If You Want to Explore Chinese Cinema, Start With This Poignant 93% Fresh Drama
It will be one of the most beautiful movies you'll ever see.
Immersion in another country's cinema often begins with a pivotal film – a work that serves as a cultural bridge.
For Chinese cinema, Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine has served as such a bridge for three decades.
Winner of the Palme d'Or and nominated for an Oscar, this nearly three-hour epic offers an emotionally devastating and visually dazzling journey into the heart of 20th-century China.
What Is 'Farewell My Concubine' About?
The plot centers on the fates of two boys who are sent to a brutal Peking Opera school in the 1920s. Douzi, who has a fragile, almost feminine beauty, is violently broken and is forced to play female roles, the most notable of which is a tragic concubine.
His friend and stage partner, Shitou, who is more rugged and pragmatic, becomes a heroic warrior.
The complex relationship between the two men, filled with loyalty, envy, and unspoken love, forms the core of the narrative and takes viewers through five decades of turbulent Chinese history.
'Farewell My Concubine' Was a Breakthrough for Chinese Cinema
Chen Kaige's lavish drama is rightfully considered one of the greatest Chinese movies of all time.
The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and received two Oscar nominations. However, despite its international success, it was banned in China for many years due to its depictions of graphic violence and homosexual themes.
Its aesthetic style conceals an ambitious plot that intertwines three topics: the intersection of friendship and love, a vision of half a century of Chinese history, and a reflection on the opposition between the permanence of theater and the transience of real life.
'Farewell My Concubine' Is a Visual and Aesthetic Feast With a Poignant Story
Farewell My Concubine is a feast for the eyes, with every detail contributing to a mesmerizing aesthetic. Chen Kaige's movie offers total immersion in a world where reality itself is subject to the laws of the stage.
The actors' makeup is not mere masks but iconic faces frozen in tragic grandeur. Meanwhile, silk costumes flash across the screen in a phantasmagoria of color, creating picturesque canvases in motion.
This aesthetic is not decoration, but essence. It illustrates how art becomes the characters' only true homeland and beauty their main weapon and most painful trauma.
What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Farewell My Concubine'?
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Farewell My Concubine has 90% from critics and 93% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
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On IMDb, the movie has a score of 8.1/10.
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On Letterboxd, Farewell My Concubine scored 4.4/5.0.
Where to Watch 'Farewell My Concubine'?
Farewell My Concubine is available to stream on The Criterion Channel.
