Farewell My Concubine (1993) | Tom & Will Discuss
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
- An in-depth talk on a masterpiece of Chinese cinema. Chronicling the history China over 50 years, we follow two friends who enter the theatre together. Along the way they experience obsession, fame, jealousy, persecution and love. We wold love to hear what you have to say about this film. Drop by below!
00:58 Introduction
12:12 A Historical/Personal Epic
20:51 The Characters: Relations and Symbolism
36:14 Sexuality
42:01 Cinematography and Meaning
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It's great to see two caucasians discussing and appreciating asian movies. These two guys are definitely cultured and well read.
Really appreciate this comment, thanks! I am a real lover of asian cinema, and defintiely intend to do more videos like this.
true, only well educated people will be open minded enough to be analyzing foreign arts or literature.
an awesome film. leslie cheung was such a fantastic actor. great review guys.
To comment on what is said around the 9:30 mark...in Beijing Opera it's not that women were not allowed to perform in opera. It was that men and women could not perform on stage together due to moralistic structures in a Confucius based society. There were however female opera troupes and in the opera world it was considered highly skillful to perform the role of the dan(female) if you were a male. Jackie Chan was opted to play Cheng Deyi at one point before Leslie Cheung because he had direct opera experience as well as playing the dan when he was part of the 7 little fortunes group but turned down the role and Leslie wound up playing the part. But to bring it back...to give cultural perspective, men and women did not perform together on stage until the crossover productions during the more politicized operas being done in Communist China.
the fact it talks about homosexuality in such an early time wow
It's my favorite movie, Leslie Cheung is the perfect one for this character.
A terrific choice.
个人觉得也许让尊龙演会更适合
@@theaaronzhu 我还是觉得张国荣更适合，我看过尊龙演的蝴蝶君，他虽然演的也很好,但他的脸还是有点男性化的，对我来说，尊龙长得更英俊，可能在我心中是亚洲最帅的吧！但在戏曲女装扮相上来说，张国荣无疑是最好的，从演技上来说也无可挑剔。
Such a great movie and I'm so glad some one has given it some attention!
We are glas you feel the same.
It’s a great movie, thanks for sharing!
although the events from the end of the war to the cultural revolution are important at the end of the day the focus of the story is about the three main characters i don't see it as a flaw as such. it was a very powerful and tragic film definitely one of the best Chinese films of all time.
This is true Gary. They were caught up in the historical moment, and I guess it is not meant to go deep in to politics.
Many thanks for your comment.
I'm surprised that two these young guys are quite cultured and sophisticated. I was actually really touched by some of what you said. Excellent review!!
Thank you! These yeara on we hope to eventually get another discussion going! Be sure to check out some of the recent film analysis videos i have put out i think you will appreciate them!
Great review and I can’t wait for you guys to find out way way more about this movie after you have a even better understanding of traditional chinese culture, you might even find the true answer to his struggle with sexuality ;)
Well, since then can certainly say I have learnt more! This is a blast to the past now haha.
Since I had watched this film,I became a fan of Leslie Cheung
Raise The Red Lantern excellent film.
懷念哥哥❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
great works like these are slow paced because these film classics are about perspective, and not really catering to foreigners, but to domestic audience. It's because Chinese films tend to have a well established roots from Chinese theatre. Many of the black and white films were about the sad stories of the past. The old mom in the village coughing up blood spatter, not getting enough money to even buy the basics of medicine to treat the old lady. The daughter at her wits end selling herself, the self sacrificing love and duty in the most tragic way. That kind of story is the root of Chinese cinema. Many of the old movies were rooted from the stories of the past, and as the modern ages come by, so does many of the stories evolve to accommodate the society. But the values, the relationship, the duty, still roots in our way of telling stories in Chinese cinema. The many who stood out in international film are ones who gives perspective in how we see ourselves, relationships, people, give perspective about how our society really really see ourselves and reflect on the established, and not just give people what they want to see.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Yes, it would make sense given China's history of the 20th century as to the source of the storytelling! It is easy to see across Eastern and Asian cinema a different pacing in storytelling and you can see this carried out even in the likes of In the Mood for Love or anything by Jia Zhenke
@@ThomasPollock95 Maggie Cheung, the former runner up in the 1983 Miss HK, then placing 15th in Miss World, daughter of Shanghaiese merchants who were part of the venture capitalist batch who left China due to the lost of KMT to PRC, Maggie Cheung may not be the most successful Miss HK, but her accomplishments with Wong Kar Wai (the Avant Garde look of classic 60s HK is still a classic), her portrayal of Song Qing Ling in the Soong Sisters, she's such a woman that's more than her beauty.
