FAREWELL MY CONCUBINEFAREWELL MY CONCUBINEPart 2

Farewell My Concubine –The Film Produced in 1993

Producer: Tomson (HK) Films in association with

China Film Coproduction Corp/Beijing Film Studio

Based on the novel by Lilian Lee

the first Chinese film that won the Golden Palm

award at the Cannes Film Festival.

other film awards :

•A Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film

•Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Film

and Best Cinematography.

Banned in China initially and released

again after it gained international reputation.

Reflection of the social background

The events in the film parallel the play.

•The transition to Han Dynasty rule parallels the transition

to the People's Republic of China.

•The Concubine's fatal devotion to her doomed emperor is

echoed by Dieyi's devotion to Xiaolou.

• Xiaolou: "I'm just an actor playing an

emperor. You really are the concubine."

Chen Kaige (1952~ )

The leading voice among the Fifth Generation filmmakers

“One of the leading directors to develop Chinese Cinema

and one of the more philosophical artists to reach

international acclaim”

graduated from the Directing Department of the Beijing

Film Academy in 1982

First Film: Yellow Earth (Berlin Film Festival Best Film)

Other Films:The Big Parade, The King of Children, Life on

a String, Farewell My Concubine, The Promise(Wu Ji), Mei

Lanfang

Characteristics of Chen’s Films

Work marked by his beautiful landscape shots of

China and realistic portrayals of rural life.

His mastery for symbolic narratives and film

aesthetics serve as a vehicle for social,

political and nationalist messages

Always banned in China

• sensitive topics: suicide, gay love, Cultural

Revolution etc.

• negative depiction of the Communist Party

Connection between Chen’s personal experience and the film

Born in Beijing, deep impression of his childhoodinfluenced by film at an early age through his father, Chen Huai'ai, also a directorboth a participant in and a victim of the Cultural Revolution

• Denounced his own father in public

• Witnessed his mother beaten by the Red

Guards

• Burning of valuable collections of booksDeveloped concerns about history and identity“ I’m Cheng Dieyi;Cheng Dieyi is I.”

A vivid image of the old Beijing and opera students’ lives The role played by Master Guan as a traditional “father” of those kids, father-son relationship depicted. Description of the Cultural Revolution

•Xiaolou and Dieyi denounced each other

• Depicted the harsh torture people

received during the revolution

• Burning of opera costumes in the film

Change of the ending: Dieyi’s suicide – “ Cheng Dieyi had no other choice but to kill himself”

Chen’s Life Experience Reflection in the Film

Leslie Cheung/Zhang Guorong(1956~2003)

Actor and musician from Hong Kong

Cheung was named Asian Biggest

Superstar by China Central Television, and

voted as The Most Favorite Actor in 100

Years of Chinese Cinema in 2005

Released more than 30 music albums

Acted in over 50 films

Famous works: Days of Being Wild, Ashes

of Time, Temptress Moon (Chen Kaige)

Cheng Dieyi in the real lifeUnhappy childhood: parents divorced when he was quite young

Chose his English name as Leslie as “the name can be a man's or woman's, it's very unisex”

Being bisexual, he had one girlfriend and one boyfriend in his life.

Denied his bisexual orientation for the first half of his career until his stance relaxed considerably after emigrating to Vancouver.

In the early 1990s he became one of the few Hong Kong actors who dared to play gay characters onscreen.

Committed suicide on 1 April 2003. He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression.

Other CastZhang Fengyi as Duan Xiaolou

Gong Li (Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Miami

Vice) as Juxian

Ge You as Yuan Si (Mister Yuan)