Red Sorghum
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.
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Cast
18 people
Gong Li
Jiu'er
Known for
Mulan
Memoirs of a Geisha
Jiang Wen
Yu
Known for
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Let the Bullets Fly
Teng Rujun
Uncle Luohan
Known for
Postmen in the Mountains
Liu Ji
Jiu'er's Son
Qian Ming
Jiu'er's Grandmother
No other roles listed
Ji Chunhua
Sanpao
Known for
Legend of the Red Dragon
The Legend II
Zhai Chunhua
Hu Er
Also in
One And Eight
Good Morning Beijing
Jia Zhaoji
Known for
Ju Dou
The King of Masks
Zhang Yuxiang
Also in
Ice and Fire
Zhou Guiyun
Also in
士兵的荣誉
爱情不是游戏
Yang Qianbin
Known for
Ju Dou
Xu Guoqing
Also in
King of the Children
Zhang Yimou Director · Chen Jianyu Writer Zhu Wei Writer
United States release October 10, 1988 · Produced in China · Languages Chinese, Japanese
Production
Xi'an Film Studio
Production
China
Produced in
Languages
Original title
红高粱
Original language
Chinese
Spoken on screen
Chinese · Japanese
Release dates
China · October 10, 1988
Theatrical
United States · October 10, 1988
Theatrical
China
October 12, 2018 · Theatrical · 重映
France
February 1, 1989 · Theatrical
Hong Kong SAR China
June 30, 1993 · Physical · Mei Ah LaserDisc release
April 4, 2026 · Premiere · Hong Kong International Film Festival
Italy
March 23, 1989 · Theatrical
Netherlands
February 2, 1989 · Theatrical
October 9, 2005 · TV · Nederland 3
January 9, 2009 · Physical · DVD
South Korea
September 9, 1989 · Theatrical
Sweden
December 25, 1988 · Theatrical
XC
September 1, 1990 · Theatrical
March 10, 1992 · TV
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Some details come from TheTVDB.