I was born in England of Chinese parents - in the course of living in London I've met people exactly like the Chinese immigrants depicted in this film. I think the scripting, plot and cultural characterisation are excellent; the mixture of repression and deep emotion among Chinese people is well drawn, and is something that is, ironically, easier to show than describe.
There are a number of elements within the film that counterpoint the main plot - the moon theme, the noisiness of Chinese people, the music (although more could have been made of Lan Lan's engagement with her flue playing).
In particular, the mixture of the extremely traditional Chinese attitudes with the pragmatism of the survival struggle and the changed character of the new generation make the film compelling watching.
If you understand Chinese, the various dialects, accents and different forms of speech (this is something very true of Farewell My Concubine, where the old-fashioned speech of the aristocrat has a direct emotional impact) are an added pleasure in highlighting the cultural contrasts / juxtapositions.
