Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 14 · column 4 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
no bad words in a subtitled movie, and it’s a good way to teach reading, geography and foreign culture at the same time!)
• Raise the Red Lantern: 1991, PG, 125 minutes, Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. This visually stunning film stars the beautiful Gong Li as a 19year old girl sold by her parents to be the fourth wife of a wealthy man. This movie unfolds like a finely-crafted painting. The glow of the lit, paper red lanterns of the title against the shadowy background evokes the luminosity of John Singer Sargent’s twilight painting “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.” The ornate Chinese architecture is filmed with poetic symmetry.
After the ceremonial wedding, the young Songlian, as “fourth mistress,” moves to her new husband’s household. She is quickly introduced to the cruel society of four wives all striving for the attention of the “master.” The household is a small village unto itself. Interestingly, we are never allowed to see the master. He is shown only in shadow, behind a curtain, or at a distance. But we know he has little patience for his wives’ petty affairs.
Songlian’s first lesson is how difficult it is to maintain the master’s interest. In an attempt to do so, fourth mistress undertakes a bold scheme which ends in failure. In her great unhappiness, she divulges a secret, bringing disaster to the household. Bitter penance for her carelessness quickly follows. Her shocking condition upon the master’s taking of yet a fifth wife tells it all. However lovely, this look into the misogynistic practices of 1920’s China should make every woman in America grateful she is living here in this century.
• The King of Masks: 1996, not rated, 101 minutes, Mandarin Chinese with English Subtitles. This lyrical little film tells the story of the aging master of the ancient art of masks, with no heir, who searches for a male apprentice to whom to teach his trade. In impoverished Sichuan in 1930, he purchases a black market street urchin who turns out to have a great secret. Apparently, it is inappropriate to teach a girl this artistic trade, performed in street theater for pennies. The child is instruct
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