Farewell My Concubine Movie Review 1993

Exotic film covers 50 years of sexual, social, and political Chinese history wrapped around the story of two male Peking Opera stars. Deposited as boys at the Opera's training school Douzi and Shitou become fast friends in their hermetically sealed world, but their friendship is tested during the chaos of Communism and the cultural revolution. Sumptuous and well-acted, but the sheer length and emotional detachment prove to be drawbacks. Adapted from a novel by Lee, who based the work on a 2000-year-old Chinese opera about an imperial concubine. Filmed on location in Beijing. In Mandarin Chinese with subtitles.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 157 minutes.
Originally from Hong Kong.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adapted from an Opera, China

Screenplay

Lilian Lee, Lu Wei

Cast

Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li, Lu Qi, Ying Da, Ge You, Fei Yang, Ma Mingwei

Cinematography

Gu Changwei

Director

Chen Kaige

Music

Zhao Jiping

Producer

Hsu Feng, Hsu Bin, Jade Hsu, Tomson Films Co., China Film Coproduction Corp., Beijing Film Studio, Miramax

Awards

British Acad. 1993: Foreign Film; Cannes 1993: Film; Golden Globes 1994: Foreign Film; L.A. Film Critics 1993: Foreign Film; Natl. Bd. of Review 1993: Foreign Film; N.Y. Film Critics 1993: Foreign Film, Support. Actress (Li).