Farewell My Concubine (1993)

◎简　　介

这是部中国电影之中雅俗共赏的典范作品，也是两岸三地电影人合作拍片最成功的代表作，曾获戛纳国际电影节金棕榈奖。改编自香港女作家李碧华原著小说，描述程蝶衣自少被卖到京戏班学唱青衣，对自己的身份是男是女产生了混淆之感。师兄段小楼跟他感情甚佳，两人因合演《霸王别姬》而成为名角。不料小楼娶妓女菊仙为妻在先，在文革时期兄弟俩又互相出卖之后，使蝶衣对毕生的艺术追求感到失落，终于在再次跟小楼排演首本戏时自刎于台上。全片气派恢宏，制作精致，将两个伶人的悲欢故事掺合了半世纪以来的中国历史发展，兼具史诗格局与细腻的男性情谊，导演陈凯歌固然表现出色，张国荣、张丰毅、巩俐、葛优等亦演得精彩。
《霸王别姬》一片感情强烈，情节曲折，充满生生死死的戏剧冲突，并邀请几位大明星主演，具备充分的商业元素，但同时，却蕴含深刻的文化内涵，被认为“通俗中见斑斓，曲高而和者众”。国际影评联盟评委认为：“《霸王别姬》一片深刻挖掘中国文化历史及人性、影像华丽、剧情细腻”。影片用中国文化积淀最深厚的京剧艺术及其艺人的生活，有着人性的思考和人生存状态的表述，更通过几十年的时事风云，透射出一股中国传统文化的哲学思考。片中人物的人生经历犹如“戏梦人生”。

“A profound exploration into Chinese culture, history, and humanity; with luxurious visuals and a refined plot line.” 

Now for me to ramble:

A poignant, beautiful (I have poor diction) treatment of the subject of homosexuality in a society that refuses to talk about it in the open. A depiction of all facets of humanity, and how artists are treated in the unrelenting tumults of history. The characters withstood the Republican era, the Japanese invasion, the KMT occupation, but they shattered beneath the Cultural Revolution. While all of these changes of time brought about physical injuries, only the Cultural Revolution unleashed psychological humiliation. In Chinese, losing the mind and losing the heart are written in the exact same way. 

The relationship between Dieyi and Juxian is one that I will think about for days. To love the same man, to be jealous of each other, to pity one another, to want the same things and understand that feeling perfectly. They are rivals. They are soul mates.

Dieyi didn’t love men. He is artistically and emotionally bound to his companion since childhood, who just happened to be a man. 

5/5