Love is an irrational force-- it can overhwhelm and consume us. Some try to tame this feeling by making rules, building boundaries or writing scripts to keep our loved ones confined. Love Rules is a series of films about the invisible lines people draw into each other’s lives to divide the desired from the forbidden. These movies explore the fuzzy border between domination and love – where rules are put in place to mimic, regulate or rekindle passion. The first film in our series is Zhang Yimou's 1991 masterpiece Raise the Red Lantern about a young woman forced to marry into a complex household of four wives, governed by a dizzying set of rules. =

Raise the Red Lantern @ 20:00

In 1920s China, 19 year-old Songlian (Gong Li) is forced to marry a local nobleman and move to his citadel, sharing a household with his three other wives. Each wife has her own house and each night red lanterns are lit to indicate where the “master” will spend the night. At once united and divided by their shared subjugation, the four women compete through deceit to rise to the top of this domestic hierarchy. Yet it is in these secluded rooms governed by timeless rituals and frustrated desire that Songlian finds a vivid passion for life and freedom that can outshine any lantern. One of the most critically-acclaimed films of the 1990s, Zhang Yimou's poignant drama has been widely-interpreted as a critique of the repressive and patriarchal order of late 20th century China. Due to Li's heart-wrenching performance and Zhao Fei’s stunning cinematography, it is also one of his most beautiful and expressive works, mapping the boundaries of the master's house (and Songlian's prison). Watch the trailer. 

Directed by Zhang Yimou, 1991, China, 125 mins.

Bar opens at 19:30.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome.