China Farewell My Concubine is a China–Hong Kong co-production — one of only a handful of such cross-border film titles indexed here.
Synopsis
霸王别姬
“The passionate story of two lifelong friends and the woman who comes between them.”
Abandoned by his prostitute mother in 1920, Douzi was raised by a theater troupe. There he meets Shitou and over the following years the two develop an act entitled "Farewell My Concubine" that brings them fame and fortune. When Shitou marries Juxian, Douzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo's explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #95 of 946 China films indexed here (90th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.2 points above the China average of 6.7/10.
Among China Drama productions specifically: #60 of 547 (top 11%).
Audience Engagement
496 audience reviews — more than 91% of China films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 89th percentile among China films.
China × Hong Kong Co-Production
Other China×Hong Kong titles
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Farewell My Concubine. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Beijing Film Studio
The 1992–1994 China Window
Among 15 China films we catalog from this window, Farewell My Concubine places #3 — near the top of its class.
The 1990s China Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1990s in China, 41 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Farewell My Concubine premiered alongside 3 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 3 other China films in 1993.
The 42nd China title from China we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1935).
Our China catalog contains 946 titles in total (747 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Farewell My Concubine, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- woman between two men · 5
- transvestite · 4
- severed finger · 2
- chinese opera · 1
- female impersonator · 1
- society · 14
- beijing · 13
- cultural revolution · 10
- best friend · 9
- china · 127
- china · 127
- lgbt · 73
Production Details
| Primary Country | China |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | China, Hong Kong |
| Original Language | Chinese |
| Production Companies | Beijing Film Studio, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Tomson (Hong Kong) Films Co., Ltd. |
| Runtime | 2h 51m |
| Release Date | January 1, 1993 |
| IMDb | tt0106332 |