Ju Dou

The film that put director Zhang Yimou and star Gong Li on the international cinema map follows beautiful young Ju Dou as she is married off to an egregiously cruel, and also impotent, owner of a dye mill in the Chinese countryside in the early 20th century. When the boss’ nephew arrives on the scene, he and Ju Dou fall for each other with lustful abandon. Their impassioned affair soon leads to a son. After the clandestine couple convinces the despotic husband that he is the father, the boy is raised as his long-awaited heir. However the myriad complications of infidelity lead to a visceral and psychological melee between the lovers and their ruler with explosively dramatic turns. With its stunning mise en scène and sumptuous use of color, Ju Dou was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards® and has earned a reputation as one of the greatest Chinese films ever made.