Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou Hitting R1 DVD February 14th.

Good news for serious art house lovers: Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou are both slated to hit North American DVD February 14th. Many people point to Lantern, in particular, as the high point of both director Zhang and star Gong Li's career's and it's continued absence on DVD - or, at least, legal DVD - has led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth for people who care about such things.

Geert Jan, our DVD Calendar maven, actually spotted this a while back when the film came up in our forums but there were questions about the legitimacy of the release that kept us from posting about it, but it all seems to be on the up and up. Here's the official press release from Razor Digital Entertainment:

"STUDIO CITY, CA—January 23, 2006 – Zhang Yimou is one of the best-known directors of the Chinese Fifth Generation and one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers working today. Virtually unknown to most Americans prior to the recent release of HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, the release of RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DOU represent two of Zhang’s earliest and most acclaimed films; both winners of numerous international awards as well as Academy Award â nominations for Best Foreign Film.

RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DOU are the two latest releases in the partnership between Razor Digital Entertainment and Magic Play, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., Ltd. “The upcoming release of RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DOU have raised the profile of our entire library of Chinese language films to a new level,” stated Mitch Perliss, Executive Vice President, Razor Digital Entertainment. “Retailers and catalogers alike have discovered that we are a one-stop shop for some great, award-winning films from China. The demand for these two titles has already given all these deserving films the exposure they deserve. At a time where we need to understand Chinese culture better than ever, these movies give us a great insight into the history of Chinese life via film.” "

I'm not at all familiar with RDE and the quality of their releases so I have no idea what to expect from this, though I am trying to secure an advance copy to let you all know ...

Thanks to Ryan for the pointer.