Red Sorghum

1988 · 1h31 · Film

Directed by Zhang Yimou

Starring Gong Li, Jiang Wen, Ji Liu, Ming Qian, Ji Chunhua, Zhai Chunhua, Jia Zhaoji, Yuxiang Zhang, Guiyun Zhou

Ideal when you feel… Romantic Nostalgic

An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu'er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as "my Grandpa" by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu'er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew.

Original title

红高粱

Original language

Chinese

Screenplay

Jianyu Chen, Wei Zhu

Music

Jiping Zhao

Cast

Ming Qian, Ji Chunhua, Zhai Chunhua, Jia Zhaoji, Yuxiang Zhang, Guiyun Zhou, Yang Qianbin, Guoqing Xu

Updated July 22, 2026

Trailer

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