Customer Reviews

Farewell to My Concubine

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's an awesome movie but if you don't understand Chinese, get the American release. I got this as a Christmas gift for American friends, but the translation was not totally correct and the subtitles did not always line up with the dialogue. My friends got confused and I had to stop from time to time to explain what was going on.

What a movie! I am not of Chinese origin, but China with its rich history has always interested me. It is a country with 1.5 billion people and indomitable courage. It is a power that the world has recognized. What makes their story even more interesting is the crazy turns their history has taken in a short span of a century.

Farewell my concubine is an attempt to shed light on the history. It is an absolutely must watch literary masterpiece if you are interested in Chinese history. The story spans over a few decades. On the surface, it is just a story of two little boy who happen to become famous. They go through ups and downs like most of lesser mortals do. However, woven along is a story of transformation of an entire nation. From monarchy to democracy and then communism - the movie takes you through three different China.

Movie aces on script, dialogues, lighting, acting each and every section. The only downside would be its length and (if you are unfamiliar with slightest of Chinese history) the fact that it skips through various era so fast.

Overall, I would recommend this movie to any enthusiast.

We got this movie for several years. We like the moving story very much, it describes so well the life of children at Beïjing Opera training school and Chinese history from about 1920 to about 1980. Now, we bought one for friends.
The book is excellent too

This movie has held a spot in my own personal top ten list since I first saw it in a theater in 1993. Oddly enough, the only people I know of, besides me, who have seen (or heard of) this wonderful movie are those who have seen it with me. I'm not a big fan of Chinese cinema, usually finding myself too much into immediate gratification to be able to endure overly long movies. But this movie is compelling in so many ways, so I have seen it more than once. Farewell My Concubine moves through time on different levels -- people, history, art. The core relationship, from start to finish, is touching and it is perfection.

the greatest film of all time. They should back off some, and stop personalizing it. Though one character is apparently modeled upon an actual person -- Peking Opera superstar Mei Lanfang -- those who prefer to imagine otherwise have it wrong that he was the "gay" character. He did specialize in male roles (not especially noteworthy, as in Chinese opera, as with Shakespeare, all parts were originally played by men) -- but was also married -- heterosexually -- at least three times, and had children. (He also partnered with one of his wives, Meng Ziaodong, who happened to specialize in male roles.)

Where it's said the cinematography is masterful, etc., I find it mostly dark and colorless -- sepia-toned -- and claustrophobic. And with the Chinese-published edition -- the above being the cover of it -- the subtitles leave much to be desired, beginning with basic spelling.

The acting is not to be questioned: it is mostly superb throughout. But I do wonder if the "Masters" who beat the children-opera apprentices so viciously were overacting. Perhaps not.

Gong Li quickly reveals -- as in overdoes -- a "sighing" expression of impatience or frustration -- which is soon seen to be a cliche. A limitation in her acting. Otherwise, considering that the character she plays is essentially a stereotype, she's nothing spectacular. Or she's really good at making a stereotype come across as being a stereotype. Elsewhere I read the opinion that she can't act her way out of a paper bag (an odd place to put an actress or actor -- in a paper bag); or that she overplays. And otherwise that she's gorgeous, elegant, role model -- etc. I've yet to see any performance by her that wasn't "louder" than it should be, though I wouldn't say she can't act at all.

As for being gorgeous: a matter of taste; and not to my taste.

Well worth seeing for the history, and the acting of the two male leads. And Chinese Opera is itself fascinating, and enjoyable. But if it begins to feel a bit too weird, it may be because of some of the more repulsive incidents, that it is claustrophobic, and that it is longer than most films.