"Farewell My Concubine" is Chen Kaige's fifth film. The style of this film is completely different from his four previous films. His first two films, "Yellow Earth" to "The King of Children", are among the first. This stage is to prepare for the future. On the one hand, it is preparation for film understanding, and on the other hand, it is preparation for film techniques. "This phase is a thing of the past for me," he said.
"Farewell My Concubine" is a drama with strong emotions, twists and turns, and full of dramatic conflicts of life and death. It also invites several big stars to star in it. It has sufficient commercial elements, but at the same time, it also contains profound cultural connotations. , in this regard, it is consistent with Chen Kaige's previous works. The Hong Kong film critics gave this film a "high-brow appreciation" and it was well-received and well-received. They described it as "beautiful in the ordinary, high-pitched and harmonious", which is quite pertinent.
Chen Kaige chose Peking Opera, the most profound cultural heritage in China, and the lives of its artists to express his thinking and understanding of traditional culture, people's living conditions and human nature. He is very smart and original. The judges of the International Federation of Film Critics said: "Farewell My Concubine has a profound exploration of Chinese culture, history and human nature, with gorgeous images and delicate plot." This is the opinion of foreign experts. For Chinese people who are familiar with Chinese traditional culture, the film has richer and deeper connotations, and the tension of the screen images has more historical depth.
The several Peking Opera clips used in the film were carefully selected. Chen Kaige said that he wanted to "try to use these clips to illustrate the changes in the relationship between Cheng, Ju and Duan"
When the duet of Li Zongsheng and Lin Yilian passed by my ears, and when the screen turned completely dark, a life drama ended sadly. When there is only a small building left in the world, I really don't know how he will face the tragedy of life. Many years later, everyone agrees that this is Chen Kaige's peak work, and I also think that mainland directors have never made a film that surpasses it. Of course, Zhao Jiping's score is indispensable. He once again demonstrated his understanding of traditional Chinese music that we have already experienced in works such as "Red Sorghum" and "Raise the Red Lantern". Compared with other works, this drama The soundtrack is even more difficult, because he needs to blend Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera and soundtrack together, not only to have a sense of flow in the picture, but also to have a sense of historical vicissitudes. Then let us see how Master Zhao uses music to The whole drama is connected together.
The entire film adopts a flashback method. It begins with the first rehearsal after the two reunited for twenty years. When a spotlight shines on them, as the rhythm of the drum board continues to accelerate, , the calm and heavy theme music slowly opened as the curtain opened, as if to tell everyone that a big drama was about to begin. The first time the music sounded was in the scene where Xiaodouzi broke off her finger. With the suffocating drum beat, when Xiaodouzi's little blood-covered hand was pressed on the deed of betrayal, there was a sense of Beijing. The rhyming erhu sounded plaintively, seeming to tell the beginning of Xiaodouzi's tragic fate. At the same time, the theme music with orchestral music as a foreshadowing was also launched, conveying more helplessness and more sadness from beginning to end. Since string music connects the theme of the whole play, we can hear it in many scenes, such as when Xiaodouzi ran away privately to watch a play in the theater and watched the real overlord singing and fighting on the stage. A desire to become a hero deeply possessed him, and he, who had been stubborn since childhood, returned to Xifucheng without hesitation; another example is when Xiao Shitou used the master's pipe to burn Xiao Douzi's mouth, the theme music was accompanied by " The lines "I am originally a girl, not a boy" flowed slowly, and I suddenly understood the meaning of Mr. Yuan's comment later that "Boss Wei Cheng's Yu Ji has entered the realm of transformation." This world has changed too early. Dieyi was given a tragic fate, but who could understand it? My wife and I were already secretly crying.
The second unique musical instrument used by Zhao Jiping in the film to reflect Chinese folk customs is the flute. Its biggest feature is that its artistic conception is far-reaching and long.
It first appeared in the scene where Xiao Douzi and Xiao Laizi escaped. When they were attracted by the scene outside the wall and could no longer endure the almost cruel training and beatings by their masters, Xiao Shitou caught up with them from behind, containing He said with tears, "You are useless anyway, let's go!", and the lonely sound of the flute has been following, outlining the protagonist's helpless mood and the difficult parting.
I don’t know if you have noticed that in the section where Mr. Yuan went backstage to enjoy the show, the faint sound of pipa not only revealed the tension and subtlety of the relationship between the three, but also conveyed Dieyi’s love for Xiao Yi. I regretted going upstairs to drink flower wine. Musical details like this often play a finishing touch in the play. For example, Dieyi refuses to drink the wedding wine in the small building, and instead accepts the "cultivation" of Fourth Master Yuan. When he is making faces for Fourth Master, he seems to have seen The scene of Xiaolou's bridal chamber with flowers and candles, then the traditional joy whispered in her ears. At that moment, Dieyi just hoped to make Xiaolou look good and be with Xiaolou alone.
Finally, I would like to talk about the widely sung song "When Love Is a Thing of the Past". I don't know if it's the song that comes first, or if it's the theme song specially written by Li Zongsheng for the movie. Anyway, I really admire Lao Li. The ability to understand, the words in the lyrics all reflect the character's state of mind. "There is no need to mention the past, life has been full of ups and downs, even if the memory cannot be erased, love and hate are still in my heart." This can be said to be the summary of the whole play. The grievances, resentments, joys and sorrows between Xiaolou and Dieyi They were completely resolved in the last co-performance, but the unforgettable memory cannot be erased by wind or rain. I seem to hear Dieyi singing to the small building, "It may be possible to forget the pain, but it is not easy to forget you. You have never really left. You are always in my heart. I still have love for you. I still love you." There is nothing I can do." At that moment, I was also in a trance.
In order to avoid getting into trouble, let me talk about something related to the DVD (just kidding). The hateful American did not inherit its fine tradition and did not include this original soundtrack in D9. I guess it’s because I couldn’t find the goods. According to insiders, this original soundtrack has long been out of stock. I searched several websites but could not find it, which made me extremely regretful.
Thank you to the music friends who have seen this. Of course, I still hope to have a greeting, and I also hope that everyone will look forward to my follow-up works.
Attached is the table of contents of this original soundtrack. Needless to say, the entire play should be able to be connected through the tracks.
01 Opening the Curtain/Broken Finger/Winter Night/Recognizing Love/Shouting
02 Afternoon/Outside the Door/Escape/Lift the Account/Pass Punishment
03 Spring Burial/Change/Reciting lyrics/Making a grand appearance/picking up a baby
04 Shouting/Farewell My Concubine/The Years in the Mirror/A Lifetime/Determination
05 Attending a Banquet/Drunk/Giving Sword/Concubine Drunk/Crying wedding
06 Makeup/Reconciliation/Mourning hall/Anglia/Heart-tired
07 Infant loss/Conversation/Judgment/Peony Pavilion/Street
08 Falling into my arms/Ordering costumes/Revisiting old places/Cultural Revolution/Struggle
09 No love/Don’t understand (Li Zongsheng)/Reunion/Killing oneself/The end
10 When love has become Past events (Li Zongsheng, Lin Yilian)