TIFF’s A Century of Chinese Cinema Review: Farewell, My Concubine (1993)

Cast: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Li Gong
Director: Kaige Chen
Country: China | Hong Kong
Genre: Drama | Music | Romance | War
Official Trailer: Here

Editor’s Notes: The following review of Farewell, My Concubine is apart of our coverage for TIFF’s A Century of Chinese Cinema which runs from June 5th to August 11th at TIFF Bell Lightbox. For more information of this unprecedented film series visit http://tiff.net/century and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.

Kaige Chen’s 1993 film Farewell, My Concubine is a masterpiece.  It is a film of rare beauty that does not shy away from the pain and brutality that beauty comes from.  The story is that of two men, Douzi (Zhi Yin as a teenager,Leslie Cheung as the adult) and Shitou (Yang Fei as a teenager, Fengyi Zhang as the adult), who as youths are sent to a training facility to prepare them for a life in the opera.  The brutality is nearly unbearable to watch as they are beaten not only for their mistakes but for when they make none to prevent them from doing so next time.  Everything from spankings with a wooden sword to holding a bold of water over their head for hours (sometimes days) at a time in all manner of weather is done to these boys as young as 5 or 6 years old.  Douzi is brought to the school by his mother, a local prostitute, in the late 1920s or early 1930s so he can have a career and because she cannot take care of him at the brothel any longer.  Douzi is turned away because he has a sixth finger on his left hand, and they fear he will scare the audience with his abnormality.  Desperate, she chops the finger off with a cleaver and returns him to the school.

Kaige goes to great lengths to not only provide an amazing tragic tale of two people, he tells this small story in the grand scheme of the rapid and volatile changes that China endured over a 30-40 year period. 

Shitou befriends Douzi and cares for him.  Shitou is being trained in male roles, and Douzi is trained in female roles.  Much like England in Elizabethan time and before, China does not allow women to be actors, so the female roles must be played by men.  Douzi is very good, but never quite commits himself to the role of a woman.  There is a turning point for him, though, when a wealthy benefactor comes to visit the school.  Douzi is asked to perform a piece that he always gets wrong.  The lines tell the story of a nun whose hair has been shorn to look like a boy’s.  He is to say “I am by nature a girl, not a boy” but he always juxtaposes the genders and tells the truth, that he is by nature a boy not a girl.  He is punished for this error in front of the benefactor and with blood coming out of his mouth, he says the line right, not only securing the troupe’s performance but accepting that he is to play female roles and he finally has accepted it.

Flash forward around 13 years and they are now very famous opera performers.  Douzi has taken the name of Cheng Deiyi, Shitou that of Duan Xiaolou (and those are the names I will use going forward).  It is also the time of the Japanese invasion of China during WWII.  They are at the height of their popularity, and it is clear that Deiyi has romantic feelings for Xiaolou that are not returned.  In fact, Xiaolou doesn’t even realize it.  Xiaolou is a regular at a brothel and ends up marrying the top prostitute, Juxian (Li Gong).  This puts some distance between Xiaolou and Deiyi because Juxian sees the love that Deiyi has for Xiaolou and works to pull them apart.  Their fame also leads to tragedy because as the lead actors for the Beijing Opera, they are forced to perform for the Japanese army after the city falls.  This will not only be a problem for them now, as in one terrible turn of events, Xiaolou is arrested by the Japanese and Deiyi performs for them to release Xiaolou, but later under Communist China as well.

The dynamic between Deiyi, Xiaolou and Juxian alternates throughout the film.  Deiyi has nothing but contempt for Juxian because she placed the wedge that began to pull the two friends apart, but it’s a bit more than that.  Juxian was a prostitute, like Deiyi’s mother, and as such he pours all of his resentment he had for his mother (since she did lop off a finger and abandon him) onto Juxian.  She alternately hates and loves Deiyi, because she not only sees him as competition for Xiaolou’s affections but as a sensitive person that would do anything for his friend.  She hurts and helps him in equal measures throughout their association, and much more befalls the three during the length of the film, but to describe it robs the beauty and tension from the film and I would rather have someone watch the film and experience it for themselves.

Farewell, My Concubine is not an easy film to watch.  There are countless episodes of child abuse in many forms, then tremendous physical and mental violence forced upon the characters as adults.  But all of this lends to the authenticity of the film and the strength of the story.

Farewell, My Concubine is a rare film that is better in its longer version.  I first saw the film over a decade ago and I believe it was the American release print that ran 155 minutes.  I was struck hard by the film, but rewatching it at its original length of 172 minutes I was bowled over.  I can’t say exactly what was added, having never revisited it in that 10+ year timeframe, but whatever it was made the film better, like the extra hour added to the Dances With Wolves director’s cut that made a great 3 hour film into an even more impressive 4 hour film.

Kaige goes to great lengths to not only provide an amazing tragic tale of two people, he tells this small story in the grand scheme of the rapid and volatile changes that China endured over a 30-40 year period.  The story arches from the last days of a dynasty through the Communist then Cultural revolutions and each social upheaval is an upheaval for the characters.  It’s no surprise that this film was not well received in China, due to its harsh look at the various revolutions and especially the Communist one.  The film never takes sides, but keeps to the characters and of what happened to them during each social change and the ever-worsening  treatment they endured.  His camera is never at rest, and that lends an energy to what could have been a very static, stale film.  He makes the film come alive through the energy of the camera and the bravura performances by the leads.

Farewell, My Concubine is not an easy film to watch.  There are countless episodes of child abuse in many forms, then tremendous physical and mental violence forced upon the characters as adults.  But all of this lends to the authenticity of the film and the strength of the story.  The film does not sensationalize the violence, it treats it as a matter of course for these characters.  It wants to repel the viewer and make us understand that these kids paid a high price for their fame and greater ones to keep it and worse when they lose it.  It tells the story of love, friendship and art while serving as a history lesson as well, much like Martin Scorsese tried to do (and was somewhat less successful at) in Gangs of New York (2002) and Warren Beatty did in Reds (1980).  This film is perhaps the closest thing we have to a modern Shakespeare tragedy, telling of escalating pain and turmoil and culminating in the ultimate tragedy for both of the characters.  Farewell, My Concubine is a devastating story of giant proportions and while it may not be easy to watch all the way through, you will be glad you did.

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Doug Heller

Sr. Staff Film Critic

I believe film occupies a rare place as art, entertainment, historical records and pure joy. I love all films, good and bad, from every time period with an affinity to Classical Hollywood in general, but samurai, sci-fi and noir specifically. My BA is in Film Studies from Pitt and my MA is in Education. My goal is to be able to ignite a love of film in others that is similar to my own.

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