Farewell My Concubine is a 1993 Chinese-Hong Kong epichistorical drama film directed by Chen Kaige, starring Leslie Cheung, Gong Li and Zhang Fengyi. Adapted for the screen by Lu Wei, based on the novel by Lilian Lee, the film is set in politically tumultuous 20th-century China, from the early days of the Republic of China to the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. It chronicles the troubled relationships between two lifelong friends, the Peking opera actors Cheng Dieyi (Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang), and Xiaolou's wife Juxian (Gong).
The film's themes include identity confusion and blurred lines between real life and the stage, portrayed by the revered opera actor Dieyi, whose unrequited love for Xiaolou persists throughout. The film also addressed themes of political and societal disturbances in 20th-century China, which is typical of Chinese Fifth Generation cinema.
A few weeks after its release in China, the politburo demanded changes to be made to the film due to unconventional depictions of traditional values and political decisions. While allowing a premiere in Beijing, the government objected to the representation of homosexuality, the suicide of a leading character, and a depiction of the turmoil of the 1960s.[3]
The film was approved for further exhibition in September 1993, less than a year after its original release. Upon its re-release it became clear the Chinese censors had made numerous cuts, removing 14 minutes. Chinese officials felt that a re-release, as opposed to maintaining a full ban, would silence an ever-growing international backlash and also help their bid to host the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2000.[4][5]
Farewell My Concubine is considered one of the landmark films of the Fifth Generation movement that brought Chinese film directors to world attention.[6][7] In 2005, the film was selected as one of the "100 Best Films in Global History" by Time magazine.
Plot
In Peking 1924, a young boy by the name of Douzi is abandoned by his prostitute mother to a Peking opera troupe supervised by Master Guan, who like many other opera troupe leaders, would take in orphaned children as apprentices. There, Douzi is mocked by the other children for his mother's origin, but nonetheless is befriended by another boy about his age, Shitou, a boy with a talent for breaking stones with his head.
As teenagers, Douzi trains to play dan (female heroine roles), while Shitou learns jing (male hero roles). When practicing the play Dreaming of the World Outside the Nunnery, Douzi mistakes the line "I am by nature a girl, not a boy" with "I am by nature a boy, not a girl," for which he receives severe physical punishment. Douzi and another student, Laizi, attempt to run away; Laizi buys candied hawthorns using Douzi's few coins, but Douzi decides to pursue acting seriously after being moved by an opera performance. Upon returning, they find the whole troupe being punished for their desertion, and Douzi steps in and is beaten in Shitou's place. As a result, Laizi eats the hawthorns and later hangs himself.
Na Kun, an agent who provides funding for opera plays, comes to the troupe to seek potential actors. When Douzi repeats the same mistake in front of the agent, Shitou commands him to start over. Douzi finally delivers the entire monologue successfully and secures Na Kun's patronage. The troupe is invited to perform for eunuch Zhang. Shitou and Douzi are brought to Zhang's house where they find a finely crafted sword, which Shitou promises to one day gift to Douzi, as the hero would do for his concubine. Zhang asks to meet Douzi in his room and sexually assaults him. Shitou implicitly knows what happened, although Douzi does not speak of the assault. On their way home, Douzi rescues an abandoned baby, who later comes under Master Guan's training.
Memorabilia from the film exhibited at "The Art of Leslie Cheung's Movie Images", April 2013, Hong Kong Central Library.
