I'm not really sure what to make of the "fandom" surrounding it, though. Some of it seems rather unpleasant and cruel. 

As for Raise the Red Lantern, it's a stunning, I think, film.  It's one I already had seen multiple times but then covered in a film studies course.  I wrote an essay on it, but that's on an old floppy somewhere and I don't have the drive so that I can open the file. Zhang Yimou is widely recognised as one of the great Chinese filmmakers and he and Kieslowski most made me want to go into film studies in the 90s.  Ju Dou and Red Sorghum are others I love from around the same time as Raise the Red Lantern (also with the actress Gong Li and same director, whom my wife was rather jealous of at one time due to my infatuation).  Wonderful cinematography, and formalist.  It's in very stark contrast to The Room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BVKEaXhWak" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BVKEaXhWak

By the way, I've read the Citizen Kane was an influence on Tommy Wiseau, as well as James Dean.  I'm confident that he was trying to channel Marlon Brando in his performance in part. "Stellaaaa!", which reminds me of "Khannn!"   Shatner might have done an interesting impression of Wiseau, or Arnold Schwarzenegger (who he rather remind me of in his delivery).

"You are tearing me apart, Lisa!"

Haven't seen THE ROOM and am not commenting, other than that RTRL is fantastic and a seminal film for the Chinese Film Industry ... and in that sense, it would be more important or valuable than a lot of things, but I am not sure about this other film. Still trying to find it as the index thing at Amazon and other places is just the worst crap you can imagine!

NOTE: 

On Brando/Kazan and Stella.

IF you ever see a film like "Touch of Evil" you will understand the evolution of acting in America a lot better that culminated with the incredible actors that brought us Tennesee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee and many others ... 

Acting, up until the late 30's was something like this ... word/phrase 1000/10001/1002, word/phrase 1000/1001/1002, word phrase and so on ... in other words most theater and film MADE SURE that you "heard" what was said, and above all ... knew what it meant!

After the war, and the "start" of the Actor's Studio and even European Acting Schools (listen to Olivier ... it's about the "word/word'ing") ... things changed some ... The Orson Wells film shows something that makes it obvious as to why the film studio was upset and cut up and changed the film senseless ... it has dialogue on top of dialogue and too many things going on "at the same time", which sometimes made for a bit of a strange story, but it obviously made sense in Orson Welles' mind ... and we could not say that later things he did did not make sense, when at least one film is considered one of the best ever made in America.

The acting school that brought us Brando, Robarts and hundreds of others was about letting out the emotions, kinda culminating in the explosion of Taylor/Burton in Edward Albee's play ... by which time we couldn't take it anymore ... but the effect was stunning to say the least! "Stella" is ... for all intents and purposes a "cry for freedom" ... something that was tied up in knots before in theater ... and the sensuality/sexuality around it, which was always hidden before, and Elia Kazan knew it had to come out in some way!

The changes in how the words, dialogue underwent a further change, when folks like Peter Brook and Peter Hall came around in London ... it was now about how the words worked within its setting, since it would be different under a completely different set of circumstances, but by the time of Marat/Sade, the "importance" of the wording was incredible ... if you have never heard Ian Richardson and Patrick Magee in their discussions (DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE ... just listen to the dialogue!!!!), the whole thing becomes something else ... an incredible novel of logic and reason, fighting an impetuous mind! Sadly, from that time on, it became about the "symbols" used and the color and the "wildness" in the play which kinda illustrated what became known as "psychedelia", which was never better illustrated than the great canvas that Marat/Sade presented ... and this was the time that Beatles and Rolling Stones were just coming out and making it big! Another pair of groups that changed how people paid attention to the words ... top of the pops did not have "meaningful songs" per se ... mostly crappy doodads!

Now, when you take a sort of historic content, into the equation, you can see how valuable RTRL is to the Chinese industry ... something that I am not ruse "The Room" would present much of a challenge, but I have not seen it and can not evaluate it.