Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Farewell My Concubine Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 28, 2015

Winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Korean label Art Vision. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an audio commentary with cast and crew members in Mandarin. In Mandarin, with optional English, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Mandarin, and Simplified Mandarin subtitles are provided for the main feature. Region-Free.

Cheng Dieyi

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Korean label Art Vision.

The release has been sourced from a pre-existing master, one that must have been created during the DVD era. Detail, clarity and especially image depth frequently fluctuate. Some of the fluctuations can be traced back to the film's original cinematography -- the film has a very specific period look that favors warm and natural colors (somewhat similar to the look Chen Kaige and cinematographer Christopher Doyle favored in Temptress Moon) -- but the majority of them are purely technical limitations. Indeed, grain isn't evenly distributed and resolved and there are even traces of light built-in filtering (see screencapture #10). Light is captured by the camera in a variety of different ways, but shadow definition isn't convincing and in select areas one could easily spot various patches of black crush. Traces of light sharpening corrections also emerge during the daylight sequences (see screencaptures #12 and 20). For the most part colors remain stable, but they should be better saturated and nuanced. Overall image stability is very good and there are no serious transition issues. Finally, there are no large cuts, debris, stains, or damage marks, but minor compression artifacts can be seen throughout the entire film. All in all, when compared to the old R1 DVD release, the Blu-ray release certainly offers some notable upgrades -- one should keep in mind, however, that the old DVD release used a non-anamorphic transfer -- but it is very easy to see that Farewell My Concubine could and should look a lot better in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location).

Farewell My Concubine Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Mandarin Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Mandarin Dolby Digital 2.0, and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Mandarin, and Simplified Mandarin subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The Mandarin Dolby TrueHD track is very good. There are different sequences with different types of dynamic activity -- see the stage performances and the mass demonstrations -- but balance and depth are consistently excellent. The dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow. Also, there are no digital distortions, pops, audio dropouts, or problematic background hiss.

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

• Commentary - audio commentary in Mandarin, with optional Korean subtitles.

• Booklet - 14-page illustrated booklet. In Korean.

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

It is unfortunate that this excellent film from director Chen Kaige does not yet have a proper North American Blu-ray release. (The director's equally moving and stylish Temptress Moon also needs to transition to Blu-ray). Korean label Art Vision's Blu-ray release of Farewell Concubine is English-friendly and Region-Free and I think that at the moment it is easy to recommend. However, the film really needs to be rescanned and then brought to Blu-ray so that it looks as good as it should. RECOMMENDED.