Farewell My Concubine is the story of two young Chinese opera actors as they grow up during WWII and the cultural revolution. Though it's three hours long, it instantly captures your attention and holds it until the very end. It is mesmerizing and entrancing, intrepid and fearless, powerful and devastating. It uses its length to explore an immense and rich tapestry of history, of characters, and of experiences. It illuminates issues of identity, both personal and cultural, through burgeoning sexuality, through stardom and addiction, through lifelong friendship, and through artistic expression. The characters are tragically flawed and deceptively complex--and you feel like you know them intimately by the end.Yet it is not without its flaws. It is more than 30 minutes too long, thanks to a large number of confusing or irrelevant scenes. Bad blocking and continuity errors crop up every so often. Still, I was never bored or taken out of the story. Indeed, my gripes pale in comparison to the energy and emotion this movie contains. It is fantastic, and easily recommendable.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/