Ju Dou Blu-ray - Gong Li

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

China 1990

A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband's nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband's heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy. Filmed in glowing Technicolor, this tale of romantic and familial love in the face of unbreakable tradition is more universal than its setting.

***

A magnificent melodrama, even more visually sumptuous and emotionally draining than the same director's earlier Red Sorghum, even though its cruel tale of adultery and revenge constitutes, to some extent, a blatant reworking of themes. This time, it's set in and around a dyeing workshop in a remote town in the 1920s, where the young wife of the ancient, impotent and sadistic dyer decides to make the old man's adopted nephew her lover and protector. Even when she finds herself with child, their affair remains a secret; but after the dyer is left partly paralysed by an accident, they brazenly flaunt their love, so that the vengeful cuckold's only hope is to turn the child against its parents. Hardly surprising, perhaps, that the Chinese authorities virtually dissociated themselves from this Japanese-financed, less-than-rosy picture of a country given over to unfettered sexual desire and murderous hatred. But it's this vision - expressed through superbly forthright performances, and in images whose stunning colours are sure to stick in the mind - that lends Zhang's movie the stark, searing power of Greek tragedy. Its dark wit and fiery pace ensure that even the occasional overheated moments carry conviction.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: September 7th, 1990 - Toronto Film Festival

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Comparison:

Pioneer - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Razor - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Imprint (Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li) - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover			Part of Imprint's 8 Blu-ray Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	Pioneer Region 0 - NTSC	Razor - Region 1 - NTSC	Imprint- Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:35:52	1:28:48	1:35:12.790
Video	1.33:1 cropped from 1.66:1 Average Bitrate: 4.76 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.59:1 cropped from 1.66:1 Average Bitrate: 6.81 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,382,367,585 bytes Feature: 28,834,596,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.02 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio	Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)	Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1)	DTS-HD Master Audio Mandarin 3008 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3008 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) LPCM Audio Mandarin 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (non-removable)	English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Pioneer Video Aspect Ratio: Full Screen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: None DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999 Keep Case Chapters: 17	Release Information: Razor Aspect Ratio: Widescreen - 1.59:1 Edition Details: Cast text screens (in Chinese and English) DVD Release Date: February 14th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 9	Release Information: Studio: Imprint 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,382,367,585 bytes Feature: 28,834,596,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.02 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Film historian Tony Rayns on Ju Dou (2021) (24:08) • Shadow Play: The Early Cinema of Zhang Yimou – documentary (42:23) • International Trailer (1:10) Blu-ray Release Date: October 22nd, 2021 Transparent Blu-ray Case inside Custom Box (see below) Chapters 13

Package - Imprint - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Comments:

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (November 2021): Imprint have transferred Zhang Yimou's "Ju Dou" to Blu-ray as part of their 8 disc "Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li" Blu-ray Limited Edition Boxset that includes: Red Sorghum (1987), Ju Dou (1990), Raise The Red Lantern (1991), The Story Of Qiu Ju (1992), To Live (1994), Shanghai Triad (1995), Curse Of The Golden Flower (2006) and Coming Home (2014).

The 1080P image for "Ju Dou" is a huge advance over the poor quality SD versions also showing more in the frame. The image may have some minor instability but is blemish-free and exports the colors in a defused, pleasing palette. This is such a beautiful film and I'm so pleased to finally have it in an effective HD presentation. I was very happy with this image and accepted any minor imperfections in-motion.

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint offer both a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track or the option of a linear PCM stereo track (24-bit) - both in the original Mandarin language. "Ju Dou" has many introspective silent pauses and only the dye mill's donkey + horses, fire and makeshift machinery producing any subtle bass response. The score is by Ru-jin Xia (his only credit) and Jiping Zhao (Farewell My Concubine, The King of Masks, and many Zhang Yimou films; Red Sorghum To Live, The Story of Qiu Ju, Raise the Red Lantern, etc.) sounding passive and enlightening to the narrative. Imprint offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray offers an informative 24-minutes with Tony Rayns. He has so much knowledge of the production, the writing, how Gong Li had agreed to do nude scenes and plenty on Yimou's process. There is also a wonderful 42-minute documentary "Shadow Play: The Early Cinema of Zhang Yimou" by Daniel Griffith narrated by author Wendy Larson. It probes deeply into his films, collaborators, contemporaries etc. It was excellent. There is also a trailer for "Ju Dou". The "Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li" Blu-ray Limited Edition Boxset has plenty of new extras including a limited edition (2000 copies) 60-page booklet containing new essays from Professor Chris Berry & Professor Ying Zhu.

Zhang Yimou's "Ju Dou" is another masterpiece from the director." As Rayns described it - "a cross between Oedipus-rex and The Bad Seed". "Ju Dou" is filled with tragedy and love - told by a master-storyteller. Gong Li is brilliant as another oppressed woman struggling for an existence that is allegorical to the political climate and mirroring the Chinese people. So far I am very pleased with Imprint's "Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li" Blu-ray Limited Edition Boxset. This is year-end poll stuff. Recommended!

Gary Tooze

***

ON THE DVDs (January 2006): Perhaps we shouldn't have been too hasty in our criticisms of the old Pioneer DVD. Aside the new Razor edition it looks positively brilliant. Colors in the Razor range from overly bright to washed out. It strives toward proper aspect ratio of 1.66 but falls far short with overly tight framing - something ain't right folks. I actually prefer the opening-up of the Pioneer image in comparison. Actually everything is wrong with this new Razor release. It is taken from a PAL source and is rife with combing and similar artifacts - also the print is filled with dirt, dust and scratches. Subtitles are very different in many spots (see example below) leaving me very unsure of the accuracy of either release. The Razor does win in one area - it has some extras - if you consider Cast bio text screens extra features. Frankly, this really sucks. Don't buy this, or the Razor 'Raise the Red Lantern' - it appears as though these guys are bandits. You can get better or equivalent editions for 1/3 the price in any Chinatown. I am totally disappointed!

***

This DVD was Out of Print for a very long time, but now many HK imports and VCDs exist. OOP certainly on the strength of the film itself, not this lackluster Pioneer DVD. The image is cropped (to what degree I am still investigating) and there are no Extras. The subs are forced, but the picture is not as bad as one might anticipate. It is clearer than other Pioneer DVDs (Cassavetes - I am referring to) and with the aforementioned 3 strip Technicolor - it is quite bright. I don't see a lot of digital processing - because they probably didn't do anything in the transfer - this is good. I don't want to get carried away - this is till a poor image, just not as terrible as I had anticipated. The sound is on par with the video quality, and I can only hope this is redone by someone soon. This film deserves it.

Gary W. Tooze

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(Pioneer - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Razor - Region 0 - NTSC RIGHT)