Farewell My Concubine : A Queer Film Classic

by Leung, Helen Hok-Sze

• ISBN13: 9781551523620
• ISBN10: 1551523620
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-30
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

Farewell My Concubine, one of three new QUEER FILM CLASSICS this fall, is a thought-provoking consideration of Chen Kaige's acclaimed 1992 Chinese film set in the mid-20th century abouttwo male Peking opera stars and the womanwho comes between them, set against the politicalturmoil of a China in transition. The film'streatment of gender performance and homosexuality was a first in Chinese cinema, and the subject of much controversy there. The movie,which helped to bring contemporary Chinesefilms onto the world stage, won the Palme d'Orat the Cannes Film Festival (the first Chinesefilm to do so), and was nominated for a BestForeign-Language Film Oscar.This book, one of two new QFCs to focus onAsian queer cinema, places the film in its historicaland cultural context while drawing on freshinsights from recent works on transgender andqueer studies to provide readers with an intimate,provocative, and original look at the film.The QUEER FILM CLASSICS series, begun in2009, consists of critical yet populist monographson classic films of interest to LGBT audienceswritten by esteemed film scholars and critics. The series is edited by authors Thomas Waugh (Out/Lines, Lust Unearthed) and MatthewHays (The View from Here).

Author Biography

Helen Hok-Sze Leung's book places the film in its historical and cultural context while drawing on fresh insights from recent works on transgender and queer studies to provide readers with an intimate, provocative, and original look at this ground-breaking film.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 11
Synopsis	p. 15
Credits	p. 18
Evolution of a Sacrifice: From the Battlefield to the Big Screen	p. 21
In Close-Up: Anatomy of a Film	p. 49
Queer Afterlives: New Takes On A Classic	p. 83
Appendix	p. 117
References	p. 123
Index	p. 127
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