Cao Cuifen

Cao Cuifen’s Zhuoyun, the Second Mistress in Raise the Red Lantern (1991), has a gentle manner that invites trust. Cao makes us hesitate before granting it. She suggests calculation without advertising every thought, giving us something to watch for without needing to become the centre of the drama. We value that patience: she lets us consider what this woman wants and how she might obtain it, instead of treating a supporting character as someone whose purpose should be obvious at once.

Zhang Yimou surrounds her with household rituals and rivalries that make women’s subjugation frighteningly clear. We were unnerved by those rituals, because the smallest domestic observances carry such weight in the women’s lives. Gong Li gives the drama its painful immediacy, while Cao’s quiet suggestion of calculation adds to the difficulty of trusting anyone within it. The rigid compositions occasionally insist too hard on how trapped these women are, but Cao’s performance rewards attention without needing the point pressed quite so firmly.

Her film career began in the mid-1970s, often in supporting roles, and Raise the Red Lantern brought her wider attention. She also took the lead as Geng Ernü in Orphan Tears (1995), so supporting work does not tell the whole story. Television later gave her Old Madame Sheng, a principled matriarch, in The Story of Ming Lan (2018). Madam Fan in Joy of Life (2019) continued her work in period drama.

Old Madame Sheng also offers a useful contrast with Zhuoyun. In The Story of Ming Lan, restraint serves a principled woman, and Cao’s ability to convey maternal feeling without overt display is central to the role’s appeal. We do not need every character’s thoughts explained to us, provided the actor gives us reason to keep looking. Start with Raise the Red Lantern, but give Cao’s quiet performance as much attention as Zhang’s formal compositions.