Message from dhorowitz

[Anonymous]

I watched this movie last weekend- it had the highest recommendations in the video store.
Despite the overtly sexual theme, no sexual act or even nudity is depicted so it is fine to use in a classroom. There is no sensuality in dealing with the master of the house, in fact the only time we see an expression of pleasure from Songlian is when she is receiving a foot massage. We experience isolation and loneliness far more than romance. As the mistresses of the house compete with each other to win the favors of the master of the house they are all trying reach beyond isolation they experience forced to live in their secluded houses.
The time period is the 1920s. I imagine that with the rise of communism in China this type of wealthy lifestyle with large complexes and multiple wives fell into the past. Beyond the literary elements of loneliness and despair there are themes of women's rights and women's roles. The fate of one of the mistresses is sealed when she is caught having an extra-marital affair which by tradition is punishable by death. The master of the house, a male, was free not only to marry four (or five at the end) times but to carry on with the female servants of the house as well. Students would be very quick to notice this double standard.