Farewell My Concubine (1993)

Cast

• Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing Cheng Dieyi / Xiao Douzi
• Zhang Fengyi Duan Xiaolou / Xiao Shitou
• Gong Li Juxian
• Lü Qi Master Guan
• Ying Da Manager
• Ge You Master Yuan Shiqing
• Lei Han Xiao Si
• Tong Di Zhang the Eunuch
• Yin Zhi Teenage Douzi
• Ma Mingwei Young Douzi
• Zhao Hailong Teenage Shitou
• Fei Zhenxiang Young Shitou
• Yang Yong Chao Young Xiao Laizi
• Huang Fei Old Master
• Jiang Wenli Douzi's Mother
• Zhi Yitong Aoki Saburo
• Li Chun Teenage Xiao Si
• David Wu Red Guard
• Shen Huifen Cai Feng
• Huang Lei Little Hooligan

Crew

Director

Chen Kaige

Director of Photography

Gu Changwei

Editor

Pei Xiaonan

Novel

Lilian Lee Bik-Wah

Original Music Composer

Zhao Jiping

Original Music Composer

Jonathan Lee

Producer

Hsu Feng

Screenplay

Lu Wei

Screenplay

Lilian Lee Bik-Wah

Details

Budget

$4,000,000

Revenue

$6,400,000

IMDb

tt0106332

TMDB

10997

Keywords

• beijing, china
• best friend
• china
• chinese opera
• cultural revolution
• female impersonator
• lgbt
• severed finger
• society
• transvestite
• woman between two men

Videos

• Trailer Trailer

Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto · ★ 8 · 2022-11-12

**An excellent film.** I was really curious to see this movie, because as far as I can remember it was the first Chinese movie I saw. Before I saw it, I read a little about it, and I was quite impressed to see how the film did well in the West, and managed to infuriate Chinese Communist censors. However, I fear that I was not fully prepared for what awaited me. In fact, the film is truly brutal, in every sense of the word. Director Kaige Chen took a well-known and respected book for his film, but put all the focus on an almost visceral realism. The film is an epic that spans a large period of time, between 1924 and 1977, that is, very troubled years in Chinese history, which includes the entire period of war against Japan and the invasion of Manchuria, as well as the cultural revolution. Maoist. At the same time, it reveals the backstage of Cantonese opera, a traditional Chinese cultural style. In the film, two young apprentices live a cruel and unhappy life at the opera school, with daily beatings and various abuses, including sexual abuse. One of them will play the female characters in the stories, like a transvestite, since women are not allowed on stage. Throughout the film, there is a lot of confusion between life and art, and we often feel that these actors are mixing things up, living their characters in real life and transposing their real life to the stage. I don't know any of the actors in the cast, but I really liked their overall work, and the way they play opposite each other. The film also has extraordinary scenarios, full of realistic details, such as the construction of buildings, the lanterns. The actors' costumes also deserve applause, especially the characters in the opera, with all those fabrics and those strong face paints. Finally, a word for the wonderful cinematography, excellent opening credits and soundtrack.

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