Farewell My Concubine (Leslie Cheung)

Show & Culture

China-Hong Kong 1993 | Chen Kaige | OV with French subtitles | 170’ | digital Cast: Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li Based on the novel by Lilian Lee. Palme d’Or, Cannes 1993; Oscar nominations 1994 (Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography). New 4K restoration, Cannes Classics 2026. A monumental masterpiece directed by Chen Kaige, fitting into the great cinema of mainland China. Leslie Cheung delivers the performance of his life as a Peking Opera actor specializing in female roles and tragically unable to separate his art from reality. Through this deeply moving character, the actor magnificently fuses his own androgynous magnetism with the absolute devotion of a broken artist. His heart-wrenching fate serves as a thread through fifty years of tumultuous Chinese history, from military dictatorship to the Cultural Revolution. “The feature film stands at the peak of 1990s Sino-Hong Kong cinema. It is fascinating to note that this uncompromising dive into Chinese history, particularly in its most violent phases such as the Cultural Revolution, comes a few years before the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. As if this story had to be told at any cost before state propaganda intervened…” (Surimpressions)