Red cornfield

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Red cornfield
Original title Hóng Gāoliang (红 高粱)
Country of production People's Republic of China
original language Chinese
Publishing year 1987
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Zhang Yimou
script Chen Jianyu
Zhu Wei based on an artwork by Mo Yan
production Wu Tianming
music Zhao Jiping
camera Gu Changwei
occupation

The Chinese film Red Cornfield ( Chinese  红 高粱  /  红 高粱 , Pinyin Hóng Gāoliang  - "Red Sorghum ") is the first directorial work by Zhang Yimou , who was previously a cameraman. He was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1988 , which sparked great controversy in China. In German-speaking countries, the film is also known under the title Das Rote Kornfeld .

action

The film, set in Shandong Province , begins with the wedding procession, which is supposed to bring the main character Jiu'er ("my grandmother", played by Gong Li ) to her future husband Li Datou, the leprosy over 50-year-old owner of a distillery. According to an old regional custom, the litter-bearers shake the litter to test the bride's ability to suffer. When they hear their crying, however, they stop. In the millet field they are stopped by a robber who demands their money and prepares to rape Jiu'er in the millet field, but is overpowered by one of the litter carriers, Yu ("my grandfather"). Glances indicate an affection between Jiu'er and Yu.

Three days later, Jiuer is picked up by her father to traditionally spend a few days in her parents' house. We learn from their conversation that Jiu'er kept her husband away from him with scissors. Her father reprimands her for this, since Li had promised him a mule as a bride price. On the way, again in the millet field, Jiu'er is being dragged from her donkey by a masked man. This turns out to be Yu, to which she no longer defends herself. He lays them on a piece of trampled millet. A love scene is not shown, but indicated by millet blowing in the wind.

When Jiu'er returns to the distillery, she learns that Li Datou was murdered. She asks the distillery workers to stay and continue working as a collective. She places particular trust in foreman Luohan, who shows interest in her, but is the only one to address her as "Mistress".

After a while, Yu comes to the distillery drunk, intending to share the bedroom with Jiu'er. However, Jiu'er has the men throw him out, beat him up and put him in an empty liquor barrel, where he stays for three days. Meanwhile, the robber Sanpao, who kidnaps her, has not raped for fear of leprosy, but demands a ransom. After Luohan has organized this, she returns. Yu has now slept off his intoxication and can free himself from the liquor barrel. In a butcher's shop he messes with the butcher. Sanpao arrives and suggests cutting off his tongue as punishment. Yu pretends to be remorseful, but then uses a moment to threaten Sanpao with the knife, believing that he has slept with Jiu'er, which he denies. Yu then lets go of him.

The new schnapps is now being distilled in the distillery, and Luohan brings Jiu'er to celebrate the event. The men sing praises of their schnapps ("Haojiu") in front of a portrait of the god of wine. Yu Zhan'ao arrives, puts four heavy jugs of freshly distilled schnapps in a row and pees in them, cleans the still (also a tough job) and carries the completely carried away Jiu'er into the apartment building.

The following night, Luohan stands in the courtyard, tracing an unknown smell that he finally recognizes as the scent of the liquor that Yu peed in. He knocks on Jiu'er's door and congratulates her. Yu opens the door, but Luohan ignores him. Luohan leaves the distillery that night.

After a leap in time of nine years, Jiu'er and Yu have a nine-year-old son, Douguan, who is happily playing between the liquor barrels. Luohan reappears at the distillery, but disappears again before Jiu'er can speak to him. Suddenly the Japanese army is in the area and is building a road through the millet field, for which the villagers have to trample down the millet. Meanwhile the butcher is skinning a donkey. He is then ordered to skin a living human who turns out to be a robber Sanpao. To save him this agony, he stabs him with the butcher's knife, whereupon he is shot himself. The butcher's assistant is asked to skin a second prisoner, Luohan, which he eventually does out of fear (which is not shown, however). The butcher's assistant then went mad, about Luohan is reported from the off that he was supposed to have been a communist partisan and, according to the village chronicle, cursed the Japanese while he was molting.

At the distillery, Jiu'er urges workers to avenge Luohan's death by attacking a Japanese military vehicle. Under the direction of Yu, they sing the song of the Schnapps Prize again. At night they set off with jugs and all kinds of equipment to build an ambush on the street. Yu lets Douguan pee in the liquor and asks one of the men who made music on the wedding procession to make music during the attack. In response to his objection that he could only play the wedding mockery song , Yu said it could be done as long as he played loudly, since the Japanese are afraid of loud noises.

When after a while the vehicle has not yet appeared, Douguan is sent to Jiu'er to bring them food. As she walks down the street with food and liquor, the military vehicle approaches, fires at her, and kills her. The men attack, Yu hurls the liquor at the vehicle, which explodes. In the end, Yu and Douguan are the only survivors, a solar eclipse can be seen in the red-colored sky, while Douguan sings a lament for his mother.

Novel

The film is based on the first two parts of the cycle of novels The Red Cornfield ( Chinese  红 高粱 家族 , Pinyin Hóng gāoliang jiāzú ) by Mo Yan , but with a few small changes. The old distillery owner and his leprosy son have merged into one character in the film; in the book, Jiu'er is the (privileged) owner of the distillery rather than part of a collective; Douguan is about 15 years old in the book fighting the Japanese and takes part in the fight himself.

Reception in China

The film caused great controversy in China, for which the word "red cornfield phenomenon" ( Chinese  红 高粱 现象 , Pinyin Hóng Gāoliáng Xiànxiàng ) was coined. On the one hand, it was perceived as a symbol of freedom, both through its color strength and because of the transgression of conventions, which is expressed in some scenes (for example cornfield scene, peeing in the schnapps). On the other hand, it has been criticized that the film shows China's backwardness and bad morals and thus makes China bad abroad.

Reception in Germany

The film impressed critics with its unusual blaze of colors. At the same time, attempts were repeatedly made to interpret it politically. On the one hand, he was accused of representing official propaganda in the second part (the fight against the Japanese), on the other hand, he was read as a criticism of the CCP . Zhang Yimou said: “I don't do politics, I make films.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung May 18, 1995)

Web links