The Frame

Okay, I don’t know where to go with this. I was expecting something like Zhang Yimou’s period dramas (as in, Raise the Red Lantern, not The Curse of the Golden Flower), and apparently Kaige Chen is…nothing like Yimou. The two main characters are male actors, brought up from childhood in a brutal apprenticeship to an opera troupe. Eventually, they become the leads in a classical play titled Farewell, My Concubine, one of them playing a king, the other the titular concubine (women were not allowed to act, even during this period of 20th century history, so males played the female roles). Over time, their relationship gets more and more ambiguous, especially when the more masculine actor gets married, causing intense jealousy in his partner. All of this somewhat disturbing personal narrative is interrupted by the bloody Communist take-over. There’s no real resolution to either the private or public stories, and motives are very difficult to ascertain. So I can’t say that I enjoyed the film at all–I just found it very disturbing, even with my tendency to like ambiguity. On the other hand, I can’t deny that it looks gorgeous–the cinematography is beautiful, and Gong Li as the interloping woman is amazing, as usual. And again, this is a film that is very highly regarded by the critical community at large, so I’m probably missing something; but though I’d say it’s worth watching for stylistic reasons, I found the story very offputting.
Above Average