Farewell My Concubine Analysis - Chinese Film

Farewell my Concubine Analysis Student’s Name Institution Date Introduction Farewell, my Concubine is a Chinese film that has received much attention in the global arena. It depicts the consequences of the Chinese political turmoil on its citizens during the middle of the Twentieth Century. The movie explores this issue through the application of two characters in the form of traditional Chinese theatre. This is accompanied by numerous crucial elements such as sound development and in the film (Leung, 2010). The film utilizes two characters in a Peking Opera troupe and also the female character in the film is utilized to illustrate the frustrations and predicament of the Chinese people affected by the political turmoil. This movie is an adaptation of Lillian Lee’s novel that has a similar name. The paper will focus on analyzing the various technical components of the movie including the camera movement, the lighting, characters, editing and also the literary elements used. Also, it will connect all these elements with Chinese culture during this period. Additionally, all these contribute towards the creation of a tense tone for the film and express theme of sexual identity and its association to the human condition and how they connect to the novel. Analysis This is the first adaptation of Farewell My Concubine from its textual form to its cinematic one. The direction of adaptation that we are familiar with usually follows this novel-to-film transitional sequence - texts precede motion pictures. The film is the first adaptation of the novel Farewell My Concubine from its textual form to its cinematic form. The entire direction of this adaptation is highly similar to the flow of the novel-to-film typical sequence whereby the text precedes the motion picture. Farewell, my Concubine, therefore, benefits significantly from the director’ tasteful application of sound, setting and lighting. This skill is clear especially from the start of the movie which reunites the post-cultural traditions which were rampant during the Cultural Revolution in China and also from the main characters, Dieyi and Xiaolou. Both of these characters walked side by side in a tentative manner towards the bright light into a bare gymnasium (Leung, 2010). The make-shift stage with the single spotlight bears a significant resemblance towards the interrogation rooms of the Communists that provided the reunion of the characters an ominous feel which was heightened by the underlying music. Additionally, the director of the film carefully informs the viewers of the historical time periods which prevent confusion and also promotes authenticity and realism of the film. This is apparent also in the novel (Hsu, 2012). The film highlights young Cheng Dieyi as he was abandoned in a Peking opera institution and Duan eventually takes the child under his tutelage. Chen eventually falls in love with Duan and a significantly close friendship begins. The performance of his duo is stellar whereby Cheng plays the female role in the film. The story eventually moves forward fast when Cheng and Duan have already become opera stars. Once Duan marries prostitute Juxian, Cheng is enraged with resentment. However, the trio maintains their relationship for a long period of time but they are driven by betrayals during the Cultural Revolution (Gale, 2016). In 1977 as depicted in the film, the Cultural Revolution ended and Cheng and Duan eventually meet and run through some lines from the opera. Cheng still n character, however, follows the fate of the concubine and takes his life. The director having experienced the Cultural Revolution first hand constantly directed his camera lens towards the revolution. The write, however, reflects the numerous instances of dark confrontations among the characters such as Xiaolou, Juxian, and Dieyi who despite their intimate relationship, fall into a war of denigration and derogation. These characters utilize highly politicized phrases during the Cultural Revolution to mainly cast aspersions against each other in a merciless manner (Lee, 1994). Lillian Lee depicts the entire ugliness of the Cultural Revolution premise and its destruction of human nature with the aim of inspiring the audience to reflect and ponder on this issue during this period. The film has numerous components of success since it is comprised of a strong plot, a high standard of acting and also a renowned director which made the film a concise adaptation of the novel. The complexity of the plot is coupled with controversial themes which have been set against a backdrop of numerous historic events. These aspects have made the film a highly compelling adaptation (Leung, 2010). The triple layering of Farwell my Concubine renders the thin fine line between theatre and real life in the film. Initially, the film includes the drama of the lives of the characters with intense and heart-wrenching moments. Next, the film highlights the layer of the opera which is a highly famous production as the film mirrors the reality of the characters (Li, 2007). Additionally, there is also the thin line between the audience and the film whereby as the viewer watches the drama on the operatic stage, it evokes an emotional personal response from the audience. Farewell, my Concubine is a highly complex examination of the dichotomy between the political history of China and the sexual identity of the various individual is highly artistic as it highlights the manner that Cheng, one of the characters is completely engrossed into opera. Havis, (2015) stated that this is symbolic of the director of the film as he combines the storylines in the film with his personal stage life and does not acknowledge that politics could hold significant power over him compared to art. In Farewell my Concubine, props were constantly utilized to further develop the plot. The sword played a huge role whereby Shitou admires Zhang’s sword, while Douzi promises Shitou that someday he will get something similar. Leung, (2010) stated that the manner that Douzi promises Shitou to acquire something that he admired foreshadows Douzi’s honest love for Shitou. This is embedded by the idea when Douzi agreed to become Shitou’s queen which is a symbol of discovering their sexual identity. The book also highlights the manner that Douzi was completely obsessed with becoming Shitou’s queen or concubine as the process of acquiring this sword, symbolized Douzi giving up his own body to Shitou which was something that he desired as the sword (Gale, 2016). However, as the movie came to a conclusion and all members of the opera troupe became tormented by the Communist party. Douzi threw the sword into the fire a...