Ba wang bie ji (Farewell My Concubine) (1993)
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88% of critics liked it
(33 reviews) -
91% of users liked it
(15,476 ratings)
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),… More 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, Rovi
- Directed By
- Kaige Chen
- Written By
- Lillian Lee, Lilian Lee
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International, Classics
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- Miramax
Critic Reviews
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Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
The scenes in the Peking Opera School, where boys are caned for doing wrong or right, are no less horrifying than the later tableaus of public humiliation at the hands of the Maoists.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
This is entertaining filmmaking on a grand scale.
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Derek Elley, Variety
Seductively lensed but emotionally uninvolving.
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David Ansen, Newsweek
Chen's remarkable movie uses an unusual love triangle to telescope more than 50 years of tumultuous Chinese history.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Appropriately operatic, Chen's visually spectacular epic is sumptuous in every respect. Intelligent, enthralling, rhapsodic.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Leslie Cheung
as Cheng Dieyi (Douzi)
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Fengyi Zhang
as Duan Xiaolou
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Li Gong
as Juxian
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Qi Lü
as Guan Jifa
- Da Ying
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You Ge
as Master Yuan
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David Wu
as Red Guard
- Chun Li
- Han Lei