The film centers on two Peking Opera artists' half-century of tragedy and joy, and shows their thoughts and understanding of traditional culture, human existence, and human nature.
The film was released in 1993 in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and has since been screened in a number of countries and regions around the world, and has broken the box office record for a Mainland Chinese literary film in the U.S.
The film is based on the novel by Li Bihua, directed by Chen Kaige.
In 1993, the film won the Palme d'Or, the highest award at the Cannes International Film Festival in France, and became the first Chinese film to win the award, and the Palme d'Or is the highest honor won by a Chinese-language film at an international film festival; in addition, the film also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the International Federation of Film Critics Award, and other international prizes, and it is the only film to have won the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or, and other international prizes.