BÀWÁNG BIÉ JĪ

In 1924, the young Douzi is sent by his mother to a boarding school where children are trained under the harshest conditions to become Peking Opera performers. There he befriends Shitou, and over time they both grow up to become veritable stars. While they celebrate great success on the stage, Douzi increasingly develops more than friendly feelings for his partner. He eventually marries a prostitute - but their relationship is far from over ... The upheavals and events from half a century of Chinese contemporary history form the stage for a tragic, unauthorised desire, with which Chen Kaige annoyed the authorities in his country, but has proven himself to be an accomplished stylist abroad: an exquisitely told epic for all the senses! (Florian Widegger)