@@ThomasPollock95I've only just recently watched Farewell My Concubine. I only knew Leslie through songs. It's really rare nowadays in this political landscape to have a classic HK superstar to have Taiwan, HK, and PRC people AND foreigners to admire this individual. PRC isn't really that forward about the LGBTQ, Leslie was brave enough to open up to people that his sexuality is about love, not about function, at the time. I think two other movies that are good to watch in conjunction of Farewell My Concubine to really get the idea of the movie would be Rouge, and To Live. Rouge, Leslie is also in it, you really understand the inner workings of how Leslie views love in this movie. Also, another person that's really interesting in the movie is Anita Mui, who was also a great star in HK who is now dead (her mom still fights for her inheritance). To live has no Leslie nor Anita, but Gong Li and You Ge (who played Yuan in Farewell My Concubine) stars in this film and it's about the changes of a guy's life in China from the 40s-60s. You get a very good picture of how PRC life is like during those times. And of course Soong Sisters, three sisters who were important girls in KMT era of China. Song Ai Ling (played by Michelle Yeoh) marries the financier of the revolution, Song Qing Ling (played by Maggie Cheung) marries Sun Yat Sen, and Song Mei Ling (played by Wu Jun Mei) marries Chiang Kai Shek.
@@VWYL900802 Thats really interesting to know- especially now! I will have to check out the other film.
@@ThomasPollock95 To Live really help me understand about my dad's childhood. The story was set in north eastern China and my dad grew up in south eastern China (it's like picturing the movie if it's taking place in north Vietnam). My first time watching To Live was in high school. At the time, it was a year before Beijing 2008 and people viewed China a lot more positively. I've already know more Chinese than the class offers so I watched the movie with a lot of skepticism in grade 10 so the movie wasn't really that impactful for me. Now, re-watching all the good movies I've seen in the past, this movie now made me really sympathize my dad's upbringing, because my dad told me when he was 13, he was walking by the nearby train tracks when he saw someone hanged by the tree. He knew the guy, he wasn't someone likely to commit suicide, but my dad still walked past him because things like these happen back home, 1967, China. I was brought up by people who tell me my dad has a problem, which he does, but the things they exaggerate, really colored my views about him growing up. They're not entirely wrong, but getting a full picture of the life of my dad's childhood gave me a perspective of why my dad is like that. He's very much like any old farts who lived in a former soviet state. But it's not USSR he lived in, it was Mao's China. I understand why he doesn't like the good life his daughters leads after our family immigrated, he only brags about our achievements and only agrees with us if it's something that's useful to him. He's not jealous, nor is he purposefully manipulative, the system conditions people to not allow inner pride, nor freedom to dream, nor freedom to explore the possibility of life. The only time he ever did do that was when he took the risk and escaped China in 1973 to HK, and he did that twice before success. It wasn't about dreams, it was about need. He needed to earn a living to feed grandma because no one carried the burden to take care of her. Growing up, I'm brought up by the freedom to choose, the freedom to dream, the freedom to learn more and have fun. He didn't. The system he was brought up with doesn't allow hope. The only thing that's left there was To Live, to survive, basics of the basics, and wearing rags. The meetings were to force you to believe your behavior is dictated by the government, by propaganda, there's even a course for that when he went to "school" back home. After he escaped to HK, he just saw the world completely different. And even more so when he met my mom on a business trip to Taiwan (he did wholesale in fabrics and was trying to look for trade paths with other suppliers, mom was just vacationing with a girlfriend). Taiwan was a whole other world different from how China tells him in his childhood. He still express his inner shame very differently because that's how he taught himself to cope. Which is why even now, he can be so difficult to be around. Having that kind of upbringing is very painful and sad to know. I've heard how much he said it, but the way he portrays it, I've always thought it lame and that he should open up instead of being a sad Grinch all the time. But really knowing all of that of his childhood, having his whole childhood dictated by propaganda, weekly meetings, and controlled state owned farming, it's really sad.
farewell my concubine is a classic.
I'm curious - you both talked about women's rights in Japan (although this is based in China) and I'm just wondering if you realised it that Britain had a similar history with regards to 1. Males playing female roles (Shakespeare) and women only got the vote in the 1930s whereas in Japan it was only 15 years later. So not that different.
Yes we know its about China, but wanted to mention similar issues in Asia. Yes, I had only discovered this sometime last year and couldnt believe it!
Zhang Yimou didn't direct Crouching Tiger
Just drop a wee like there cuz reason
best of best film
You guys should post more stuff or start a podcast or something
Its been years from we've approached this but it would be nice at some point in the future.
Movies are not made as well these days.. not even close.
真虞姬、假霸王.蝶衣最后为何拔剑自刎？你明白了就基本看懂这部电影了。
说实话 这两个人讲的没什么深度。。