Farewell My Concubine expresses passion, pleasure and freedom on the one hand, and helplessness and sadness on the other.

In the first half of the film, from the first stage of Xiaodouzi (Cheng Dieyi) and Xiaoshishi (Duan Xiaolou), from Drunk Imperial Lady to Peony Pavilion, all the stage scenes are mainly in red tones, and the gorgeous costumes of Beijing Opera give people a beautiful feeling.

In contrast, during the Cultural Revolution, as a symbol of the times, red was shocking, especially Juxian, who hung herself in red, which was the strength of her unique woman and the sad ending of a moth.

Analysis of Farewell My Concubine

Farewell My Concubine organically combines the small stage of drama with the big stage of life, and skillfully interweaves the artistic career of the actors in the play with the real life. It has not only fascinating storylines and distinctive characters, but also touching emotional confidences, which makes people suddenly feel that life is like a play, and drama is like life.

A classic that has lasted for 27 years, I don't think we can really appreciate the unique charm of this film if we only analyze the story content and characters. Therefore, this paper will make a deep interpretation from three aspects: "audio-visual language, symbolic meaning and emotional expression":

Audio-visual language: exquisite audio-visual language enhances the rendering power of the story and drives the audience to immerse themselves in the long history of crossing time and space.

Symbolic meaning: The strong symbolic metaphor makes the audience feel the same about the protagonist's situation and enhances the sense of substitution in watching movies.

Emotional expression: rich historical culture is integrated into the changes of characters and times, telling the impermanence of fate, the choice of human nature and philosophical thinking.