In the winter of 1924, 9-year-old Xiaodouzi had the deformed finger on his right hand amputated by his mother, a prostitute, and entered the Guan Family Opera Troupe to learn opera. In the troupe, only senior brother Xiao Shitou sympathizes with Xiao Douzi. Ten years have passed. Under the strict and cruel guidance of Master Guan, the acting skills of the two brothers have improved rapidly. Xiaodouzi took the stage name Cheng Dieyi (played by Leslie Cheung) and played the female role; Xiao Shitou took the stage name Duan Xiaolou (played by Zhang Fengyi). Play a role. The film "Farewell My Concubine" co-starred by the two became well-known in the capital, and the two senior brothers also became a hit. The two agreed to co-star in "Farewell My Concubine" for the rest of their lives.

Duan Xiaolou married the prostitute Juxian (played by Gong Li) as his wife. She was attached to her senior brother's butterfly clothes and came to his senior brother's residence with a heavy heart. The sword was given to Xiaolou and he decided not to co-star with Xiaolou in "Farewell My Concubine". At Master Guan's call, the two brothers collaborated again.

After the Anti-Japanese War, the two were forced to sing for a group of undisciplined and unqualified National Army soldiers. Duan Xiaolou clashed with the soldiers. In the chaos, Juxian had a miscarriage. Later, soldiers arrested Dieyi for being a traitor. . Duan Xiaolou tried his best to rescue Dieyi, and humbly went to Yuan Shiqing (played by Ge You), a bureaucrat who had played with Dieyi. Juxian asked Dieyi to lie and beg for explanation, and showed Dieyi the note that Xiaolou would no longer perform with Dieyi. So Dieyi remained unyielding in court, but was rescued by senior KMT officials because of his skills.

After liberation, their talents were not taken seriously. Cheng Dieyi, who accidentally tasted opium, had a bad voice. He broke his voice during a performance and decided to quit drugs. After suffering from drug addiction, he and his wife met in Duan Xiaolou. With the help of his classmates, he finally got back on his feet, but was framed by Xiaosi, a child he had kindly adopted. Xiaosi was forced to take his place as Yu Ji and perform with Duan Xiaolou. Duan Xiaolou stopped performing regardless of the consequences, and Juxian for the sake of the overall situation After persuading him to perform, Duan Xiaolou finally performed. Dieyi was heartbroken and broke off diplomatic relations with Duan Xiaolou.

During the Cultural Revolution, Duan Xiaolou was framed by his mistress and forced to frame Die Yi. Duan Xiaolou refused and was dragged to the streets. At this time, Die Yi suddenly appeared, dressed as a Yu Ji, willing to Duan Xiaolou was humiliated together. Duan Xiaolou saw that Dieyi had thrown himself into a trap. He hoped to protect Juxian but had no choice but to frame Dieyi, and even called him a traitor. Dieyi was in pain after hearing this.

Thinking that Duan Xiaolou only cares about Juxian, and seeing that Juxian, whom he resented, was actually pitying and helping him at this moment, he vented all his anger on Juxian and revealed the past of Juxian. As a prostitute, Duan Xiaolou was forced to draw a clear line with Juxian, saying that he had never loved Juxian. Juxian hanged himself in despair.

After overthrowing the "Gang of Four", the two brothers performed "Farewell My Concubine" together for the last time on the stage after 22 years of separation. He killed himself with the sword of emotion and fantasy. Dieyi ended his acting career in the arms of his senior brother Xiaolou, and also ended this brilliant tragedy.

Extended information:

As a flagship work in the Chinese film industry and a film that enjoys important world-class honors, "Farewell My Concubine" has both epic structure and cultural connotation, and has a profound heritage. In the context of the Peking Opera art, it vividly demonstrates the versatility and richness of people when their roles are misplaced and faced with disasters. The power of humanity contained in it and the actors' wonderful performances have conquered many movie audiences around the world. The film was not only artistically recognized by the international film community, but also a success in distribution. The film sold well in Western countries such as France and the United States, as well as Eastern Europe and Africa. ?

As one of the films with the highest artistic achievements in the Chinese film industry, "Farewell My Concubine" combines literary and artistic qualities. It retains the director's creative concept while also taking into account the audience's needs. Aesthetically, it is an almost perfect classic movie. The film describes the art of Peking Opera, which has the most profound cultural heritage in China, and the lives of Peking Opera artists, and delicately demonstrates the thinking and understanding of traditional culture, people's living conditions and human nature.

"Farewell My Concubine" passionately narrates a story that lasts for half a century. The film not only has a deep sense of history, but also combines delicate male friendship with an epic structure. It shows the joys and sorrows of small people mixed with the development of Chinese history over the past half century in a spiral and corrective way. ?

"Farewell My Concubine" is one of the most classic works in the history of Chinese film. It brought Leslie Cheung a lofty international reputation. "Farewell My Concubine" is about the joys and sorrows of two Peking Opera artists for half a century, but it is actually about the Chinese people's thinking and understanding of human existence and human nature.

The change of the times is closely related to the turning point of the characters' fate, sociality and nationality are closely related, faith and reality are closely related. Chen Kaige said that he wanted to make a story about "obsession and betrayal", So he made such a story of "Real Concubine and Fake Overlord". The dislocation of human nature and the heavy blow of disaster gave the film a multi-faceted and rich drama. Coupled with Leslie Cheung's almost perfect interpretation of "Cheng Dieyi", it can be said that "Farewell My Concubine" is a peak in China's century-old film history, both in terms of film and performance.

When Chen Kaige attended the film festival in 1988, Xu Feng took the initiative to ask him to meet him, and made a special trip to see him with Li Bihua's novel. When he met, he said that it was Chen Kaige who had to make such a movie. The ending in the old version of Li Bihua's original novel is that Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou met in a bathroom in Hong Kong a few years later. Both of them were naked. They talked frankly to each other, looked back on their past, and were filled with emotion. Then they went out and went their separate ways. . Chen Kaige told Li Bihua that the ending had to be changed.

"Farewell My Concubine" focuses on elucidating the themes of human nature - obsession and betrayal. Before creation, Chen Kaige emphasized to the two screenwriters not to ideologicalize the characters. Let the characters be who they are.