Years later, Douzi and Shitou have become Peking opera stars, taking the names Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou, respectively. Their signature performance is the play Farewell My Concubine, where Cheng Dieyi plays Consort Yu and Duan Xiaolou plays Xiang Yu; before every play, Dieyi would finish the stage makeup for Xiaolou as a small act of love. Their fame attracts the attention of the high-ranking Yuan Shiqing when he attends their performances. Yuan has come to possess the sword from Zhang's house, which he gives to Dieyi as a gift. Though pursued by Yuan, Dieyi is secretly in love with Xiaolou, who frequents a brothel where he meets Juxian, a headstrong prostitute who buys her freedom using her silk shoes after meeting Xialou to be with him; when Xiaolou marries Juxian, Dieyi and Xiaolou's relationship begins to fall apart, Dieyi refusing to continue finishing Xiaolou's stage makeup. The love triangle between Dieyi, Xiaolou, and Juxian leads to jealousy and betrayal, further complicated by political upheaval following the Second Sino-Japanese War. When Master Guan dies, the abandoned baby, now Xiao Si, comes under Dieyi's training to continue learning dan roles.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the opera is closed by the Japanese and Xiaolou is jailed. Juxian begs for Dieyi to help free him, so Dieyi agrees to play his signature role for the Japanese in order for Xiaolou to be released, as he claims the Japanese are able to appreciate the quality of the play. After the war, the KMT military barge into the opera and arrest Dieyi for his performance in front of the Japanese invaders, an act which is considered as treason. His arrest triggers a fight in which Juxian loses the baby she was carrying. Desperate to save Dieyi, Xiaolou and Juxian turn to Yuan for help, who initially refuses, until Xiaolou reminds him it was him who allowed the Japanese entry to the opera and blackmails him by threatening to tell on him. During the trial, the witnesses commit perjury, claiming that Dieyi was tortured and forced to perform at gunpoint, which he denies when called to testify; for him, the opera is above all patriotism. The military interrupts the trial and Dieyi is freed under bail in order to perform for the new government. Afterwards, Dieyi becomes addicted to opium.
When the communist forces win the civil war, Yuan is sentenced to death, and Xiao Si becomes an avid follower of the new government, questioning his teacher about his position regarding the new government approved plays and after receiving a negative answer, accuses him of being a capitalist. Dieyi's addiction negatively affects his performances and renders him unable to sing, but he is ultimately rehabilitated with the help of Xiaolou and Juxian. Xiao Si nurtures resentment against Dieyi because of his rigorous teachings and usurps his role in Farewell My Concubine in the middle of a performance, where Xiaolou is torn between choosing Dieyi or his craft, ultimately choosing the latter. Devastated by the betrayal, Dieyi secludes himself and refuses to reconcile with Xiaolou. As the Cultural Revolution continues, the Peking Opera is prohibited and replaced with Maoist plays. The entire opera troupe is forced into a struggle session, accused by Xiao Si and Master Guan, by Red Guards where, under pressure, Dieyi and Xiaolou accuse each other of counterrevolutionary acts. Dieyi also tells the guards that Juxian was a prostitute, while Xiaolou implies Dieyi is homosexual. To protect himself from further prosecution, Xiaolou swears that he does not love Juxian and will "make a clean break" with her. Juxian is heartbroken and returns the sword to Dieyi before committing suicide. Xiao Si is caught by the Red Guards singing Consort Yu's lines while admiring the lavish stage jewelry he took from Dieyi. Xiaolou's mighty and meaningful stage makeup becomes smudged after being beaten up by the Red Guards: Dieyi, in full costume of Consort Yu, calmly picks up the brush and finishes the stage makeup for a humiliated and weakened Xiaolou. The opera troupe is forced to dress up and is paraded around town while being ridiculed by their captors as well as bystanders; afterwards, their props and costumes are confiscated and burned, except for the sword they once used, which Juxian manages to save prior to her suicide. Although humiliated, neither Xiaolou or Dieyi are convicted, but must continue to reenact the play for the new government.
In 1977, Dieyi and Xiaolou reunite, seeming to have mended their relationship. They once again practice Farewell My Concubine. During a break, Xiaolou begins reciting the line "I am by nature a boy," to which Dieyi makes the same mistake of finishing with "I am not a girl." As their performance reaches its climax, Dieyi takes Xiaolou's sword to cut his own throat, paralleling the concubine's final act in the opera. Xiaolou screams Dieyi's name, then softly calls out "Douzi..."
