Farewell My Concubine (1993)

Intense, Deep Historical Epic and Personal Story

I expected a love triangle - as stated on the DVD cover but this film is about so much more. It is an historical epic of gigantic proportions covering about fifty years of Chinese history. The film also serves as a metaphor for the lives of the actors. Viewed without proper insight, the viewer could miss many of the fine qualities associated with this film. The DVD cover attests 1)over 60 Critics had agreed it was one of the year's 10 best films in 1993, 2) it won the prestigious "Best Picture Honors" at the Cannes Film Festival, and 3) it won a Golden Globe as best foreign film. The film is highly artistic when viewed from multiple perspectives: the obvious surface view, the delicate and sensitive themes of male friendship/bonding, romantic love, political/historical changes, and the depth of human relationships which are thoroughly explored.

It is about the training of young boys to be actors in the Peking Opera Academy which performs classical Chinese opera in large cities during tumultous times in China's history. They perform a classic piece about an Emperor who is deposed and his concubine, who makes the ultimate sacrifice for him: she commits suicide out of love and loyalty. Primarily, the film focuses on the lives of two specific actors, who become best friends from childhood well into adulthood. They suffer severe punishment in their early training for their stage roles and eventually become famous. Each plays one of the starring roles in this classic called "Farewell My Concubine" which is a famous and favorite Chinese opera. One plays the Emperor and the other his Concubine. The two actors are inextricably bound as friends and actors due to this Opera. Tensions develop in their adult friendship and relationship because one of them falls in love with a prostitute and marries her. Their relationship is obviously strained due to this marriage but the problems go much deeper. There are political upheavals which cause a great deal of stress and strife in the lives of the Chinese people and the opera performers are forced to perform under circumstances against their wills but they do so - to save their lives. Later, during Mao Tse Tung's "Cultural Revolution" - the actors are put on trial for their perceived political stance in the previous regime.

The roots of this film run very deep. The film explores risky areas of human relationships, one of which includes a hint about male bonding and beyond. It lasts 172 minutes which is nearly 3 hours, so one must really desire to see it and commit the necessary time for full appreciation. While I liked the film, I will give it only four stars despite the rave reviews by professional critics because some areas could have been cut shorter, without any loss of its artistry or depth. Erika Borsos [pepper flower] June 17, 2008

FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE

very creative in all fields, acting is excellent, color and sound very good historically educationally correct I hope this is what you want. Joe May 27, 2008

Haunting and eerie

I always remember this film with a sense of haunting. I recently viewed it again and cannot get over that haunting presence of Leslie Cheung (who unfortunately committed suicide himself, just like the characters in several of his films). The way the film ties in with Cheung's character in this film and real-life, even out of character, is strangely eerie and reminiscent of the quote "art imitates reality." Sometimes, reality allow follows suit.

Anyhow, Cheung is definitely the most beautiful and pulling character in the story. (The only thing I did not like about this movie was the killing of a turtle, as I am just very sensitive about things like that.) Otherwise, beautiful and haunting film. I love the Chinese opera the most. It's clever how the themes from the opera also seemed to tie in with the treatment of the Chinese, especially the lines from the opera about the concubine's people being oppressed. At one point, this poignant theme is made very clear while the opera is playing in the midst of Japanese occupation.

March 25, 2008

Waste of time.

The movie was way too long and I don't understand how this could have won an academy award. Very overated! February 26, 2008

Farewell Concubine

Interesting but oh so long! It reached a point where I just wanted it to end. January 7, 2008

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