Raise the Red Lantern Reviews the role of the male characters in the chinese film raise the red lanter

The film Raise the Red Lantern was an interesting look at Chinese culture in the 1920s. I thought particularly interesting the fact that the master and the other men in this film did not seem to play an active role in the events of the house. The men controlled most things, but sort of took second fiddle to the interactions between the women. The men "controlled" the house, but all the important events took place …

…seems to find a budding romance with the eldest sister's son. This relationship does not really get to grow because Songlian becomes mentally ill, but one can sense its presence. None of the sisters really seem to care about the master and try to interact with him as little as possible. The filmmaker could just have easily not shown the master at all and I think the work would still have the same powerful effect.