Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 19, 2024

Winner of the Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" (1993) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with the director and Charlie Rose; new program with author and professor Michael Berry and film producer Janet Yang; archival program on the making of the film; and more. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles. Region-Free.

In 1924 Beijing, two homeless outcasts, Douzi and Shitou, dream of becoming famous opera performers. The boys are trained by a legendary master who demands perfection from his students and daily punishes the ones that disappoint him.

Douzi and Shitou are routinely asked to perform different parts from Farewell My Concubine, a beloved Chinese opera about a beautiful and loyal concubine who chooses not to abandon her king at a time when he is facing military defeat and sings for him one last time before she eventually cuts her throat with his sword. It takes quite a few painful lashes before the two friends perfect their roles, but when eventually they do, the master frees them.

Years later, the two friends become big stars with their production of Farewell My Concubine. They also adopt new, much more respectable names. Douzi becomes Chen Dieyi (Leslie Cheung, Happy Together), while Shitou becomes Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi, Red Cliff).

Douzi and Dieyi’s friendship is soon tested by the beautiful prostitute Juxian (Gong Li, Raise the Red Lantern), who steals Shitou’s heart and the two decide to marry. The lives of the three are then irreversibly altered by several of the most dramatic events from China’s recent history -- the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the end of WWII, the fall of the nationalist government, and eventually the Mao Zedong-led communist revolution.

Farewell My Concubine is a long film that covers a lot of ground while referencing plenty of names and dates, but one does not need to be familiar with Chinese history to enjoy it. At its core is a touching romantic tale that chronicles the evolution of an unconventional relationship (a romantic triangle) very much like Francois Truffaut’s Jules and Jim does.

As the different social and political events visibly reshape the world in which Douzi, Dieyi, and Juxian exist, the three begin to reevaluate their relationships and lives. Douzi, who is attracted to men and is far more comfortable while he is on stage playing the loyal concubine, suffers the most. Deep inside, he is torn between preserving his friendship with Dieyi and wanting to see his friend happy, even if it means that he spends the rest of his life with Juxian. Dieyi also finds it difficult to preserve the balance in his relationship with Douzi that made them stars. And Juxian begins to realize that her love for Dieyi is slowly pushing away two truly magnificent performers who have always needed each other’s support.

There are plenty of emotions on display throughout the film, but one should not expect a soapy period melodrama. In fact, for a Chinese production from the early ‘90s, the material is unusually well-balanced and candid. (This was probably one of the key reasons why it was initially banned by the communist government in China).

The leads are terrific. The late Leslie Cheung impresses with an incredible range of facial expressions that effectively convey the internal struggles of his character. Fengyi Zhang exudes the right type of confidence and determination while defending his choices. Gong Li is equally impressive as the beautiful prostitute who wants a normal life.

The different sets and designs are quite incredible and create a truly special period atmosphere. The entire film is also expertly lensed by cinematographer Gu Changwei (Ju Dou, Autumn in New York).

Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Farewell My Concubine is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:

"Undertaken by Tomson Films at Hiventy in France, this new 4K restoration was created from the 35mm original camera negative, with a 35mm release print used for color reference. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered at Hiventy.

Mastering supervisor: Rodolphe Bertrand/Hiventy, TransPerfect Media, France.
Colorist: Pauline Bassenne/Hiventy, TrancePerfect Media, France."

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-31 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #35-40 are from 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration which was completed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Farewell My Concubine. In native 4K, the 4K makeover cannot be viewed with Dolby Vision or HDR grades.

I like this film a lot and have two other Blu-ray releases of it in my library. The first is this release from Korean label Art Vision. The second is this release from the British Film Institute. Both are sourced from unconvincing masters with various limitations.

Earlier tonight, I viewed the 4K makeover in native 4K, and I must say that I have mixed feelings about it. It gives the entire film a predictably healthy and very stable appearance. However, in many areas it also alters the original color temperature of the visuals, creating new dynamic contrasts and tonal shifts that can look very awkward. Some of the updated visuals also reveal clarity and sharpness fluctuations. Because the film's period appearance evolves as it moves through different historic events, the nature of these evolve too. However, it is very easy to see that the entire film is given a warm(er) grade, emphasizing creamy yellow(ish) and turquoise(ish) and impacting a wide range of primaries and nuances. For example, the two primaries that are frequently affected the most are red and blue. As a result, many of the red communist flags for instance frequently begin to look dark orange, while blue backgrounds shift toward turquoise. This causes many sequences to produce very contemporary visuals, like the ones seen here, here, here, and here. The dramatic shifts from primary red to dark orange can be particularly distracting because a substantial portion of the film focuses on the disastrous effects of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, where the color red has a special presence. A direct comparison with the previous releases reveals substantial improvements in terms of grain exposure, delineation, and depth, but this is not an impressive accomplishment because these releases were average at best. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks immaculate as well.

I tested numerous areas from the 1080p presentaion. Because the original cinematography is quite diverse and the alterations I mentioned above are all over the film, it is extremely difficult to highlight major improvements in terms of delineation, clarity, and depth. Select close-ups for instance can look marginally better in native 4K, but there is a lot of visual material that looks practically identical. I think that even on a very large screen the 1080p presentation looks extremely similar to the native 4K presentation.

Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The two older Blu-ray releases of Farewell My Concubine have only 2.0 tracks, so I was eager to view the film with a 5.1 track. In areas with dialog, the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks perform equally well. However, a lot of the mass footage in the second half of the film where the communists take over definitely sounds better on the 5.1 track. The English translation is excellent.

Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - presented here is a new trailer for the recent 4K restoration of Farewell My Concubine. In Mandarin, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• The Making of "Farewell My Concubine" - presented here is an archival featurette with cast and crew interviews and some raw footage from shooting of the film. With optional English subtitles. (24 min).

• Chen Kaige and Charlie Rose - in this archival program, Chen Kaige discusses the story of Farewell My Concubine, some of the key themes that define it, and its reception at the Cannes Film Festival and America. Also, there are some very interesting comments about the director's transformation during the Cultural Revolution. The program was aired on October 18, 1993. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Michael Berry and Janet Yang - in this new program, author and professor Michael Berry talks to film producer Janet Yang. The two discuss the production of Farewell My Concubine, the work of Chen Kaige, and the Chinese film industry. The program was produced in 2024. In English, not subtitled. (36 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Pauline Chen and technical credits.

Farewell My Concubine 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Because there has not been a proper release of the original, much longer version of Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine in America, this upcoming combo pack is easy to recommend. However, the new 4K restoration that was prepared for its 30th anniversary should have been a lot more convincing. Farewell My Concubine should have a dazzling period appearance, but right now certain parts of it have an unmistakable contemporary appearance. In addition to the combo pack, there is a standard Blu-ray release that streets on the same date. RECOMMENDED.