Jiayuan Sun: Farewell My Concubine(1993)

The film begins in 1977 when two Peking Opera actors appear in a Peking Opera Theater in Beijing. They are the two protagonists Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou who meet again after 11 years. They stopped playing Farewell My Concubine together for many reasons 22 years ago. In those years, they became household names in Beijing because they played the Hegemon-King and Yu Ji in the farewell my concubine. This time, they will rehearse before the performance here.

With the background music of Beijing opera, the time went back to 1924. This is the time when China officially ended feudalism and established the Republic of China. Although on the surface, China got rid of the feudal rule of the Qing government, the society was still turbulent. There are businessmen from all over the world and people who want to make a living on the streets.

A woman walked through the crowd with her child in her arms and saw the troupe performing in the street. A small accident caused the dissatisfaction of the spectators. A group of children named Xiao Shitou had an idea and lifted the crisis. He also impressed the woman and her son.He was punished by his master for his unusual behavior. At this time, the picture changes from black and white to color. At the same time, the woman came to the troupe with her children and hoped that the boss would accept her son as an apprentice. The woman is a prostitute. The child is Xiao Douzi. He grew up in a brothel. Although in the old society, actors in theatrical troupes and prostitutes in brothels belonged to obscene occupations in the eyes of some intellectuals, His mother knew very well that it was difficult for him to survive in brothels. Therefore, his mother sent him to the troupe in the hope that the troupe could take him in. Although he had a beautiful appearance and good body condition, his boss refused because his left hand had one more finger than others. His mother was cruel and cut off his extra fingers in the ice and snow. In pain, despair, and unwillingness, Xiao Douzi lived in the troupe. Because of his birth, all the children in the theater bullied him. Only Xiao Shitou cherished him and even risked being punished by his master to secretly release water in his painful training. This friendship makes Xiao Shitou an irreplaceable person in Xiao Douzi's heart. These two children are Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou when they were children

As time goes on, they grow up. The master chose the role orientation for them. Because of his appearance, Xiao Douzi was named the only actress in the troupe, that is, concubine Yu. When he recites his lines, he always recites a line "I was originally a girl, not a boy" into "I was originally a boy, not a girl". In his heart, he was forced to act. In fact, I don't like it, nor do I like to be a girl. Therefore, he is often corporally punished by his master. After each punishment, Xiao Shitou bandaged him.

In an opportunity, Xiao Douzi and another person fled the troupe. Coincidentally, they met a famous performer performing farewell my concubine on the road. He was deeply touched and finally decided to return to the theater to continue his practice. However, because the escape behavior angered Shifu, Shifu severely punished him. In the process of punishment, unlike others, Xiao Douzi refused to beg for mercy at all. In despair, the friend who escaped together ate his favorite ice sugar gourd and hanged himself.

Nevertheless, he is still unable to fully integrate into this role. A client came to the theater for review. The boss asked Xiaodou to show some skills. As a result, he memorized the wrong line again, causing the troupe to lose cooperation. Xiao Shitou didn't help him this time but punished him himself. Finally, Xiaodou recited his lines with blood in his mouth. From then on, Xiao Douzi completely fell into the identity of Yu. Also because of his excellent performance, he and Xiao Shitou were invited to play farewell my concubine, and the troupe obtained the source of funds.

The performance was a great success and the troupe received a rich reward. When everyone was happy, Xiaodou was summoned by the guests alone. Except for the boss, no one in the troupe knew what had happened. When Xiao Douzi was walking back to the main street of the drama class, he didn't say a word in the face of the questioning of Xiao Shitou. On the way, they met an abandoned baby. The master advised him that "everyone has his destiny", but Xiao Douzi insisted on bringing the abandoned baby back to the troupe. No one thought that this day was the beginning of His fate towards tragedy.

In 1937, on the eve of the outbreak of Japan's all-out war of aggression against China. The two grew up with their stage names Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou. They have also become two famous celebrities in Beijing who perform farewell my concubine. The tense situation does not seem to have completely affected the opera. The two still kept performing. In this regular performance, Yuan Shiqing, an aristocrat of the Republic of China, admired the interpretation of Cheng Dieyi and invited them to discuss Beijing opera. But Duan Xiaolou was arrogant and unwilling to make friends with Yuan Shiqing. They separated unhappily under the confrontation with each other. Duan Xiaolou meets Ju Xian, a prostitute in a brothel. On impulse, he saves Ju Xian and gets engaged to her. This matter reached Cheng Dieyi. Cheng Dieyi just wants to act well and play farewell my concubine with Duan Xiaolou. But Duan Xiaolou thinks Cheng Dieyi has acted like a madman. The contradiction between the two was gradually exposed. At this time, Juxian used all her savings to redeem herself from the brothel. When she left, the brothel owner told her "remember my words, prostitutes are prostitutes, this is your life", suggesting her future fate. And she didn't care and left the brothel with a smile. She found Duan Xiaolou's troupe, deceived Duan Xiaolou that she had been driven out of the brothel, and asked Duan Xiaolou to complete their engagement. Duan Xiaolou originally wanted to ease their relationship, but this angered Cheng Dieyi.

That night, Cheng Dieyi met yuan Shiqing alone. In Yuan Shiqing's collection, he saw Duan Xiaolou's favorite sword in his childhood. He remembered that he had promised Duan Xiaolou to give him the sword. In the bathroom, in order to get the sword and meet yuan Shiqing's wishes, he played farewell my concubine with him. In the end, Cheng Dieyi could not distinguish between reality and drama. He almost committed suicide with a real sword and was stopped by Yuan Shiqing. He took the sword to Duan Xiaolou, but Duan Xiaolou didn't remember it at all. Since then, the two have completely broken up. Cheng Dieyi puts down his cruel words and no longer performs farewell my concubine on the same stage with him. At the same time, the Japanese army officially entered China and launched the war of aggression against China.

