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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 26631
Released: December 14, 1999 |
| Our Price: $47.00 |
| Used Price: $8.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Critically acclaimed as one of the best films of the year, this seductive, award-winning triumph captivated moviegoers the world over. It's the compelling tale of two lifelong friends unexpectedly caught in a passionate love triangle with the woman who comes between them! Academy Award(R)-nominated, FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (1993 -- Best Foreign Language Film) earned the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Film in addition to claiming Best Picture honors at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival! Packed with vivid, provocative imagery throughout, this sensual story of love and betrayal is the hot and exotic must-see movie of the year!
Description of Farewell My Concubine:
The panorama of 20th-century Chinese history swirls past two men, celebrated actors with their own decidedly specialized view of things. We first observe their lives as children at the Peking Opera training school, a brutal and demanding arena for future actors. While still in training, the effeminate Douzi is chosen to play the transvestite role and the masculine Shitou is chosen to play the royal role in a ritualized play about a king and a concubine. The actors are so good at this performance that they become identified with these roles for their entire careers; through World War II, through the takeover by the Communists, through the insanity of the Cultural Revolution, they are known for their famous parts. Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi are powerful as the two men, and Gong Li (the beautiful leading lady of Raise the Red Lantern) plays the wife of the latter. The movie may be stronger on good old-fashioned melodrama than on profound conclusions, but boy, does it fill up the eyes. The director is Chen Kaige, one of the most talented members of China's "Fifth Generation" of filmmakers, whose daring subject matter (and sometimes bald international ambitions) have often irked the Chinese government. Indeed, though Farewell My Concubine shared the top prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival and snagged two Oscar nominations, it had difficulty gaining official approval from China. --Robert Horton
Farewell My Concubine Reviews:
Epic 
2009-12-08 - Indisputably one of the best films of the 90's, and, in my opinion, to date. Just reading a few of the reviews, each with its own interpretation of the themes and motifs, is enough for anyone to figure out that this film reaches out to every individual in a different way.
Leslie Cheung (RIP) forever set the standard for genderless beauty. Cheng Dieyi himself is an artwork, and is beautiful and captivating in the same way as a masterpiece. I find it interesting that some people see Dieyi and Xialou as the main characters, when others (esp Chinese) think it's Dieyi and Juxian. I personally think it's Dieyi and Juxian, and that Xiaolou is there less as a character in his own right (since he really doesn't have much of a personality, imho), but rather as a symbol of something that Dieyi and Juxian revolve around and can be easily replaced with another average man.
To fully appreciate the magic of this film, you really need to be willing to sit down with an open mind and be ready to pick up on small details, and then think about it as a bigger picture. It's not surprising that some people are turned off by the themes of homosexuality, abuse, and joyless sex. These themes are exactly what make this film so haunting. It's completely pointless to get offended by these themes, because Farewell My Concubine is not there as a reflection of anyone's political stance or moral values, and even less is it propaganda. Rather, it's an honest portrayal of the effects of having to live a life of betrayal and inner turmoil.
The best Chinese movie there's ever been, and there will ever be
2009-05-07 - In recent years Kaige Chen has made some very disappointing movies that look extravagent but really have no substance. But if you have seen Farewell, My Concubine, you'll agree that having made this film Kaige Chen can spend the rest of his life making crap and still call himself a good filmmaker.
This movie is, more than anything, a work of art. And it is extraordinary on a number of different levels.
First of all, it covers the Chinese history from 1920s to 1970s, a period in Chinese history whose volitility is unparalled by any other historical periods. The history is played out intimately in the lives of the two main characters. And the film plays out half a century of history without the least feeling of rush. There is an extraordinary attention to detail. In each time period presented, the historical context is applied to the most minute details: the way people dress, the way they talk... is all catered towards creating the most authentic historical experience.
Secondly, the film has presented such an amazing portrayal of Peking Opera. Including the piece "Farewell, My Concubine" itself, every piece of Peking Opera depicted in this film are carefully chosen. They fit in perfectly with the story and help to bring the depth to a whole new level.
Thirdly and most importantly, Leslie Cheung has displayed a quality beyond the word "beauty". Many superficial film critiques claim that this is a movie about homosexuality. But that is not true. It is a movie about beauty and about art. In the character played by Leslie Cheung, gender simply becomes irrelevant. He is the embodiment of a state of mind, that is at once feminin and masculin. From him you see the purest of humanity: beauty, love, loyalty, and a complete devotion to art...
What most people don't know is that when the story was initially written by a famous Hong Kong novelist, the writer herself in fact wrote the story with Leslie Cheung in mind. In a way, the character Cheng Dieyi was made for Leslie Cheung. Or should we say, Leslie Cheung was made for Cheng Dieyi.
Nowadays, in Chinese theatre and in world theatre, movies are becoming increasing commercial. More and more of them are made to please the audience and to hit the box office. And it is harder and harder to find films that are made for the sake of art.
In that sense, Farewell my Concubine is the legacy of a time when filmmakers were still artists.
BEAUTIFUL, AND RICHLY LAYERED
2009-02-03 - Kaige Chen's masterpiece is extraordinarily gorgeous, the actors ( most particularly Leslie Cheung as the effeminate actor, Douzi ) are excellent. The story is about friendship, love, betrayal, repression, and a rather interesting love triangle. It follows the lives of two friends, and actors growing up in the Peking Opera. They become famous as the lead characters in a classic Chinese play called FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE. Little do they know in the beginning, how much their lives will imitate their art. The turbulence, and brutality of the Japanese Occupation, followed by the communist takeover, and then the repressive Cultural Revolution cause many changes in the lives of the three main characters ( portrayed by Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, and the ever wonderful, Li Gong ), mostly for the worst. This is an extremely powerful, and poignant cinematic gem, but it's not for everyone. It is a bit long , and it does deal with homosexuality.
fast transaction
2009-02-02 - I was very please with the transaction and condition of movie.I would buy again from this seller
A very lovely film... 
2008-08-07 - The film paints the story of two actors, from their first encounter at school in the Twenties through their success as stars of the Peking Opera, difficulties during the Japanese occupation, the Communist takeover in 1949 and the traumas of the Cultural Revolution in the Sixties...
For the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, the film touches new ground on two fronts... In the first place, though it does not avoid from acknowledging the sufferings under the old regime, it takes an embittered view of Communist society and of the Cultural Revolution specifically...
The two friends, Xiaolou and Dieyi, adopt a young man, Xiao Si, who becomes one of the Red Guards and quickly informs the political sins of his benefactors...
Second the film is a love story of a rare kind... Dieyi is a homosexual and suffers rejection when Xiaolou begins an affair with Juxian (Gong Li), a gorgeous prostitute... The personal conflict of each character is the heart of this exceptional movie...
