Mei Lanfang
In an interview with "Newsweek", director Chen Kaige stated that in contrast with his previous film about Beijing opera, ""Farewell My Concubine" is fiction" whereas ""Mei Lanfang" existed in history." In "Farewell", Chen had more freedom with the story (based on Lilian Lee's novel), but with the biographical "Mei Lanfang", Chen was more careful as the film was made under the blessings of Mei Lanfang's family and Chen consulted with Mei's son about the film's story. Chen revealed that many topics, such as Mei's extramarital affair, were "taboo" to the family, but that Mei's son told Chen to "do whatever you want to do" so long as the film deals with those topics with respect.