"Who is that?" asks the sweet and innocent "Fifth Mistress" at the end of the movie. The Housekeeper replies, "That's our Fourth Mistress. She has gone mad." She must have been watching this movie! I can't say it was a terrible movie, since my wife was quite smitten with it, but from the start it just failed totally to connect with me in any way. It came across as bizarre, soap opera type of interplay between the various mistresses and servants of "The Master." All of them are jealous of each other and plotting against each other, and there's nary a seed of friendship or loyalty to be found anywhere. I suppose in some ways, if you have a bit of a hidden sadistic streak in you (and probably most people do, since stories about deception and betrayal always sell well, obviously appealing to unacknowledged desires within us all) then there will be something compelling about this movie, and, yes, it is kind of fun watching the women do battle with each other. Having said that, I still found my attention wandering throughout, and I nodded off several times. I'm clearly in the minority on this, but it's not a movie I would recommend. 2/10
Review of Raise the Red Lantern