Red Guard (Simplified: 红卫兵, Traditional: 紅衛兵, Pinyin: Hóngwèibīng)
Production
Chen Kaige was best known for his previous work, Yellow Earth, which followed a 'personal, direct and primitive' approach, but with Farewell My Concubine, he was looking to make a more commercialized artistic film.[8] Chen Kaige was first given a copy of Lilian Lee's novel in 1988, and although Chen found the story of the novel to be "compelling", he found the emotional subtext of the novel "a bit thin". After meeting with Lee, they together recruited Chinese writer Lu Wei for the screenplay, and in 1991, he completed the first draft of the screenplay.[9][10] According to Chen Kaige, the novel was 'compelling' but lacked depth. The film end up being a success due to the collaboration between its distribution and exhibition in China.[8] The film's large production budget and scale also indicated that Chinese studios would provide artists, facilities, and resources that would help in mitigating and addressing some of the challenges facing the country, such as competition from TV.[8] The director chose the heroic suicide of Dieyi over the original story's banality in order to present the "Lie nu"[clarification needed] image of Dieyi and to accentuate women's liberation which was a big theme in Fifth Generation films.[8]
Jackie Chan was originally considered for the role of Cheng Dieyi, but he declined the offer. John Lone later lobbied for the role but failed to progress past contractual negotiations with producer Hsu Feng.[11]
Hong Kong actor Leslie Cheung was used in the film to attract audiences because melodramas were not a popular genre. It was believed that it was the first film where Cheung spoke Mandarin Chinese. However, for most of the movie Cheung's voice is dubbed by Beijing actor Yang Lixin. Director Chen left Cheung's original voice in two scenes, where Cheung's voice is distorted by physical and mental distress.[12] Due to Gong Li's international stardom, she was cast as one of the main characters in the film.[8]
Historical background
The film is set based on five different periods in Chinese history, including the late Qing Dynasty, the Republican Era, the Japanese occupation, and the Cultural Revolution.[13] This setting is significant as it helped in developing the structure of the film and connecting individual experiences with Chinese history. The 1990s saw the Chinese government trying to improve the country's image after controversial protests[citation needed] that involved students, workers, and foreign government agencies [citation needed]. David Shambaugh writes that the government's new agenda focused on "restoring the appearance of unity in the leadership, ensuring the loyalty of the military, reestablishing social order, reasserting central control over the provinces, recentralizing and retrenching the economy, and redefining China's role in a post-Cold War international environment".[14] In addition to the government's attempts at improving the country's image, by the time of the film's release, the atmosphere toward criticism of Cultural Revolution shifted. As Luo Hui notes "criticizing the Cultural Revolution had become permissible, even fashionable", allowing the film to highlight the devastation in the world of art, as well as other aspects of Chinese society like medicine and education, suffered at the hands of the Cultural Revolution movement.[15]
By incorporating traditional Chinese opera, the film delves deeply into the psychological and emotional complexities of its central characters. Peking opera, as a classic Chinese traditional element, is interspersed in the film. The audience watches the drama while watching the movie, creating a double visual experience.[16] Such addition of opera clips promotes the plot, expressing the character's state of mind while giving the audience space to interpret the character. Each facial makeup in the Peking opera represents a specific opera role:[16] in the film, Cheng Dieyi rejects the male dan mask at the beginning, then actively identifies with it, finally confuses his own gender. This makes his role as the Concubine blurs the lines between performance and reality, leaving him unable to separate his true self from the character he plays. Besides the rigid and gruelling training of the Peking opera, Cheng Dieyi is also shaped by the societal and political forces of his time, which profoundly influence his identity as both an artist and a person. Roger Ebert noted that Dieyi was "essentially raised by the opera as a homosexual whether or not he consents", highlighting the film’s exploration of identity as shaped by societal and cultural forces.[17] This also suggests how the opera element as a traditional background at that time has promoted the development of the plot and hinted at the fate of the character. Farewell My Concubine is both an epic historical drama and an intimate melodrama. Ebert praised the film for its ambitious narrative, noting that it "helped him to feel and imagine what it was like to live in China during those times". The film also examines the survival of traditional art forms like Peking opera amidst political turmoil, with the Peking opera presenting as both a cultural foundation and a site of personal conflict. Director Chen Kaige’s personal experiences during the Cultural Revolution, including denouncing his father, informed his vision for the film, adding authenticity to its depiction of the era’s hardships.[17] This directly challenged the rigid gender norms that were upheld in Maoist China. During the Cultural Revolution, the political class targeted Cheng's identity or ideological performances onold bourgeois traditions and, in this way, illustrated how the expression of identity was dictated by the political class.[13]However, while the film challenges these beliefs, it does not condemn regimes but rather shows how history was a vicious cycle.
