As the first Chinese film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Ju Dou mainly depicts a woman named Ju Dou who is in the feudal ethical code and in the quagmire of feudal superstition while struggling to lead resistance in early 20th century rural China. Ju Dou is adapted from the well-known Chinese novel "The Obsessed", written by Liu Heng. Famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou directed this film starring Yang Fengliang. Zhang has his own unique take on artistic expression and color combinations. His characteristic of directorial art is ingrained in this film. Ju Dou is a typical oriental cinema that combines oriental beauty and traditional oriental social conflicts. The film successfully tells a Chinese-style tragedy in a feudal environment using a large number of contrast techniques. The film applies contrast techniques primarily in its characterizations, application of colors, and metaphorical expressions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “Ju Dou” is not only the title of the film, but also the name of the main character. The story begins as Yang Tianqing returns to his uncle's house. The uncle called Yang Jinshan runs a business in his house that involves dyeing fabrics for the villagers. Someone tells Tianqing that Jinshan just bought a new wife. The new wife's name is Ju Dou. Jinshan tortured two of his former wives to death. For Ju Dou, Jinshan lets her work in the dye factory during the day and tortures her at night. He really wants Ju Dou to have a son to also succeed his big family and the dye factory. Because Ju Dou is a young and beautiful woman, Tianqing can't help but start paying special attention to the young aunt. He discovers her swimming area and spies on her in the morning. Furthermore, because Jinshan is incapable of being a real man, Ju Dou feels the same way about Tianqing as Tianqing feels about him. Very quickly, they have sex. Until Ju Dou gives birth to a boy named Tianbai, Jinshan does not notice what happened between his wife and nephew and thinks the boy is his own son. When Jinshan discovers Ju Dou and Tianqing's affair, he wants to kill Tianbai and fails. Ironically, one day, as Jinshan carelessly falls into the dye vat, Tianbai just smiles and watches him struggle, even though Tianbai has called Jinshan "father" for years. After Jinshan's death, Tianqing must leave home to avoid arousing suspicion. They always meet at different places and have sex. However, Tianbai hears some whispers that his mother and his "brother" are having secret meetings in the field. As a rage-filled teenager, he vigorously rejects Tianqing. In the end, Tianbai drowns Tianqing in the dye vat and Ju Dou then burns the mill. The technical characterizations shape two types of typical opposite traits with penetration into Chinese feudal society and make the tragedy more realistic. For the heroine, when Ju Dou's face first appears on screen, we see a woman wearing yellow clothes and twisting her hair into a loose bun like a normal woman in labor. She is beautiful. Her eyes look innocent with watery tenderness. Such a traditional characteristic of a rural woman gives the audience the feeling that she can be very gentle and obedient, like many other women of that era. When she tells Tianqing that she's keeping the virgin for himself and calls Jinshan "the old thing", we just see her rebellion and ambition.potential. In Chinese feudal society, even though Jinshan and Tianqing are not related by blood, the illicit sexual relationship between Ju Dou and Tianqing is considered incest. Such behavior is strictly prohibited and commits huge sins, especially for Ju Dou. The reason is that women were in a low position at that time and had to be submissive to men. There is no doubt that Ju Dou is different because she desires to rebel against a woman's destiny arranged by men and break through traditional social constraints to get what she really wants. He's a character that you could almost say is a little sharp. When she thinks that Jinshan's existence may threaten their peaceful life, she thought of killing Jinshan, and she never showed sympathy for Jinshan's disability. She thinks that the fact that Tianqing is Tianbai's father is real, so it is undeniable to tell Tianbai no matter what happens. This is an extreme characteristic that goes against traditional women. She throws off the shackles of the old system to fall in love with her husband's nephew and never feels guilty in this kind of environment. For Tianqing, he is an opposite figure to Ju Dou. In a male-dominated society, Tianqing is cowardice. He obeys his uncle almost absolutely. However, it is not in his nature to be obedient. He has desires and his own thoughts, but he simply does not dare to react. When he has feelings for Ju Dou, he simply spies on her through the small hole and watches her closely with silent attention. At night, when Jinshan tortures Ju Dou, Tianqing feels angry but can do nothing. There is a scene where Tianqing cannot suppress his rage at hearing Ju Dou's cry to pick up an ax one night. When he gets too emotional to try to cut the wooden staircase, Jinshan suddenly stops and asks what happened outside. At this