A washed-up private security agent has to escort a valuable Chinese antique out of Shanghai but is ambushed en route.

The husband asks the wife what gift does she want on their coming 50th anniversary, the wife requests a divorce agreement. This cause a great disturbance throughout the whole family.

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, Doutzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo's explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.