Synopsis

Two boys form a lifelong bond while enduring brutal training at a Beijing opera academy. As they become celebrated performers in the opera "Farewell My Concubine," their friendship, identities, and loyalties are tested by love, jealousy, war, political upheaval, and the Cultural Revolution. Spanning much of 20th-century China, the film explores how performance and personal history become impossible to separate.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is based on Lilian Lee's novel of the same name. Lee also co-wrote the screenplay with Lu Wei.

• Its story spans roughly 50 years of Chinese history, from the 1920s through the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution.

• The Beijing opera sequences reflect the demanding traditions of the art form, including stylized movement, singing, acrobatics, makeup, and costumes.

• "Farewell My Concubine" shared the 1993 Palme d'Or at Cannes with Jane Campion's "The Piano." It was the first Chinese-language film to win the festival's top prize.

• The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, representing Hong Kong.

• After its domestic release in China, the film was temporarily withdrawn and subjected to censorship. Political material, homosexuality, and suicide were among the elements that drew official objections.

• The film is widely associated with China's Fifth Generation cinema, a movement whose filmmakers brought internationally acclaimed Chinese-language films to global audiences.

• The opera performed throughout the film is based on the historical story of Xiang Yu, a defeated military leader, and Consort Yu.

• A 4K restoration of the original director's cut was released by The Criterion Collection in 2024.