Rent Farewell My Concubine on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Lee Pik-wah (novel), Lee Pik-wah (screenplay), Lu Wei (writer)
Directed by: Chen Kaige
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In this Chinese epic, two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly seventy years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Verdict
This weaves the history, and thus identity of China, into the story of two stage actors who also struggle to distinguish their personal identities from their stage personas. Their relationship spans the upheaval and revolutions of China, the country and the actors struggling to find their place. Do circumstances or nature dictate outcomes? It's a dense movie, and the parallels between the characters and country overshadow what is essentially a love story. I'm sure I could appreciate this more if I understood the history better. The actor's friendship reaches a climax before they betray each other. Then the film skips ahead where we wonder if they've reconciled or not. The final scene has a big impact, but it's lacking a foundation that could make it great.
It depends.
Review
The play around which the movie revolves has the same name. A king fights for the unification of China. He's defeated, surrounded by opposing troops. He sends his horse away for safety, but it refuses to go. His concubine wants to die with him as well, but he refuses her request. She ends her life with his sword when he's distracted.
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| Ma Mingwei plays Douzi |
A prostitute donates her son Douzi to an acting troupe. While he's initially rejected for having six fingers, his mom cuts off the extra digit so he can be accepted. Douzi's life is full of pain and punishment from the beginning. With his mom's occupation, he's initially ridiculed by the other kids, but the troupe trains him as a professional actor. It's incredibly strict with kids getting beaten for mistakes. Douzi runs away to escape the torment, but he's inspired by an opera and returns to the troupe. He now wants to master the profession, though of course he gets beaten for running away. What I didn't exactly realize from watching this is that Douzi is trained specifically for the female parts. He keeps messing up the line, "I am by nature a boy." He's punished severely for it. From the beginning this blurs the line between boy and girl, man and woman. Douzi's role is to play the female part, and he's expected to fully inhabit the role.
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| Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi play Dieyi, Xiaolou |
Douzi became friends with Shitu. Shitu is trained to play the part of the king while Douzi plays the concubine. Shitu thinks Douzi is obsessed with being on stage and acting together, but it seems like more. Douzi loves Shitu. Is it part of becoming the role?
Upon becoming professional actors, Douzi and Shitu take the names Dieyi and Xiaolou. Their famous play is Farewell My Concubine. It seems Dieyi loves Xiaolou, helping him with his makeup before each performance. That's made clear when Xiaolou becomes engaged. Dieyi doesn't like that at all, acting rudely to the fiance Juxian. It's jealousy, and that's detrimental to their friendship. Xialolu still thinks it's about the play.
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| Zhang Fengyi, Leslie Cheung play Xiaolou, Dieyi |
Dieyi and Xiaolou are frequently mentioned as being their characters, blurring the line between them and their performance. While they state it isn't the same, people continue to mention it. They're also forced to continue performing the play for a new government.
The relationship spans tumultuous times in China, including wars and coups. At one point the very performance is outlawed. Dieyi is arrested, and the troupe is later mocked. They're forced to implicate other members of the troupe. Xiaolou accuses Dieyi of treason. Dieyi reveals Xiaolou's wife's former profession. While they betray each other, you can't blame them when they're just seeking to stop an assault and avoid imprisonment. The ramifications of those admission go unseen as they continue to perform as a lead into the final scene where performance and reality blur. Dieyi fully embraces and becomes the role. Is his sacrifice personal, professional, or does it represent a parallel to China?
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