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Three of the greatest Chinese language films of the last 40 years will be returning to theaters soon, thanks to the good folks at Film Movement Classics, who are following their recent releases of Zhang Yimou‘s “Ju Dou” and Chen Kaige’s “Farewell My Concubine” with another slate of international treasures. The company has now acquired North American rights to Yimou’s Oscar-nominated “Raise the Red Lantern” and Cannes-winner “To Live” as well as Hou Hsiao-hsien‘s Venice Golden Lion winner “A City of Sadness,” all of which have been meticulously restored in 4K.
The new restorations will all have theatrical releases before heading to streaming platforms (and hopefully physical media?). The earliest film in the series, “A City of Sadness” (1989), is a key work by Taiwanese New Wave master Hou Hsiao-hsien set in the turbulent years following Japan’s surrender in 1945. The movie’s painterly long takes and elliptical storytelling marked Hou as a major figure on the international filmmaking stage and marked a turning point in Taiwanese cinema.
“Raise the Red Lantern” (1991) features Gong Li in a visually sumptuous and emotionally shattering portrait of power and repression in 1920s China. Adapted from Su Tong’s novel “Wives and Concubines,” the film follows 19-year-old Songlian (Gong Li), who becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy patriarch and is thrust into a rigid household where the lighting of red lanterns signals favor — and fuels rivalry, manipulation, and tragedy among the women. An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, “Raise the Red Lantern” won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival and is frequently cited among the greatest films of the 1990s.
Reuniting Yimou and Li, “To Live” (1994) is an epic yet intimate family chronicle set across decades of political upheaval in 20th-century China. Spanning the Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution, the film follows Xu Fugui (Ge You), a once-wealthy gambler reduced to poverty, and his steadfast wife Jiazhen (Gong Li), whose resilience anchors the family through cycles of loss and survival. Balancing a sweeping historical canvas with detailed personal storytelling, “To Live” won two prizes at Cannes (a Grand Jury Prize and a Best Actor award for Ge You).
“These are not simply important films — they are towering achievements that changed the course of world cinema,” said Film Movement president Rosenberg. The filmmakers “expanded the visual and emotional language of film in ways that continue to inspire generations of filmmakers. We are honored to bring these 4K restorations into theaters for the first time, where their scale, beauty, and historical resonance can be fully experienced by new audiences and longtime admirers alike. Preserving and re-presenting landmark works like ‘Raise the Red Lantern,’ ‘To Live,’ and ‘A City of Sadness’ is central to our mission of championing the very best of international cinema.”
In addition to these acquisitions, Film Movement Classics has also recently acquired the new 4K restoration of Idrissa Ouedraogo’s “Samba Traore,” slated for re-release later this year; Katsuhito Ishii’s cult favorite “The Taste of Tea,” opening May 8th at New York’s Metrograph; “My Sassy Girl,” the landmark Korean rom-com, in a 25th anniversary 4K restoration director’s cut coming to theaters later this year; a new 4K restoration of Gabriele Salvatores’ “Nirvana”; as well as Claude Chabrol’s “Violette Noziere”; Andrzej Zulawski’s “La Femme Publique”; Tsai Ming-Liang’s “The River”; and a 4K restoration of Cate Shortland’s “Somersault,” starring Sam Worthington and Abbie Cornish, in theaters now.
Also coming to the big screen later this year for its 50th anniversary is Luchino Visconti’s final film, “L’Innocente,” in a new 4K restoration.
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