Farewell My Concubineis about the life of Cheng Dieyi (程蝶衣), a man's life always contains many stories, his miserable childhood, his fame when he was proud, his emotional ups and downs, he experienced the changes in history, he encountered all sorts of people, life, and the end of the ridiculous madness, as well as a very fatalistic sense of death. The absurd madness at the end of his life, and the fatalistic death of "Farewell my Concubine", are just a few of the things that make this movie so special.
Cheng Dieyi's childhood was like a joke from God. His mother was a lady in a kiln, but for no apparent reason he was left with Cheng Dieyi. But his mother couldn't feed him and couldn't give him a bright and promising future. She had no choice but to beg the master of the theater troupe, who was also a member of the triad, to let him take Cheng Dieyi in and live and die without complaining. But God played another joke and gave Cheng Dieyi six fingers, not rewarding him with this meal. In desperation, his mother cut off his six fingers on a snowy day and gave him to the class master.
Just like all children learning the theater, they need to practice hanging their voices every day. Cheng Dieyi, who was a man of skill, was asked to play the role of a female dancer by the master of the troupe. From the initial refusal to the final acceptance, Cheng Dieyi undergoes a psychological change. Cheng Dieyi's psyche changes. Is he a boy or a girl? And after singing for an old eunuch, Cheng Dieyi has even more questions about his gender inside.
Because of the change in his inner role, Cheng Dieyi achieved great success in the Dan role, but with it came the strange looks of others and the rejection of his brother's love for him. Cheng Dieyi and his brother have been singing "Farewell My Concubine" all their lives, and he sees himself as the real Yu Ji, who needs a king to protect him.
The brother's rejection leads him to accept the advances of his male friend. With two lonely people snuggling together for warmth, Cheng Dieyi comes to realize the ease of life for a moment. But even a more careful life can't stop the advance and development of history. The War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation came one after another, and although Cheng Dieyi is only an opera singer, he can't escape the baggage that history brings.
Cheng Dieyi is a small woman at heart, he thinks he has nothing to do with these histories, but he doesn't realize that he is already a part of history. He can't get rid of history, just like he can't get rid of his own destiny. After one incident and a complete break with his senior brother, his life collapsed and his hope was gone.
Cheng Dieyi eventually chose to die the way Yu Ji did in "Farewell My Concubine," he was just a playwright, he didn't want to bear the burden of so much history. So he chose to cut his own throat, just like the Yu Ji he sang countless times. But at this moment, he finally didn't have to worry about the world's contemptuous gaze anymore, he really did Yu Ji for a time, and let his life be at ease for a time.