the Yang’s bloodline desperately. And lastly, both Yi Zhang & Zheng Ji – An as Yang Tian bai, one as a young child and the other a youth.

Ju Dou’s Beginning

Before Ju Dou’s existence became known in the textile dyeing mill. Jin Shan previous wives was beaten and tortured to death as they had failed to produce a son for him. Tian Qing got to know about this from the other worker who told him that Ju Dou would be the third wife Jin Shan had purchase. He even told Tian – Qing to be prepared for the screams at night coming from his aunt (Ju Dou).

The days of Ju Dou’s nightmare started during the first night where a masochistic scene of Jin Shan tying her up and calling upon her to obey him as he had bought her. One statement from him shows his true sadistic nature of “man” supremacy which was, “When I buy an animal, I treat it as I wish”. This statement really infers of his brutality that he had done to the other two previous wives which had led to their demise. Tian Qing heard her screams and one of the nights, he purposely made a noise downstairs and asked Jin Shan whether Ju Dou was doing fine as Tian Qing was secretly enchanted by her.

THE AFFAIR – THE CHILD – THE ACCIDENT

Came the day when Ju Dou admitted that she had feelings for Tian Qing and the two of them had sexual intercourse by the textile mill while Jin Shan was away. Few months later, came the news that Ju Dou was pregnant and had gave birth to a son. It made Jin Shan and Tian Qing delighted as for Jin Shan, he really wanted a son to be the heir of the Yang’s bloodline. For Tian Qing, he was just delighted to know that he will be a father with the woman that he loved. But whatever it was, both assumed that the baby was theirs. The child was named Yang Tian Bai as Jin Shan had consulted a professional, I assume a ‘Chinese Monk’.

Jin Shan met with an accident one day and got paralyzed waist down which had him confined to a “wheel – chair” (more like a wheel – barrel to me). Soon after, he got to know about the affair they both had and even tried to kill the child as he was resentful. He even tried to set the house on fire while Ju Dou was asleep but Tian Qing managed to clear the fire. Jin Shan was tied up into a large barrel by Tian Qing. He was hauled up by a rope while in the barrel which left him dangling helplessly. Both Ju Dou and Tian Qing had thoughts of killing him, but didn’t as Ju Dou said that she would want to let Jin Shan live with the misery of him seeing them living their lives happily as a ‘family’. This explains the anger and pain she had with what Jin Shan did and she wants the same suffering for him.

Tian bai however grew up as a sullen disturbed kid as he rarely speaks much. The only time that he spoke, I assume, for the first time was when he called Jin Shan ‘Father’. It came as a surprise for all of them as Tian Qing was upset that he was not seen as a father by Tian bai. Tian bai witnessed the death of Jin Shan when he fell into the dye ‘pool’ and he even grinned and laughed while watching him drowning.

THE DEMISE

A few years down the road, Tian bai grew up into an angry and aggressive teenager. He nearly killed a villager that was gossiping about his parents’ infidelities. At the near ending scene, Tian bai drowned Tian Qing in the same dye ‘pool’ that killed Jin Shan. Ju Dou was hysterical when she saw it happening right before her eyes. She then burned down the dyed textiles and it brought the whole mill down with it.

MY CONCLUSION – ZEITGEIST – MOTIFS

Personally, I think this movie had many dark elements in it. From the start to the very end, from the pride of buying wives during that era, to the masochistic nature of Jin Shan towards Ju Dou, the grin from Tian Bai when Jin Shan was drowning. Lastly, the burning of the mill itself when she saw the death of Tian Qing. An obvious suicide. The only mystery would be, was Tian Bai in it, or did he escape from their demise as a family. If yes, that’s the end of the Yang’s bloodline.

The Zeitgeist would be the pride of buying wife/wives as I believe it was a norm during that era as one of the scene, an old woman jokingly said to Tian Qing, “Your uncle will spend some money and buy you a prettier wife”. While the rest of the guys laughed to that statement.

For the motifs, it would be the dyed textiles as there would be scenes of it at every prime incident of the film. Some examples would be, from the start of Ju Dou having sex with Tian Qing, to the scene where Tian Bai kicked him at the face and the last scene when Ju Dou burned the fabrics.

This film was fine, not great, but it taught me something. Out of desperation, out of love, lust, and power, people could do crazy things just to get what they want. Even within family.

— THE END —