moment, Tianqing comes to his senses and realizes what he just did. His facial expression shows his fear and loss. It seems that even he himself is surprised by his previous behavior. The plot tells the audience that Tianqing has his own emotions and thoughts in his deep mind, but he simply does not dare to show them. This is because it is still held by the feudal code of ethics. The contrast between Ju Dou's valor and Tianqing's weakness is very interesting because in such a dark time in China, a woman wears more chains than a man. The film tends to use contrast to satirize feudalism. Ju Dou mentioned several times that she wanted to leave the village with Tianqing and Tianbai, and then they could have a new life. However, Tianqing doesn't have enough courage to do it again. He also believes that if they leave, the villagers and relatives will realize their incest. Tianqing is so afraid of being condemned by the public. Early on, there was a popular traditional saying that "a woman should be subordinate to her father in her youth, to her husband in her maturity, and to her son in her old age." As Ju Dou's real husband, Tianqing has never been as courageous as Ju Dou in opposing society. His weak personality is one of the reasons that led to Ju Dou's tragedy. It is a satire of patriarchal society that men get dominated power but they cannot be powerful when they should be. The ingenious film presents two contrasting main characters to make the Chinese-style tragedy rational, clearly structured and meaningful. The contrast of colors in the film helps to enhance the tragic flavor. Zhang is really good at color application. At the beginning of the film, when Tianqing brings back thehorse at home, the sky is a mixture of gray and white. This is also reflected in the first sentence of the novel, which is "The sky is hazy, just like an egg yolk dipped in pumpkin soup" (Liu Heng, 5). Thick layers of fog surround the people of those years of feudalism. Zhang uses colors to be in harmony with the development of the plots. In the first half of the film, the main tone is red. And then it gradually changes to blue-gray. When Ju Dou and Tianqing stay together, make love, and feel happy to imagine a better life in the future, the tone is red. When Tianbai calls Jinshan “father,” the tone is somber. It seems that the director gives scenes where the main characters are hoping for bright color tones, and gives scenes where the characters are too helpless to break through dark color tones. Such a contrast of light tones and dark tones makes the audience excited to be suppressed by the change of colors. The color contrast is between the bright colors of the dyed fabrics and the white wall and black tiles. Variety takes a deeper look at the choice of location, which is a dye factory, the director wants to express different meanings to the audience using different colors. The fabrics hung in the dyeing factory are always in bright colors, which brings a striking contrast to the audience while bright colors are very prevalent in the black and white courtyard. The white wall and black tiles represent the depressing feudal environment. The brightly colored fabrics represent the rebellious spirit of the main characters. Otherwise, at the very beginning, Ju Dou often hangs yellow and white colors. These colors are not garish colors but warm to make the scenes appear peaceful. When Ju Dou finds Tianqing looking at her, there is a blue cloth behind her. Blue is also bright, but it belongs to cold tones. The cold tone conveys to the audience the information that Ju Dou always remains rational and calm when she sees Tianqing, which means that Ju Dou does not have feelings for Tianqing yet. When Ju Dou sobs to Tianqing that she doesn't want to live like this with Jinshan anymore, she grabs a red cloth. The color red is warm, bright and fierce, and represents the passion and hope of the main characters. Against a black and white backdrop, light fabrics coordinate to tell a story that shouldn't happen in a large house. Additionally, the bright colors make the entire yard feel like it is covered in a mist of warm color and softness. The color red is actually the most prominent color used in the film. It also contains a contrastive method of rendering art tragic. When Ju Dou and Tianqing finally have sex, Ju Dou accidentally knocks down the stick that supports the wooden wheel, the red cloth falls into the dye vat filled with red dye. The scene which is accompanied by breathtaking artistic beauty shows that the two characters are free from the restrictive powers of society. When Tianbai is born, he is wrapped in red swaddling clothes, which symbolize the pleasure of the newborn. In these pieces that use red, red conveys positive emotions to our audience. In China, red has an implicit meaning of good luck. The Chinese use the color red in several ways on joyful occasions. However, the director nevertheless gives the red dye opposite meanings like blood, death, and despair in some later scenes. Two most impressive scenes are when Jinshan and Tianqing are drowning in the dye vat. Both struggle with red dye. The red liquid is like blood surrounding them. Moreover, in the scene..