Review of Farewell My Concubine (1993) by Yuriko K — 06 Dec 2008

I really don't want to give it away, so before the spoiler, let me say this film is amazing, I've heard the shorter American version sucks, so get the full 3+ hour version with subtitles. You have to see it.

Just like my favorite early works of zhang yimou, this movie specializes in poetic plot and complex relationships between characters. I was just sitting back, thinking about the movie and that opera "farewell my concubine" that was used as a clear motif in the movie, and I realized what exactly happened.

Now don't read this if you haven't seen it, but what I thought was so well-done and smooth was how the actors lived out the story they performed. This movie paralleled the opera almost exactly, but did it well enough that I never realized it until it was over.