Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Farewell My Concubine Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 6, 2016

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 the British Film Institute. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an archival featurette with cast and crew interviews. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

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 the British Film Institute.

The technical presentation is quite underwhelming. I was hoping to see a new transfer after reviewing the Korean release of Farewell My Concubine, but this release was also sourced from a dated master and as a result there are some very obvious limitations. The film has a very unique period look -- light and shadow are captured in unique ways by the camera and there are very specific color fonts -- but depth and clarity actually suffer because of basic technical limitations. Grain frequently appears patchy and smeary; there are obvious traces of awkward filtering corrections as well. Shadow definition isn't convincing either. The sharpening adjustments that are present on the Korean release can also be seen on this release (see screencapture #19). Colors are relatively stable, but it is very easy to see that saturation should be much better and that there should be a much wider range of nuances. Overall image stability is good. To sum it all up, this film really needs to be fully remastered so that it looks as good as it should in high-definition. The current presentation offers some marginal upgrades in select areas, but there is a lot of room for substantial improvements. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Farewell My Concubine Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Mandarin LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good. The music is an integral part of the intended period atmosphere and thankfully separation and balance are very good. The dialog is clean, stable, and always easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

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

• 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).

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

I wanted to see this very beautiful film remastered when it was finally released in the West, but the BFI's recent Blu-ray release is also sourced from a dated master with serious limitations. The film can and should look much more impressive in high-definition. Also, I have been told by different people that the audio commentary that is included on the Korean release is very good, but the only bonus feature on this release is an archival featurette.