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 bu...