Talking about the landmark Chinese film, we have to mention "Farewell to the King", which is based on Li Bihua's novel of the same name, directed by Chen Kaige, and starring Zhang Guorong, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li and so on. The film takes the story of Bawang and Yu Ji in Peking Opera as the clue, shows the joy and sorrow of Xiaodouzi Cheng Butterfly and Xiaoshi Duan Xiaolou for half a century, showing the traditional culture, human living conditions and human nature thinking and understanding.
In the cold winter of 1924, a prostitute Yanhong (played by Jiang Wenli) in Beiping walked on the street with her child, saw the drama team performing, and thought of sending the child to the drama team, but did not expect that the class master Guan Shizi saw Xiao Douzi and refused, at this time Jiang Wenli contributed a textbook performance, it turned out that Xiao Douzi had six fingers, Master Guan Xiao Douzi was so the grandfather did not appreciate the rice to eat, after saying that Yan Hong walked out of the door and cut it with a cutter, so Xiao Douzi came to the drama team, trained with everyone, Xiao Douzi sang Dan Jiao, every time singing " Si Fan" in the sentence I was originally a female Jiao'e singing wrong into I was originally a boy lang, for this reason suffered a lot of beatings, at this time the small stone called him pitiful, he helped him everywhere, one day when everyone was resting, the street heard the cry of selling rock sugar gourds, the little leper said that he became a horn one day, he bought rock sugar gourds to eat every day, while saying that he came to the door and fled, Xiao Douzi also followed him, Xiao Shi caught up and said that anyway you are also ruined, roll it, they ran to the street, saw the scenery of the famous horns, they returned to the theater garden, At this time, Xiao Shi was punished for letting them run, Xiao Douzi said that he was going to run, and he took the initiative to be punished, and at this time, Xiao Shizi hanged himself.
One day the master told them about the play of "Farewell to the Overlord", Chu Bawang is an invincible hero in the world, but the heavens are not complete him, under the siege of the Han army's ten ambushes, let Liu Bang be trapped to death, that night Liu Bang's army sang a night of Chu song, the people of the Chu Kingdom thought that Liu Bang had won chu land, all panicked, people always have all the ability, but in the end the enemy can not defeat the Mandate of Heaven, the overlord of the storm, in the end only a woman and a horse remained around, the overlord let Yu Ji escape, Yu Ji refused, she poured wine and danced swords for the last time for the overlord, Then he killed himself with his sword, from one end to the other. Master Guan felt that there was a truth in this play of being a person and singing a play, that is, people must complete themselves, and Xiao Douzi realized that he was determined to practice well in the future. Soon after, the former eunuch Zhang Gonggong had a birthday, to hold a church meeting, invited the drama team to perform, the manager of the drama garden came to adjust people, he saw Xiao Douzi at a glance, but he sang the wrong line again, Xiao Shi saw that the situation was not good, he used a cigarette stick to stir in Xiao Douzi's mouth, Xiao Douzi sang correctly this time, they successfully performed the overlord Bieji, Zhang Gonggong was very satisfied after watching it, they looked at the sword in the palace, Xiao Douzi made a promise to give it to Xiao Shi, and then Zhang Gonggong called Xiao Douzi alone to the room, until it was dark before leaving. He came out in a trance, and Little Stone didn't know what was happening, and they saw an abandoned baby on the side of the road, brought back to the drama class at the insistence of Little Bean.
Time came to 1937, the two of them became the famous corner of the capital, Xiao Douzi named Cheng Dieyi, Xiao Shi named Duan Xiao lou, they talked about the past on the street, came to the theater to perform, at this time there was a rich Fourth Master Yuan (played by Ge You) is a famous ticket holder in Beijing, very much appreciate them, after singing a few words of backstage conversation, the atmosphere is not harmonious, and invited them to sit on the house, Duan Xiaolou said at this time, there are flowers and wine to drink and turn around and leave, come to the Flower Man Building in the Eight Hutongs, to find a girl named Ju Xian (played by Gong Li), At this time, Ju Xian and the guests had a conflict, Xiao Lou broke the siege, they wiped out a spark, and then they made a promise to become relatives, Cheng Diyi heard that this matter was a little unhappy, he hoped to sing a lifetime of drama with his brother, from one end to the end, he said that the difference of a year, a month, a day and an hour is not a lifetime, Xiao Lou responded that he is not crazy and does not live. Later Ju Xian redeemed himself, came to find Duan Xiao lou, they were together, Di Yi was very sad inside, one night Di Yi came to Xiao Lou with the sword of the year At this time he and Ju Xian were doing a banquet, drunk he did not recognize the old things, Di Yi left in a negative mood, and said that after singing their own plays, at this time there was a sound from the street, the Japanese soldiers entered the city, Xiao Lou was captured by the Japanese soldiers because of the conflict, Ju Xian came to find Di Yi to help, and promised to leave Xiao Lou, Di Yi sang for the Japanese to save Xiao Lou, so Xiao Lou came out, Ju Xian did not keep her promise, and she and Xiao Lou became intimate.
Master Guan heard about their current situation, called them to teach them a lesson, under the persuasion of the master they resolved the contradiction, and then the master died, the drama team was dissolved, there was a kneeling child who had not left, it turned out that he was an abandoned baby who was picked up that year, the master named Xiao Si, Di Yi decided to take him in and teach him to sing, in 1945, Japan surrendered, the national army entered the city, Cheng Dieyi was imprisoned for the crime of han traitor, Ju Xian and Xiao Lou asked Yuan Siye to help, and finally Yuan Siye helped, Ju Xian and Xiao Lou talked about it and they lived on their own, Later, Dieyi was acquitted, it was Beijing Opera that saved him, and now the civil war broke out, the situation was chaotic, in 1949, the People's Liberation Army stationed in Beiping, Dieyi and Xiaolou performed for them, because of opium smoking, singing when the sound was broken, Dieyi made up her mind to quit smoking, and succeeded with the help of Xiao lou and Ju Xian.
Soon after, Yuan Siye was sentenced to death by the critics, and unconsciously another ten years passed, the Cultural Revolution broke the four olds, the butterfly clothes and Xiao Lou could not escape, they were criticized for fighting on the street, they exposed each other's black history, Ju Xian was also secretly injured, and Ju Xian hanged himself. At this time, many years later, the movie returned to the beginning, the two sang "Overlord Farewell", and Butterfly Yi really killed herself this time.
For those who love movies, "Farewell to the King" is a compulsory course, Douban score 9.6 ranked second, he is second only to "Shawshank Redemption", in the list of mostly foreign films, representing Chinese films remind us of the chinese audience's deep sense of cultural identity, which uses the elements of Peking Opera and Danjiao, in the context of 1925 to 1949, telling a tragic story, the shaping of the characters has both the truth of the times, the character and the ideal, the director uses the play within the play, the beginning and the end echo, Two kinds of narrative techniques one is realistic, one is dramatic, the contradiction between people and the environment in the play, the contradiction between people and people, the contradiction of self are all shown to the fullest, with Xiao Douzi as the protagonist to tell the story of his life and the people he knows, he turned people's lives into drama, and finally died in his own role, the theme of the movie is more inclined to our own inner ideal that persistence, Butterfly has been sticking to their own from one to the end, Xiao Lou did not end from one, Ju Xian pulled Xiao Lou back to real life, She finally committed suicide not because she was a prostitute, but Xiao Lou said that she had never loved her, people always have all kinds of abilities, and they could not defeat the destiny, we lamented the tragic life of Xiao Douzi and Yu Ji, we sang his loyalty to the ideal from beginning to end, perhaps this kind of dramatic expression is our Chinese favorite.