Award-winning rural Chinese drama directed by Zhang Yimou. In the China of the 1920s, a young woman Jiu'er (Li Gong) is entered into an arranged marriage with the leprous owner of a local winery. Although the relationship between the two is tenuous at first, it gradually develops over time into one of mutual respect. As time passes, Jiu'er falls for one the workers at the winery, shortly before her now ill husband dies. Inheriting the winery, Jiu'er, with her lover, take control, establishing a thriving business, even more successful than before. But when the Japanese military arrive during WWII, they rip up the wine fields in order to make a road. Now, as the local villagers rise up against the invaders, Jiu'er leads the patriotic surge to return the red sorghum crop to the fields.