The troupe is still open. Cheng Dieyi is still intoxicated on the stage. Even though the lights were not on and the audience was noisy, he was still dancing on the stage and immersed in his own drama. This scene was also applauded by Japanese officers. But backstage, Duan Xiaolou's impulse provoked the Japanese army, and was put in prison. Juxian said that as long as he rescued Duan Xiaolou, she would leave. As a last resort, Cheng Dieyi sang a play for the Japanese army, so as to replace Duan Xiaolou. Duan Xiaolou thought that Cheng Dieyi had insulted Beijing Opera and spit on him. Finally, Duan Xiaolou was rescued, but Juxian didn't fulfill his agreement. At that time, they didn't realize that Cheng Dieyi's rescue of Duan Xiaolou had become a hidden danger.

In order to stop Duan Xiaolou from causing trouble, Juxian asked him not to act anymore. Then, their master knows about that. Like childhood, the master taught them a lesson. On this day, when the Master explained a heroic role to the children of the troupe, he died unexpectedly. When the master died, the troupe was dissolved. When the children came home one after another, they saw a child kneeling in the yard practicing martial arts. They found that it was the baby Cheng Dieyi picked up that year, named Xiao Si. But he didn't know who picked it up, because no one told him because they were afraid that if he knew it, he wouldn't focus on it. The two men took the child away. That year, 1945, Japan surrendered.

After Japan surrendered, northern China was taken over again by the government of the Republic of China. However, things are right and people are wrong. The army of the Republic of China does not understand opera. It irradiates the actors with a flashlight under the stage, making noise and hindering the performance. In the conflict, the chrysanthemum fairy miscarried. Cheng Dieyi committed the crime of traitor because of Japanese military exercises and was caught in prison. Duan Xiaolou promised Juxian that he would never return to the stage after saving Cheng Dieyi. Duan Xiaolou put down his pride and found yuan Shiqing, the only one who could save Cheng Dieyi. Under the coercion and inducement of Juxian, Yuan Shiqing was finally willing to help in the trial. However, during the trial, after learning that Duan Xiaolou was no longer performing, Cheng Dieyi desperately failed to testify according to Juxian's arrangement. Under the protection of a commander, he didn't get trial and was able to return to his stage to continue acting. But because Duan Xiaolou stopped performing, he finally became addicted to drugs and was no longer interested in other things. That year, 1948, before the Kuomintang government withdrew from the mainland.

In 1949, China was liberated. Duan Xiaolou lost his luxurious life because he didn't act. He finally returned to the stage and continued to perform farewell my concubine with Cheng Dieyi. After more than a decade of storms, they were afraid to provoke the PLA again. But this time it seems different. The PLA did not cause trouble because of their mistakes, but applauded their performance. This let them breathe a sigh of relief, and the relationship between the three eased. At the same time, in order to perform better, the three people gave Cheng Dieyi drug treatment.

At this time, the social form has undergone great changes. Yuan Shiqing was criticized and punished for his class identity (in fact, because Yuan Shiqing used his power to do many bad things). At this time, the apprentice Xiao Si had his own consciousness under the infection of the new concept. Slowly, Cheng Dieyi finally gave up his drug addiction with the efforts of the three people. Everyone in the troupe gathered together and thought things were going in a good direction. They didn't realize that the tragedy was about to happen.

In this social context, there is a great conflict between the old and new cultures. This contradiction broke out in a discussion meeting on the program between Cheng Dieyi and his apprentice Xiao Si. The traditional opera represented by Cheng Dieyi believes that traditional opera should retain tradition, and modern opera has lost the essence of opera. The modern drama represented by Xiao Si feels that this is an old culture and needs innovation. Everyone present realized that this is a new era, except Cheng Dieyi. The two masters and disciples turned against each other, and Xiao Si defected from the school. In such a conflict, Xiao Si colluded with others in the troupe to make Cheng Dieyi unable to play Yu Ji and went on stage by himself in order to prove that he was right. Cheng Dieyi can no longer play Yu and disappears backstage alone.

Until the eve of the cultural revolution in 1966. I think new China has established a more stable life. In fact, over time, the wrong ideas of some revolutionaries have become more extreme. Many traditional cultures are forced into despair. Beijing Opera is one of them. Ju Xian and Duan Xiaolou burned everything they could see at home, but they didn't expect to be betrayed by their apprentice Xiao Si and partner Na Kun and sent to court. When the judge asked him to show his skill of breaking bricks with his head again, he could no longer show his childhood courage.

He was taken to the square for public criticism. Cheng Dieyi decided to bear the humiliation with Duan Xiaolou. However, Duan Xiaolou betrayed Cheng Dieyi at the instigation of Xiao Si. He threw the sword that Cheng Dieyi gave him to represent Hegemon-King into the fire. Cheng Dieyi is betrayed by the most trusted person. In anger, he reveals that Juxian used to be a prostitute. Duan Xiaolou betrayed even Juxian in order to protect himself. Finally, Juxian recognized Duan Xiaolou. She committed suicide in her wedding dress. The three fell apart again. When Xiao Si thought he had won and was immersed in the pleasure of revenge, he was also found and became the next object to be criticized.

The ending of the story goes back to 1977, the beginning of the film. Eleven years later, Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou met again and were rehearsing. During the last scene of farewell my concubine, Duan Xiaolou recalled their childhood and recited the lines he had always been wrong to Cheng Dieyi again. Cheng Dieyi recited them wrong again and was pointed out by Duan Xiaolou. Cheng Dieyi finally wakes up from the play. He is a real concubine Yu, but Duan Xiaolou is not a real Hegemon-King. Finally, just like the real Yuji, he pulled out the sword and committed suicide.