An erotic tale of forbidden love as an embittered and impotent factory owner's battered bride and his overworked nephew secretly maintain a relationship until it seems murder is the only only way to be together freely. Ultimately, JU-DOU addresses the problems of China's feudal society in the 1920s. Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and other major filmmakers spoke out against Chinese officials who attempted to censor the film and keep it out of theaters.

During the 1920s, Yang Tian-qing goes to work at his uncle Yang Jin-Shan's dye factory in a mountainous village in China. He soon realizes that Jin-Shan, an impotent older man, is physically abusing Ju Dou, a young woman he purchased as a bride. As time goes on, the wife and nephew develop lustful feelings toward each other, and have an affair that results in a son. Later, Jin-Shan gets injured in an accident that leaves him confined to a wheelchair, and he must look on powerlessly as the couple carry on a sexual relationship in his presence.

This film was screened (in competition) at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990.

Additional cast: Zhang Yi (Yang Tian-bai as child), Zhen Ji-an (Yang Tian-bai as youth).

A China Film, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, Tokuma Communications, China Film Export and Import Corp. coproduction in association with Xi-An Film Studio.

DVD Features:

Full Frame - 1.33

Gong Li: Chinese Actress/"Ju-Dou"
Li Baotian: 
Li Wei: Chinese Actor/"Ju-Dou"
Zhang Yi: 
Zheng Jian: Actor

Yang Fengliang: Chinese Director; "Ju-Dou," "A Woman From North Shaanxi"
Yimou Zhang: Chinese Director/Director Of Photography

"...Memorably lurid....[Gong Li] shines..."
"...JU DOU has a vibrant look....The reds and yellow in this film have a fairy-tale aliveness..."
"...Zhang's film has a blazing ferocity; it's a prodigious achievement..."
"...Visually ravishing....This essay in color composition throws into contrast the sumptuous cloths of the dye factory and the drab lives of the lovers..."