Release
Release in China
The film premiered in Shanghai in July 1993 but was removed from theatres after two weeks for further censorial review, and was subsequently banned in August.[18] State censorship was a common aspect in post-Mao cinema, where films that were politically unacceptable, such as Judou and Raise the Red Lantern, were removed from theater.[8] However, the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, the ban was met with an international outcry.[3] Feeling that there was "no choice" and fearing the ban hurt China's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, officials allowed the film to resume public showings in September. This release was censored; scenes dealing with the Cultural Revolution (led by the Chinese Communist Party) and homosexuality were edited, and the final scene was revised to "soften the blow of the suicide".[19]
Leslie Cheung had not yet publicly come out as gay at the time. His gender performance in the film was, in fact, authentic. Cheng Dieyi became an iconic character in Chinese cinema. [20] However, due to the conservative attitude toward homosexual culture in the Chinese-speaking world, as well as governmental policies, the film did not get shown at other Chinese-language film festivals, prior to its release in cinemas.[20]
Box office and reception
The film was released to three theaters on 15 October 1993, and grossed $69,408 in its opening weekend. The film grossed $5,216,888 in the US.[21]
In 2005, some 25,000 Hong Kong film fans voted it their favorite Chinese-language film of the century (the second was Wong Kar-wai's Days of Being Wild).[22]
International audience
The attractiveness of the film for international markets was questioned by some critics[who?] who were concerned that the film's visual and artistic settings were too culturally specific.[clarification needed] On the other hand, the film was internationally attractive[citation needed]. The rich political and cultural imagery is presented as a colorful East Asian tableaux that intrigues westerners[citation needed]. China's image is a key feature of the film, and the image of that cultural and political iconography is presented for an international audience[citation needed]. Thus, some critics[who?] charge the filmmakers with playing into stereotypes perpetuated about China.[8]
Some critics point to the fact that Chen had created the film to fit both domestic and international audiences' tastes, as Chen understood some of the international audience's perceptions and attitudes about Chinese history and sexuality.[23]
Miramax edited version
At Cannes, the film was awarded the highest prize, the Palme d'Or.[24]Miramax Films mogul Harvey Weinstein purchased distribution rights and removed fourteen minutes, resulting in a 157-minute cut. This is the version seen theatrically in the United States and United Kingdom.
According to Peter Biskind's book, Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film, Louis Malle, Cannes jury president that year, said: "The film we admired so much in Cannes is not the film seen in this country [the U.S.], which is twenty minutes shorter – but seems longer because it doesn't make any sense. It was better before those guys made cuts."
The uncut 171-minute version has been released by Miramax on DVD.
