"Presenting The Greatest Actress of the Day, NAZIMOVA, The Star of a Thousand Moods." (Auckland Star, 24 August 1920)
"Presenting The Greatest Actress of the Day, NAZIMOVA, The Star of a Thousand Moods." (Auckland Star, 24 August 1920)
The Red Lantern tells the story of a Eurasian, Joan of Arc-like heroine, set against the background of China’s 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The film was an instant success, thanks to an unprecedented advertising campaign and the star qualities of diva Alla Nazimova. Both aspects are extensively discussed in this publication.
In the book, essays sketch the historical outline of the Boxer Rebellion, while special features on the DVD include early cinematic actualities that evoke the way in which the Boxer Rebellion was portrayed in the Western media around the turn of the century, true to the myth of the ‘Yellow Peril’. Popular photo and theatre plays of the day thrived on Oriental stereotypes and relied heavily upon exotic set designs and costumes. Famous actors of European descent, wearing ‘yellow face’ makeup explored the exciting dangers of interracial love.
Extras on the DVD tentatively reconstruct a Chinese programme from the time of the film’s premiere and show how ‘authentic’ portrayals of Chinese life were combined with cartoons and Oriental musical fantasies. Many contemporary film reviewers saw The Red Lantern as a film marked with the “stamp of historical and ethnological authenticity”, thanks to Nazimova’s mastery of the art of metamorphosis. The different emotions that Nazimova’s face and eyes could express became legendary in trade magazines and were documented in newsreels, included in the extras, which were shown in cinemas all over the world.
CONTENT
The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919 - 79 min)
Special Features (86 min)
Soundtrack
- A new soundscape, created by Yves De Mey
- a recreated cue sheet soundtrack for piano, based on a music cue sheet by S.M. Berg (1919)
- theme for Mahlee 'A Japanese Sunset'
Chinese Programme
- Overture 'The Red Lantern - (Shine on Red Lantern)'
- stage presentation The Flower of the Palace of Han
- travel film A Trip Through China
- prologue 'Poor Butterfly'
- feature film The Red Lantern
- orchestral performance 'A Chinese Honeymoon (selection)'
- comedy The Chinaman
- organalogue 'Torchlight March' and 'Chinoiserie'
Boxer War Novelties
- Bombardment of a Port
- Bombardment of Taku Forts, by the Allied fleets
- Attack on a Mission Station
- Beheading a Chinese Boxer
- Beheading the Chinese Prisoner
- Chinese Massacring Christians
- 15th Infantry Leaving Governors Island for China (Boxer Uprising) 1900
- 6th Cavalry Assaulting South Gate of Pekin
- The Forbidden City
- Charge by 1st Bengal Lancers
- The Bengal Lancers
- 4th Ghorkas
Nazimova Extras
- Nazimova Screen Test: Madame Peacock
- Nazimova Newsreel Clippings: Nazimova, the famous actress, in a dance of her own creation
- the original expression on her mobile face
- Nazimova Odes: 'Beauté Suprême' - 'Alla' - 'Pahjamah'
DVD
The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919 - 79 min)
Silent with English intertitles
Special features 86 min
Silent with English intertitles
PAL / region free
BOOK
Soft cover, English, 208 pages