Farewell My Concubine

"The passionate triangle of two lifelong friends and the woman who comes between them!"

1993 2h 51m ZH

🙌

7.9

BANGER

★7.9TMDB · 711

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In an epic tale of theater, gender, love and class, two Beijing opera actors navigate political turmoil as their friendship evolves over decades.

“The passionate triangle of two lifelong friends and the woman who comes between them!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Leslie Cheung
Cheng Dieyi / Xiao Douzi
Zhang Fengyi
Duan Xiaolou / Xiao Shitou
Gong Li
Juxian
Lü Qi
Master Guan
Ying Da
Manager
Ge You
Master Yuan Shiqing
Lei Han
Xiao Si
Tong Di
Zhang the Eunuch

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chen Kaige
Writers: Lilian Lee Bik-Wah, Lu Wei
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China, Hong Kong

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 171 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chen Kaige, shot by Gu Changwei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jonathan Lee. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pei Xiaonan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chen Kaige directs. Gu Changwei behind the camera. Jonathan Lee scores. Pei Xiaonan cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in China, Hong Kong. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 171 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
333 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.
5Directed by Chen Kaige, shot by Gu Changwei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jonathan Lee. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Pei Xiaonan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The passionate triangle of two lifelong friends and the woman who comes between them!".
10IMDB entry: tt0106332 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 11 themes, including "china", "society", "transvestite", "cultural revolution".
12Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gu Changwei
Original score: Jonathan Lee
Editing: Pei Xiaonan
Production design: Yang Yu-He
Costume design: Chen Changmin
Makeup / hair: Fang Qing-Shan
Runtime: 171 min · 2h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $6,400,000
Return: 160% of budget
Original language: ZH
IMDB: Farewell My Concubine (1993)

Awards

Palme d'Or

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Chen Kaige

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2022-11-12
★ 8/10
An excellent film. I was really curious to see this movie, because as far as I can remember it was the first Chinese movie I saw. Before I saw it, I read a little about it, and I was quite impressed to see how the film did well in the West, and managed to infuriate Chinese Communist censors. However, I fear that I was not fully prepared for what awaited me. In fact, the film is truly brutal, in every sense of the word. Director Kaige Chen took a well-known and respected book for his film, but put all the focus on an almost visceral realism. The film is an epic that spans a large period of time, between 1924 and 1977, that is, very troubled years in Chinese history, which includes the entire period of war against Japan and the invasion of Manchuria, as well as the cultural revolution. Maoist. At the same time, it reveals the backstage of Cantonese opera, a traditional Chinese cultural style. In the film, two young apprentices live a cruel and unhappy life at the opera school, with daily beatings and various abuses, including sexual abuse. One of them will play the female characters in the stories, like a transvestite, since women are not allowed on stage. Throughout the film, there is a lot of confusion between life and art, and we often feel that these actors are mixing things up, living their characters in real life and transposing their real life to the stage. I don't know any of the actors in the cast, but I really liked their overall work, and the way they play opposite each other. The film also has extraordinary scenarios, full of realistic details, such as the construction of buildings, the lanterns. The actors' costumes also deserve applause, especially the characters in the opera, with all those fabrics and those strong face paints. Finally, a word for the wonderful cinematography, excellent opening credits and soundtrack.

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