Farewell My Concubine
Directed by Chen Kaige • 1993 • China
Starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li
A breathtakingly intimate romance unfolds against a sweeping backdrop of social upheaval in renowned director Chen Kaige’s sumptuous saga of passion, fate, and the transcendent possibilities of art. Spanning fifty years of twentieth-century Chinese history, FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE follows aspiring actors Dieyi (a heartbreaking Leslie Cheung) and Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) as they emerge from a childhood of brutal training to become Beijing-opera stars, with life mirroring art as Dieyi’s unrequited love for Xiaolou and the country’s changing political tides engulf them in their own personal tragedies of jealousy and betrayal. The first Chinese film to win the Palme d’Or is epic filmmaking of the highest order—visually and emotionally ravishing from frame to exquisite frame.
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Farewell My Concubine
Directed by Chen Kaige • 1993 • China
Starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong LiA breathtakingly intimate romance unfolds against a sweeping backdrop of social upheaval in renowned director Chen Kaige’s sumptuous saga of passion, fate, and the transcendent possibilities of art. Spanning fift...
Extras
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The Making of FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
This 2003 documentary on the making of FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE features production footage as well as interviews with director Chen Kaige and actors Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, and Zhang Fengyi.
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Michael Berry and Janet Yang on FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
In this conversation recorded in 2024, Michael Berry—author and professor of contemporary Chinese cultural studies at UCLA— talks with film producer Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The two discuss both the novel and the film versions of FAREWELL MY CONCUB...
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Chen Kaige and Charlie Rose
When FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE was released in the U.S., director Chen Kaige appeared on the PBS talk show Charlie Rose on October 18, 1993. That interview is presented here.
