This is a movie with a simple plot, if you can call it a “plot”. It’s more of an examination, a look-in on the life of an interesting and sad character. This is a movie about a woman named Songlian, who is sent to an early twentieth-century harem to be a concubine to the rich landlord. It’s simple enough. There’s no real plot in terms of beginning, middle, and end. It is mostly a documentary of her life—and her decline—as she struggles with the hostility of such an objectified existence. Continue reading