As I write this review, there are 50 comments on IMDb 48 of which rate this film a 7/10 or higher. Needless to say, a contrary opinion is desperately needed, and I will now provide it.
Take the costume designers from The Birdcage and the fanatical sexual obsessions from Fatal Attraction. Then add a gigantic helping of Sado-Masochism, and you'll get something remarkably similar to Farewell My Concubine. Taking this into consideration, the praise this film has garnered is almost inexplicable.
The first 50 minutes focus solely on the child abuse of the two lead characters. None of the characters are remotely likable because everyone acts as if they are certifiably insane while on PCP. Children escape their abusers, only to then return and actually beg to be beaten. Boys lick each other's flesh wounds while dressed in drag, or simply pee on each other's heads. Old men (when they're not asking stupid questions like, "What year is this?") get their kicks off of beating little children or making them pee into little glass bowls. How the hell could anyone consider this tripe entertaining? Thankfully, the film calms down for the final 120 minutes (and yes, it lasts almost three excruciatingly long hours), when a woman obstructs the friendship of the two leads. But even during the better portions of the film, the negatives still heavily outweigh any positives:
(1) The sadomasochistic obsession of all of the characters rears its ugly little head on multiple occasions. The two lead characters welcome their despotism with near fanatical graciousness, and structure their entire existence to facilitate this repressiveness. This film almost glorifies abuse.
(2) The death of the troupe master is unintentionally hilarious.
(3) The entire subplot of the conflict with the Japanese practically derailed the main plot of the story.
(4) The subplot of Gong Li's miscarriage was played down too much, when it could have contributed greatly. It seemed to have little to no effect on the primary storyline.
(5) The film fails miserably to earn the viewer's sympathy for the characters. The lead character renounces his love for Gong Li. Gong Li kills herself. The film then fast forwards 11 years to imply that one of the male leads kills himself. It all seemed so ad hoc and cheap to me a way of cheaply earning sympathy at the very end of the film.
Farewell My Concubine was a major disappointment. I was expecting it to rank amongst some of the newer classics (The Road Home, Happy Times, In the Mood for Love, Shanghai Triad, Kikujiro, 2046, Dolls, Sonatine, Eat Drink Man Woman, Hana Bi, The Isle, Chungking Express, etc.). Unfortunately, it simply fails to entertain in any significant way. The first 50 minutes annoyed me; the final 120 bored me.
So basically, if you enjoy watching men dressed in drag while singing at glass-shattering pitches that must have required the inhaling of a blimp full of helium, then Farewell My Concubine might be for you. Otherwise, stay far away from this one.
Update: Just saw Yimou Zhang's "Raise the Red Lantern", which blows this movie away on every level. See that one. Forget about this tripe.
Take the costume designers from The Birdcage and the fanatical sexual obsessions from Fatal Attraction. Then add a gigantic helping of Sado-Masochism, and you'll get something remarkably similar to Farewell My Concubine. Taking this into consideration, the praise this film has garnered is almost inexplicable.
The first 50 minutes focus solely on the child abuse of the two lead characters. None of the characters are remotely likable because everyone acts as if they are certifiably insane while on PCP. Children escape their abusers, only to then return and actually beg to be beaten. Boys lick each other's flesh wounds while dressed in drag, or simply pee on each other's heads. Old men (when they're not asking stupid questions like, "What year is this?") get their kicks off of beating little children or making them pee into little glass bowls. How the hell could anyone consider this tripe entertaining? Thankfully, the film calms down for the final 120 minutes (and yes, it lasts almost three excruciatingly long hours), when a woman obstructs the friendship of the two leads. But even during the better portions of the film, the negatives still heavily outweigh any positives:
(1) The sadomasochistic obsession of all of the characters rears its ugly little head on multiple occasions. The two lead characters welcome their despotism with near fanatical graciousness, and structure their entire existence to facilitate this repressiveness. This film almost glorifies abuse.
(2) The death of the troupe master is unintentionally hilarious.
(3) The entire subplot of the conflict with the Japanese practically derailed the main plot of the story.
(4) The subplot of Gong Li's miscarriage was played down too much, when it could have contributed greatly. It seemed to have little to no effect on the primary storyline.
(5) The film fails miserably to earn the viewer's sympathy for the characters. The lead character renounces his love for Gong Li. Gong Li kills herself. The film then fast forwards 11 years to imply that one of the male leads kills himself. It all seemed so ad hoc and cheap to me a way of cheaply earning sympathy at the very end of the film.
Farewell My Concubine was a major disappointment. I was expecting it to rank amongst some of the newer classics (The Road Home, Happy Times, In the Mood for Love, Shanghai Triad, Kikujiro, 2046, Dolls, Sonatine, Eat Drink Man Woman, Hana Bi, The Isle, Chungking Express, etc.). Unfortunately, it simply fails to entertain in any significant way. The first 50 minutes annoyed me; the final 120 bored me.
So basically, if you enjoy watching men dressed in drag while singing at glass-shattering pitches that must have required the inhaling of a blimp full of helium, then Farewell My Concubine might be for you. Otherwise, stay far away from this one.
Update: Just saw Yimou Zhang's "Raise the Red Lantern", which blows this movie away on every level. See that one. Forget about this tripe.