MOVIES - June 29, 1992

‘Lantern’ Lights in China: “Raise the Red Lantern,” the Chinese film that was nominated for a best foreign-language film Academy Award this year, will finally be released in China. In a move that indicates Chinese Communist Party censors may be relaxing their standards, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television announced Saturday that the film, a parable of China by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, has been approved for domestic distribution. A spokeswoman from the film’s production company said it could be in theaters in early August. The movie was submitted to the ministry about a year ago, but a spokesman would not comment on why the approval process took so long. The film is about a young woman’s struggles after she becomes the fourth wife of a rich landowner in pre-Communist China.