Red Sorghum Comparison

"Girl, go and just go bravely. Go forward and do not look back." When I finish watching Red Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang), this song in the film keeps haunting me. Red Sorghum is an emotionally powerful film. It is beautiful, romantic, as well as barbaric, and violent. As Zhang Yimou's directorial debut, Red Sorghum, released in 1987, with its lush and lusty portrayal of Chinese peasant life and culture, immediately put Zhang at the forefront of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers. The film is an adaptation of Nobel laureate Mo Yan's "Red Sorghum" and "Sorghum Wine" from his multi-volume novel "Red Sorghum Clan". Zhang's adaptation is faithful to the original texts, except he did a little modification of characters and cut down on some of

As they pass a sorghum field, a masked bandit ambushes them. After "my grandpa" saves "my grandma" from the bandit, being able to see each other, "my grandma" and "my grandpa" instantly fall in love at first sight. Three days after, when "my grandma" is on her way home from a visit to her parents, "my grandpa", wearing a bandit's mask, abducts and rapes her in the sorghum field (although she does not seem to be compelled). Then Li Datou is mysteriously murdered. "My grandma" takes over the distillery, which is experiencing hard times. It is from this moment, the film shows its Communist ideology. As "my grandma" inspires the workers to take a new pride in their wine, they work together as a collective community. The scene where "my grandma" makes the workers sprinkle the wine over all the stuff and places their previous leprous owner has touched, they are not only disinfecting the germs, but also wiping out the capitalism and exploitation. After "my grandpa" returns to the distillery and urinates into the vats of the wine, the longtime distiller, Luohan (Teng Rujun), discovers that they have made the best wine they ever has. Nine years later, "my grandpa" and "my grandpa"

But Zhang decided to omit their names and just use the appellations to make the audience feel more engaged with the characters, and sympathize with them. Zhang also trims away many important plots involving "my grandma" from the novel that demonstrate her wit and capability, such as her revenge against her father, taking a county magistrate as her godfather, and acting insane in front of the Japanese soldiers. Zhang portrays "my grandma" as a plain, hard-working country woman, rather than a strong-willed, competent heroine who does great things. However, Zhang does not depict her as a pure victim, who is forced into an unwilling marriage and carried by a man twice under his arm like a barrel. When she is carried in a sedan to her wedding, she secretly carries a pair of scissors to protect herself. In a scene when "my grandma" is visiting home, she condemns her father for trading her for a mule with a leprous old merchant. These scenes show her courage and rebellious spirit. Also, in the film, Zhang lowered "my grandpa's " hero status. He is transformed from a war hero and guerrila commander into a crude, barbaric peasant, who is brave and