Synopsis
Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Scores
Overall Score
63.5
Popularity Percentile (Year)
63.8%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
48.3%
Review Aggregate
89.2
Critic Consensus
Critic reception is largely positive, with 91% of 43 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize visually striking, political, character-driven. Most critics frame the film as an effective delivery of its core style and intent.
visually strikingpoliticalcharacter-drivenemotionaltragicromantichistorical
Cast
| Cast | Year | Reported Salary | Inflation Adjusted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie Cheung | 1993 | $308,000 | $668,000 | (est) |
| Zhang Fengyi | 1993 | $189,000 | $411,000 | (est) |
| Gong Li | 1993 | $143,000 | $310,000 | (est) |
Aggregated Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes critic score91.0
RT critic review count53
Rotten Tomatoes audience score93.0
RT audience rating count10,000
IMDb rating8.1
IMDb votes35,756
Box Office ?
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 1993 | $5,216,888 | $11,325,521 |
| International | 1993 | $1,894,851 | $4,113,597 |
| Worldwide | 1993 | $7,133,997 | $15,487,438 |
Earnings / Profitability
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | |||
| Theatrical Net Revenue | 1993 | $3,366,384 | $7,308,199 |
| Digital Rentals ? | 1993 | N/A | N/A |
| Digital Purchases ? | 1993 | N/A | N/A |
| Physical Rentals ? | 1993 | $17,377,000 | $37,724,325 |
| Physical Purchases ? | 1993 | $13,963,000 | $30,312,755 |
| TV & Streaming Revenue | 1993 | $1,252,053 | $2,718,125 |
| Total Revenues | 1993 | $35,958,438 | $78,063,404 |
| Expenses | |||
| Budget ? | 1993 | $4,000,000 | $8,683,737 |
| Print & Advertising (P&A) ? | 1993 | $3,934,000 (est) | $8,540,455 (est) |
| Participations | 1993 | $1,438,000 | $3,121,803 |
| Residuals ? | 1993 | $2,370,000 | $5,145,114 |
| Interest & Overhead | 1993 | $800,000 | $1,736,747 |
| Total Expenses | 1993 | $12,542,000 | $27,227,857 |
| Movie Net Profit or Loss | 1993 | $23,416,438 | $50,835,546 |
Similar Movies
| Poster | Movie | Year | Match | Overall | Est. Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | 2019 | Shared genres: 5 | 85.7 | $7,881,494 |
 | Blue Is the Warmest Colour | 2013 | Shared genres: 5 | 81.9 | $19,460,489 |
 | Dark Blue Almost Black | 2007 | Shared genres: 5 | 73.9 | $-153,142,806 |
 | The Way He Looks | 2014 | Shared genres: 5 | 67.2 | $6,638,007 |
 | Farewell, My Queen | 2012 | Shared genres: 5 | 64.2 | $8,692,733 |