영화 『홍등(大紅燈籠高高掛)』의 현대성 고찰 ― 루쉰의 작품과 비교를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper examined the similarity between the appearance of a woman trapped in the Iron House in the movie Raise the Red Lantern and in Lu Xun"s work and analyzed the work’s modern significance. Unlike Su Tong"s original work, the film reproduced Lu Xun"s Iron House by firmly depicting a mansion that represents feudalism. In addition, through images of people who follow the old rules and women who desire red lanterns, a contrast was established between the people who fell asleep in the Iron House and the music that wakes them up in the movie. The deaths of the Songlian"s servant Yan"er and the third mistress Meishan contrast in the film. They desired internal and external systems that represent China"s desire for political and economic modernization in the early 1990s. Songlian became a madman as a witness and bore responsibility for those two deaths. However, by acting actively rather than remaining mad, she transformed herself into a spiritual warrior fighting on the lines of nothingness (無物之陳) to which Lu Xun aspired. She turned on her own red lantern and turned-on music, causing people to panic and fear. Songlian"s image that honors Meishan"s death represents director Zhang Yi-Mou speaking against Chinese society in the 1990s.