Farewell My Concubine (film)
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| Farewell My Concubine | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster Cannes Film Festival |
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| Directed by | Chen Kaige |
| Produced by | Hsu Feng |
| Written by | Lilian Lee (also novel) Lei Bik-Wa Lu Wei |
| Starring | Leslie Cheung Zhang Fengyi Gong Li |
| Music by | Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography | Gu Changwei |
| Editing by | Pei Xiaonan |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) |  15 October 1993 |
| Running time | 171 min. |
| Language | Mandarin |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Farewell My Concubine is a 1993 Chinese film directed by Chen Kaige which depicts the effects of various Chinese political turmoils during the 20th century on a Peking opera troupe. Its Chinese title is Bàwáng Bié Jī (Traditional Chinese: 霸王別姬, Simplified Chinese: 霸王别姬), which literally translates as The Overlord Leaves his Concubine.
The film is considered by critics to be one of the central works of the Fifth Generation movement that brought the Chinese film directors of that period to world attention.[citation needed] Like several other Fifth Generation films, Farewell My Concubine explores the effect of China's turbulent political landscape during the mid-20th century on human lives. In this case, the lives are those of two Peking opera performers and the woman who comes between them.
The film is an adaptation of the novel written by Lilian Lee.
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[edit] Synopsis
The story begins in 1924 with the introduction of Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung), the unwanted child of a Beijing prostitute. Dieyi, who possesses the noticeable birth defect of a superfluous finger, is seen as a burden by his mother, and so she pleads with a local opera troupe to take him under his wing. The troupe refuses because of the boy's unfortunate condition, so his mother in desperation amputates the boy's extra finger with a butcher knife. Now allowed to be a member of the troupe, Dieyi quickly attaches himself to Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi), a young actor with talent, bravado, and a short temper.
The children of the troupe endure brutal, austere, and traumatizing training. After Dieyi and the charismatic leader of the bunch escape and finally get a taste of the outside world and some crab apples, they watch Beijing opera performers. Dieyi, struck by their performance and the applause of the audience, cries and decides they should head back to the troupe. The punishment for escaping in the first place is so traumatic the other boy hangs himself. Dieyi is trained to play female roles, particularly the title role of the traditional Chinese opera play Farewell My Concubine. When he kept forgetting his line "By nature I'm a girl, not a boy," he faces severe punishment both from the master of the troupe and Xiaolou. Eventually, he is able to overcome his natural tendency and reveals a great talent for acting. However, his stage charisma brings new problems: after an impressive performance as the Concubine, he is raped by an old and influential patron. At the same time, Xiaolou learns to hone his skills as a jing, a painted-face male lead.
Both Dieyi and Xiaolou graduate from the troupe and become renowned stars of the Peking opera scene. The adult Dieyi takes on feminine behaviour offstage as well as on. It becomes apparent that Dieyi is in love with Xiaolou, but the sexual aspects of his affection are not returned. When they become a hit in Beijing, a patron slowly courts Dieyi also after falling in love with Dieyi's character. Xiaolou, in the meantime, takes a liking to Juxian (Gong Li), a headstrong female prostitute at the local brothel. Xiaolou intervenes when a mob of drunk men harass Juxian and conjures up a ruse to get the men to leave her alone, saying that they're announcing their engagement. Juxian later buys her freedom and, deceiving him into thinking she was thrown out, pressures Xiaolou to keep his word. When Xiaolou announces his engagement to Juxian, the two begin to fall out.
The complex relationship between these three characters is then tested under the stress of the drastic political upheaval that encompasses China from the onset of the Japanese occupation. From there, it examines both the characters' lives and the Chinese perception of Peking opera as they both endure the Kuomintang regime, the Chinese Revolution, and the Cultural Revolution. The portrayal of these events led the film to be initially banned in China upon its release.
[edit] Source text
Running parallel with the film is the Peking opera play that is also known as Farewell My Concubine. As Dieyi and Xiaoluo gain fame and notoriety within Peking opera's social circles, this play becomes Dieyi and Xiaolou's staple act and is performed numerous times throughout the film. The play is not nearly as long as the film may make it seem, and can actually be performed from start to finish within fifteen minutes.
The events in the film parallel the play. The Concubine's fatal devotion to her doomed emperor is echoed by Dieyi's devotion to Xiaoluo. At one point in the film, Xiaoluo snaps to Dieyi, "I'm just an actor playing an emperor. You really are Yu Ji." The parallels between the play's Concubine and the film's Dieyi culminate at the end of the film when Dieyi kills himself.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival - 1993. The Palme d'Or was shared with Jane Campion's The Piano from New Zealand (1993).
- Won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival - 1993
- Won the Best Film not in the English Language BAFTA (British Academy Award) - 1993
- Won the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Foreign Language Film at Mainichi Film Concours -1993
- Won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film - 1993
- Won the Best Foreign Film of National Board of Review (USA) - 1992
- Won the Best Foreign Film of L.A. Film Critics Association - 1993
- Won the Best Foreign Language Film of Boston Society of Film Critics Awards - 1993
- Won the Best Actor Award for Foreign Movie of Japanese Critic Society (Leslie Cheung) - 1994
- Won the Special Award of Chinese Performance Art Association, mainland China, (Leslie Cheung) - 1993
- Won the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Foreign Language Film - 1993
- Won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (Li Gong) - 1993
- Won the Special Award of Political Film Society, USA - 1993
- Won the Silver Frog Award (Changwei Gu)at International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography (Camerimage) -1993
- Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Oscar) - 1993
- Nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film - 1994
- Nominated for the Golden Frog Award (Changwei Gu) at International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography (Camerimage) -1993
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Farewell My Concubine (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- A film review with emphasis on the relationship between the play and the film
- An essay on Farewell, My Concubine and other similar Fifth Generation Films
| Films directed by Chen Kaige |
|---|
| Yellow Earth (1984) • The Big Parade (1986) • King of Children (1987) • Life on a String (1991) • Farewell My Concubine (1992) • Temptress Moon (1996) • The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) • Killing Me Softly (2002) • Together (2003) • The Promise (2005) |
| Preceded by The Best Intentions |
Palme d'Or 1993 tied with The Piano |
Succeeded by Pulp Fiction |
| Preceded by Indochine |
Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film 1994 |
Succeeded by Farinelli |
| Preceded by Raise the Red Lantern |
BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language 1993 |
Succeeded by To Live |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Palme d'Or winners | 1993 films | Hong Kong films | Chinese films | Drama films | LGBT-related films | Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe | Films based on fiction books | Mandarin-language films
