China Raise the Red Lantern is a China–Hong Kong and Taiwan co-production — one of only a handful of such cross-border film titles indexed here.
Synopsis
大红灯笼高高挂
“China, 1920. One Master, Four Wives.”
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, 19 year old Songlian is forced to marry the much older lord of a powerful family. With three wives already, each living in a separate house within the great castle, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained. This competition gets out of hand.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #93 of 946 China films indexed here (90th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.2 points above the China average of 6.7/10.
Among China Drama productions specifically: #59 of 547 (top 11%).
Audience Engagement
632 audience reviews — more than 92% of China films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 86th percentile among China films.
China × Hong Kong and Taiwan Co-Production
Other China×Hong Kong titles
Sakra
★ 6.6 · 2023
The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell
★ 7.0 · 2023
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
★ 5.5 · 2008
Ghost in the Shell
★ 6.1 · 2017
Other China×Taiwan titles
The 1990–1992 China Window
Raise the Red Lantern tops the 9 China films we index from this three-year window. Cards below list the runners-up in descending audience order.
The 1990s China Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1990s in China, 41 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Raise the Red Lantern premiered alongside 3 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 3 other China films in 1991.
The 38th China title from China we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1935).
Our China catalog contains 946 titles in total (747 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Raise the Red Lantern, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- romantic rivalry · 5
- intrigue · 4
- oppression · 3
- polygamy · 2
- wealth · 2
- competition · 22
- 1920s · 18
- concubine · 8
- marriage · 36
Production Details
| Primary Country | China |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | China, Hong Kong, Taiwan |
| Original Language | Chinese |
| Production Companies | ERA International, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Century Communications, Salon Films |
| Runtime | 2h 5m |
| Release Date | December 18, 1991 |
| IMDb | tt0101640 |