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Movies / Upcoming / Farewell My Concubine
Farewell My Concubine

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Farewell My Concubine (1993)

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88 %
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Reviews Counted:32

Fresh:28

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Chen Kaing's epic is grand in scope and presentation, and, bolstered by solid performances, the result is a film both horrifying and enthralling.

Runtime: 2 hrs 37 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: In Chen Kaige's adaptation of the Lilian Lee novel, Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Fengyi Zhang) grow up enduring the harsh training of the Peking Opera Academy, where instructors... In Chen Kaige's adaptation of the Lilian Lee novel, Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Fengyi Zhang) grow up enduring the harsh training of the Peking Opera Academy, where instructors regularly beat the children as a means of instilling in them the discipline needed to master the complex physical and vocal technique. As the two boys mature, they develop complementary talents: Dieyi, with his fine, delicate features, assumes the female roles while the burlier Xiaolou plays masculine warlords. Their dramatic identities become real for Dieyi when he falls in love with Xiaolou; the resolutely heterosexual Xiaolou, however, marries a courtesan, Juxian (Gong Li), creating a dangerous, jealousy-filled romantic triangle. Spanning 50 years from the early part of the 20th century to the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, Kaige's passionate, exquisitely shot film captures the vast historical scope of a changing world (and the mesmerizing pageantry of the opera) while also providing the intimate and touching details of a unique, tender, heartrending love story. [More]

Starring: Gong Li, Leslie Cheung

Starring: Gong Li, Leslie Cheung

Director: Chen Kaige

Director: Chen Kaige
Screenwriter: Lilian Lee

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Farewell My Concubine

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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With stunning set pieces and the dramatic backdrop of the revolution, Kaige captures perfectly the relationship between the two boys.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/12/08
Phillipa Bloom
Phillipa Bloom
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The scenes in the Peking Opera School, where boys are caned for doing wrong or right, are no less horrifying than the later tableaus of public humiliation at the hands of the Maoists.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/12/08
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine

Gong Li is superb and Cheng Kaige's direction suitably grandiose.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/12/08
Channel 4 Film

This is entertaining filmmaking on a grand scale.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/12/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Seductively lensed but emotionally uninvolving.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/21/08
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Chen's remarkable movie uses an unusual love triangle to telescope more than 50 years of tumultuous Chinese history.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
04/07/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

the drama is cheesy, simplistic and too stodgy in its presentation to really hold up to its historic framing and epic sweep

Full Review Source: Perihelion Journal | comment Comment
08/21/06
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Perihelion Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/16/06
Boyd van Hoeij
Boyd van Hoeij
bibloi.com

Visually impressive and emotionally complex, this historical epic, winner of the Cannes Festival Palme d'Or, relates the tumultuous history of China through the story of two friends who meet as children and become stars of the Peking Opera.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/25/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Well-acted but limited because its drama is emotionally uninvolving.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/03/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Sweeping, self-important and only moderately stirring.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
03/22/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

Appropriately operatic, Chen's visually spectacular epic is sumptuous in every respect. Intelligent, enthralling, rhapsodic.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

No review available.

comment Comment
08/04/04
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

No review available.

comment Comment
03/29/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
10/04/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

No review available.

comment Comment
09/05/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Visually stunning

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/20/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
N/R

Click here for INTERVIEW with CHEN KAIGE regarding "Together."

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
05/21/03
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Susan Tavernetti
Susan Tavernetti
Palo Alto Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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