Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 12/14/1999
SubTitles: English
Sound: 2
Run Time: 172 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Miramax
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
;)
