hkDVD DVDinfo - farewell to my concubine dvd - director chen kaige, script by lillian lee pik-wah, producer hsu feng, cast: david ng dai wai,ge you,gong li,jiang wen li,leslie cheung kwok-wi

Farewell To My Concubine

$13.75

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This DVD is Region-Free. Should play on all machines, including PS/2 game consoles.

Disc/Technical Information

Publisher: Fordwell Video
Audio: Cantonese/Mandarin
Video: LetterBox
Subtitles: Chinese/English
Length: 171mins
Release Year: 1993
In-stock : YES (Usually ships within 24hrs)

(Synopsis) "Farewell, My Concubine" (Ba wang bie ji) is a movie with two parallel, intertwined stories. It is the story of two performers in the Peking Opera, stage brothers, and the woman who comes between them. At the same time, it attempts to do no less than squeeze the entire political history of China in the twentieth century into a three-hour timeframe. By linking the two, it succeeds in dramatic fashion.

The film opens during the chaotic period shortly after the fall of the Manchu dynasty, where we are introduced to the two children who will be the center of the film's action: Shitou, the outspoken actor-in-training at a school of opera, and Douzi, the son of a prostitute who, in a grisly scene, has his extra fingers cut off so that he can join the school. Delicate of build and feature, it soon becomes apparent that Douzi will be trained to play the role of a woman, the Concubine Yu (of the opera from which this film takes its title). Shitou, who plays the king to Douzi's concubine, becomes something of a protector to the younger actor during their training. Thus begins the relationship that will shape their lives through the political upheavals that will follow.

From the KMT consolidation of power to the Communist takeover in 1949, to the Cultural Revolution of the 60's and 70's, we experience it all firsthand when we watch the movie. This is undoubtedly because Peking Opera, that ancient art form, must invariably come into conflict with the New Order, whatever form it may take. Both Duan and Cheng get into trouble with these new regimes -- Duan because of his hotheadedness, and Cheng because of his naivete. Sometimes out of spite, sometimes out of love, both do things that come back to haunt them later in life in tragic fashion. Juxian seems to be portrayed as the most politically wise, but as she tries to keep Duan in check and out of trouble (for instance, by convincing him to quit the opera), she doesn't seem to realize that she is as much setting up their downfalls as the two men in her life are.

Director
Chen Kaige

Script
Lillian Lee Pik-Wah

Producer
Hsu Feng

Cast
David Ng Dai Wai
Ge You
Gong Li
Jiang Wen Li
Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing
Lu Qi
Zhang Fengyi

Publisher: Fordwell Video
Audio: Cantonese/Mandarin
Video: LetterBox
Subtitles: Chinese/English
Length: 171mins
Release Year: 1993