Themes: Life in the Arts, Totalitarian States, Political Unrest
Main Cast: Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li, Lu Qi, Ying Da, Ge You
Release Year: 1993
Country: CN/HK
Run Time: 154 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Until Farewell, My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji), not many people were aware that most members of the Peking Opera were originally orphans or illegitimate castaways with nowhere else to turn. Such is the case of the film's protagonists, Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) and Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung), two homeless outcasts, trained from childhood in the grueling rigors of the Opera by master Lu Qui. The film traces the 52-year friendship between Xiaolou and Dieyi, a friendship pockmarked with fiery conflicts and tender reconciliations. Though the delicate Dieyi specializes in female roles and the gutsy Xiaolou plays noble warriors, theirs is an essentially heterosexual relationship; still, when Xiaolou takes upon himself a prostitute bride (the magnificent Gong Li), Dieyi is as petty and jealous as an outcast mistress. Farewell, My Concubine holds the viewer in thrall from start to finish; as such, it is thoroughly deserving of its many international film awards and nominations. Surprisingly, this worldwide success was something of a flop in its home country of China; perhaps it hit too close to home for those viewers who'd lived through the same years so painstakingly recreated in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Banned in China, Chen Kaige's Farewell, My Concubine (1993) was internationally celebrated for its rich detail in depicting the lifelong friendship of two Peking Opera singers, from the 1930s Japanese invasion to the 1970s aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. While the film ran into trouble for, among other things, its unstinting portrayal of the personal destruction wrought by Communism, the grandly scaled epic also meant to celebrate the tradition of Peking Opera, with its Dickensian training rituals. The loss of the opera becomes a loss of beautiful artistry, as the opera's passionate hues are perverted into political Red and the spectacle of operatic performance turns into vituperative social chaos after the Revolution. Co-winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival (with The Piano), Farewell, My Concubine was also nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar as the entry from Hong Kong, as well as Best Cinematography. After its international success, Farewell, My Concubine was briefly released in China in edited form before being banned a second time. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
