#1228: CHEN, Kaige: Farewell My Concubine (1993)

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CHEN, Kaige (China)
Farewell My Concubine [1993]
Spine #1228
Blu-ray


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 Cheng Dieyi (a heartbreaking Leslie Cheung) and Duan 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.

171 minutes
5.1 Surround
Color
in Mandarin
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2024

Kaige Chen was 41 when he directed Farewell My Concubine.

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

By Spine #

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