Ju Dou

Rural China in the early twentieth century. Ju Dou is sold to Jinshan, an old cloth dyer who abuses her. She begins a secret relationship with Tianqing, Jinshan's adopted nephew. The child is raised as Jinshan's son. When the truth surfaces years later, nobody survives it. Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang directed, with Gong Li in the lead. Its visual choice is striking: it was shot in Technicolor long after the process had been abandoned in the United States. The colours of the cloth hanging in the dye works darken along with the story. Ju Dou was the first Chinese film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The Chinese government banned it and asked the Academy to withdraw the nomination; the request was refused. The ban was only lifted in July 1992, after senior cultural officials watched the film. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 100 percent. It won prizes at Cannes and made the New York Times list of the best 1000 movies ever made. Who it is for: viewers who treat colour as a means of telling and who like the shape of tragedy. Who it is not for: anyone troubled by the level of violence and coercion. The film shows domestic cruelty at length and head-on.