Farewell My Concubine (Film)

Ba wang bie ji. 1993. Dir: Chen Kaige.

Context:
Based on a novella by Hong Kong writer Lilian Li. Previously adapted for TV by Alex Law in Hong Kong, in 1982. (That version was more faithful - see Stanley Kwan's doc for brief details)

In some ways reminiscent, even influenced by, Xie Jin's 'Two Stage Sisters': "Two Stage Sisters features the story of the relationship between two Shaoxing opera performers from their beginnings as itinerant entertainers in the feudal countryside of 1930s China through success in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, eventual separation, and reunion during the post-Revolutionary period. Changes in the style of the operas presented in the film (for example, folk opera, Western-influenced critical realist operas, Mao’s favored ‘‘revolutionary romanticism’’ in opera form) also parallel broader social and political changes."[International Dictionary of Directors]




The Film:

• .The complex story of the friendship between two Peking Opera stars (Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi) spanning five decades of tumultuous Chinese history.
• Politics/history as stage/performance/opera metaphor. People had to act/perform to stay alive in front of the eyes of the outside world, always trying to ensure citizens were 'good communists', and had to publically denounce others during the Cultural Revolution, hence paranoia and the dissolved line between performance and authenticity. Opera (and performance) of course also ties in with Jiang Qing (Madame Mao) and her influence/censorship during the Cultural Revolution. Opera then was a battleground between banned titles and state-accepted titles, which were decided by Jiang.
• See: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=13398&start=225#p506931

Reception:

• .
• Banned in Taiwan (verify) due to having too many mainland Chinese actors, thereby breaking regulations.