4K re-release
In the fall of 2023, distributor Film Movement released the 4K restoration of the film theatrically in celebration of its 30th anniversary. It was the first time the uncut version was released in North American theaters.[25]
Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars, praising the plot as "almost unbelievably ambitious" and executed with "freedom and energy".[27]The New York Times critic Vincent Canby hailed it for "action, history, exotic color", positively reviewing the acting of Gong Li, Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi.[28] In New York, David Denby criticized the "spectacle" but felt it would excel internationally, portraying a triumph of love and culture through the darkness.[29]Hal Hinson, writing for The Washington Post, highlighted "its swooning infatuation with the theater- with its colors, its vitality and even its cruel rigors".[30]Desson Howe for the same publication was less positive, writing that the first half had impact but gives way to "novel-like meandering", with less point, as the film reaches its conclusion.[31]
The film was included in The New York Times's 2004 list of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made[32] and Time's 2005 list of Best Movies of All Time.[33] It was ranked No.97 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010,[34] and No.1 in Time Out's "100 Best Mainland Chinese Films" feature in 2014.[9] The film has a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The critics consensus reads, "Chen Kaing's epic is grand in scope and presentation, and, bolstered by solid performances, the result is a film both horrifying and enthralling."[35] The BBC placed the film at number 12 on its 2018 list of the 100 greatest foreign language films.[36] It ranked at number 55 on the Hong Kong Film Awards Association (HKFAA)'s list of the Best 100 Chinese-Language Motion Pictures in 2005.[37] The public ranked Farewell My Concubine atop a 2005 poll of the most beloved films in Hong Kong conducted by Handerson ArtReach.[38]
Katherine Hui-Ling Chou criticized the film for deviating from the novel.[20] Lu Wei's screenplay significantly altered Lilian Lee's original novel, which had more scenes depicting Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou's personal relationship. As a result, director Chen Kaige had to defend his handling of the characters at the time, emphasizing that he transformed the story into a love triangle involving two men and a woman to highlight conventional love as a contrast—not out of homophobia.[20]
The film had a remarkable reception, especially among international audiences. This is because they were fascinated by the Chinese films that appeared to criticize the government as well as the Western support for the development of queer studies.[39][pageneeded] This spread into the global market had been facilitated by co-production that made it easy for Chinese filmmakers to penetrate the international market and bypass local restrictions.
↑ Wang, Yiman (2013). Remaking Chinese cinema: through the prism of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Hollywood. University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN978-0-8248-7117-8. OCLC986628712.
1 2 Gao, Sifan (19 April 2024). "Reading Farewell My Concubine Through Mirror Stage and Gaze". Communications in Humanities Research. 28 (1): 182–186. doi:10.54254/2753-7064/28/20230289. ISSN2753-7064.
↑ "爱白网". Aibai.com. 28 May 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
↑ Ying, Liang (August 2011). "Making the Familiar Strange and the Strange Familiar-Farewell, My Concubine and Its Crossing National Borders". US-China Foreign Language. 9: 530–538.
↑ Vadeboncoeur, Joan (8 January 1995). "Critically Acclaimed Best Movies of '94 Include Works from Tarantino, Burton, Demme, Redford, Disney and Speilberg". Syracuse Herald American (Finaled.). p.16.
↑ King, Dennis (25 December 1994). "Screen Savers; In a Year of Faulty Epics, the Oddest Little Movies Made the Biggest Impact". Tulsa World (Final Homeed.). p.E1.
Leung, Helen Hok-Sze (2010). Farewell My Concubine: A Queer Film Classic (large print 16pt). Vancouver: Read How You Want, Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN978-1459608368.
Braester, Yomi. "Farewell My Concubine: National Myth and City Memories". In Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, edited by Chris Berry, 89–96. London: British Film Institute, 2003.
Kaplan, Ann. "Reading Formations and Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine". In Sheldon Lu, ed., Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1997.
Larson, Wendy. The Concubine and the Figure of History: Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine". In Sheldon Lu, ed., Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1997; also published as Bawang bieji: Ji yu lishi xingxiang, Qingxiang (1997); also in Harry Kuoshu, ed., Chinese Film, ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
Lim, Song Hwee. "The Uses of Femininity: Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yuan's East Palace, West Palace". In Lim, Celluloid Comrades: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Contemporary Chinese Cinemas. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi, 2006, pp. 69–98.
Lu, Sheldon Hsiao-peng. "National Cinema, Cultural Critique, Transnational Capital: The Films of Zhang Yimou". In Transnational Chinese Cinema, edited by Sheldon Lu, 105–139. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, p. 199.
McDougall, Bonnie S. "Cross-dressing and the Disappearing Woman in Modern Chinese Fiction, Drama and Film: Reflections on Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine". China Information 8, 4 (Summer 1994): pp. 42–51.
Metzger, Sean. "Farewell My Fantasy." The Journal of Homosexuality 39, 3/4 (2000): pp. 213–232. Rpt. in Andrew Grossman, ed. Queer Asian Cinema: Shadows in the Shade. New York: Harrington Press, 2000, pp. 213–232.
Xu, Ben. "Farewell My Concubine and Its Western and Chinese Viewers". Quarterly Review of Film and Television 16, 2 (1997).
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