| Director | Yang Fengliang, Zhang Yimou |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, romance film |
| Runtime | 95 min |
| Country | Japan, People's Republic of China |
| Box office | $2 million |
Ju Dou is set in the early 20th century in rural China. Yang Tianqing (Li Baotian) returns from a journey to sell silk for his adoptive uncle, Yang Jinshan (Li Wei). Jinshan, a fabric dyer, is notorious for his cruelty. Upon Tianqing's return, another worker is fired by Jinshan. This worker informs Tianqing that Jinshan has recently acquired a new wife, having previously beaten his two wives to death when they failed to bear him a son. Ironically, Jinshan is impotent.
When Tianqing meets the new wife, Ju Dou (Gong Li), he becomes infatuated with her. At night, Jinshan subjects Ju Dou to torture. Tianqing discovers Ju Dou's bathing area and secretly observes her. Unbeknownst to him, Ju Dou is aware of his presence. Initially, Tianqing voyeuristically watches, but Ju Dou transforms his gaze by revealing her bruises and weeping, compelling him to see her as a human being rather than just a sexual object.
Eventually, their passion becomes uncontrollable, and Tianqing and Ju Dou engage in a sexual relationship. When Ju Dou discovers she is pregnant with Tianqing's child, she and Tianqing deceive Jinshan by pretending the child is his. Jinshan suffers a stroke that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. After Ju Dou confesses the truth to him, Jinshan attempts to kill the child and set the house on fire. Tianqing restrains Jinshan by suspending him in a barrel, rendering him a powerless witness to their usurpation. Aware that society would never accept her infidelity, Ju Dou seeks an abortion at a nunnery. Jinshan continues to exert influence over the child, Tianbai, whom he named, and when the child addresses Jinshan as "Father," Jinshan interprets it as psychological revenge against his wife and nephew. One day, despite his doting on Tianbai, Jinshan falls into a dye vat and drowns as Tianbei looks on and laughs.
Seven years later, Ju Dou and Tianqing still operate the dye mill, but Tianbai (Zheng Ji'an) has become an angry teenager. Rumors of his parents' infidelity drive him to nearly kill a local gossipmonger. In a fit of rage, Ju Dou reveals the truth about his parentage to Tianbai. Overwhelmed, she and Tianqing decide to have one final encounter but succumb to exhaustion and fall asleep in a cellar with limited air supply. Upon discovering his parents in a weakened state in the cellar, Tianbai drags them out and drowns Tianqing. Ju Dou, in turn, sets fire to the mill as the film concludes.