Farewell, My Concubine
3.5/4
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Rated R for Language and Strong Depiction of Thematic Material
The great thing about a good character study is that we get to meet new and interesting people and find out what drives them. What makes them tick, if you will. In the Chinese classic, "Farewell, My Concubine," we are introduced to three fascinating people: Cheng Dieyi, Duan Xiaolu, and Juxian.
After a brief opening that bookmarks the film, we are taken back to 1924, the China's Warlord Era. A young mother takes her child to an acting troupe. There, the child, whose name is Douzi (Mingwei Ma as a child, Zhi Yin as a teenager) meets Shitou (Yang Fei as a child, Hailong Zhao as a teenager), a talented and charismatic actor. Through torture and training, Douzi and Shitou become the most famous actors in Beijing. Taking the stage names (Douzi becomes Dieyi (Cheung) and Shitou becomes Xiaolu (Zhang)), they play the two most important roles in the Chinese opera, "Farewell, My Concubine." Xiaolu plays the doomed king while Dieyi plays his devoted concubine. Trouble begins when Xiaolu becomes engaged to a former prostitute namd Juixan (Li). War is also on the horizon...
Their relationship is complex. Dieyi is gay and in love with Xiaolu, who doesn't realize it. Xiaolu realizes that his friend is troubled, and sticks by him as a friend and protector.
Actually, "troubled" is a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing Dieyi. Playing the part of a female on stage with an actor whose relationship mirrors what is going on in the play confuses his gender identity and sense of self. As one person puts it, his personality and his character become blurred. Add in the lifelong abuse at the hands of his "teachers," being raped as a teenager, and being abandoned as a child, and it's no wonder he's so confused.
The acting is excellent across the board, with two of the three leads being deserving of Oscars that they did not get. Leslie Cheung, an popular actor in his native China (Jackie Chan was offered the role due to his history with the Chinese opera, but he turned it down fearing the film's homosexual themes would tarnish his image), is brilliant as the tortured Dieyi. While he does some horrible things, we understand and care about him. Like his role in the play, Dieyi is not an easy character to play. And yet Cheung nails it, capturing every facet of his personality and exploring it thoroughly. The other performance worthy of Oscar attention is given by Gong Li, although anyone surprised by that clearly has not seen any of her movies. Unlike Dieyi, Juxian isn't as troubled (although she certainly has some skeletons in the closet). But she sticks by her husband and surprisingly, Dieyi, through thick and thin. Her loyalty to Dieyi is surprising considering how awful he is to her (anyone else would have run away long ago), but Li makes it work. We understand her through and through. Fengyi Zhang exists in their shadows, mainly because his character isn't as dynamic or interesting as Dieyi or Juxian. But he holds his own.
Director Chen Kaige lets his film unfold slowly (too slowly, in fact...about twenty minutes could have been shaved off), allowing us to soak in every piece of the characters and absorb the ever changing situation that these characters find themselves in. Unfortunately, the editing is as troubled as the film's central character. Many scenes aren't set up, which leads to confusion as to what is going on and what it means. Some necessary scenes or clips are left out, while unnecessary ones are left in. This is a talky movie, but a lot of the subtext doesn't come through because of how the film is edited.
Still, this is a fascinating movie with three extraordinary characters. Definitely one to see.
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Rated R for Language and Strong Depiction of Thematic Material
The great thing about a good character study is that we get to meet new and interesting people and find out what drives them. What makes them tick, if you will. In the Chinese classic, "Farewell, My Concubine," we are introduced to three fascinating people: Cheng Dieyi, Duan Xiaolu, and Juxian.
After a brief opening that bookmarks the film, we are taken back to 1924, the China's Warlord Era. A young mother takes her child to an acting troupe. There, the child, whose name is Douzi (Mingwei Ma as a child, Zhi Yin as a teenager) meets Shitou (Yang Fei as a child, Hailong Zhao as a teenager), a talented and charismatic actor. Through torture and training, Douzi and Shitou become the most famous actors in Beijing. Taking the stage names (Douzi becomes Dieyi (Cheung) and Shitou becomes Xiaolu (Zhang)), they play the two most important roles in the Chinese opera, "Farewell, My Concubine." Xiaolu plays the doomed king while Dieyi plays his devoted concubine. Trouble begins when Xiaolu becomes engaged to a former prostitute namd Juixan (Li). War is also on the horizon...
Their relationship is complex. Dieyi is gay and in love with Xiaolu, who doesn't realize it. Xiaolu realizes that his friend is troubled, and sticks by him as a friend and protector.
Actually, "troubled" is a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing Dieyi. Playing the part of a female on stage with an actor whose relationship mirrors what is going on in the play confuses his gender identity and sense of self. As one person puts it, his personality and his character become blurred. Add in the lifelong abuse at the hands of his "teachers," being raped as a teenager, and being abandoned as a child, and it's no wonder he's so confused.
The acting is excellent across the board, with two of the three leads being deserving of Oscars that they did not get. Leslie Cheung, an popular actor in his native China (Jackie Chan was offered the role due to his history with the Chinese opera, but he turned it down fearing the film's homosexual themes would tarnish his image), is brilliant as the tortured Dieyi. While he does some horrible things, we understand and care about him. Like his role in the play, Dieyi is not an easy character to play. And yet Cheung nails it, capturing every facet of his personality and exploring it thoroughly. The other performance worthy of Oscar attention is given by Gong Li, although anyone surprised by that clearly has not seen any of her movies. Unlike Dieyi, Juxian isn't as troubled (although she certainly has some skeletons in the closet). But she sticks by her husband and surprisingly, Dieyi, through thick and thin. Her loyalty to Dieyi is surprising considering how awful he is to her (anyone else would have run away long ago), but Li makes it work. We understand her through and through. Fengyi Zhang exists in their shadows, mainly because his character isn't as dynamic or interesting as Dieyi or Juxian. But he holds his own.
Director Chen Kaige lets his film unfold slowly (too slowly, in fact...about twenty minutes could have been shaved off), allowing us to soak in every piece of the characters and absorb the ever changing situation that these characters find themselves in. Unfortunately, the editing is as troubled as the film's central character. Many scenes aren't set up, which leads to confusion as to what is going on and what it means. Some necessary scenes or clips are left out, while unnecessary ones are left in. This is a talky movie, but a lot of the subtext doesn't come through because of how the film is edited.
Still, this is a fascinating movie with three extraordinary characters. Definitely one to see.
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