Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
Lan Yu
February 27th 2009 04:02
It is, in my most honest opinion, the gayest movie that I've ever seen - and that includes a movie that I saw at the Palace that featured a real gay threesome.
Why is "Lan Yu" the 'gayest' movie that I've ever seen? I was humbled watching it, by the force of passion and love between these two men, detailed by director Stanley Kwan in surprising candor.
This from a country that still reviles homosexuality, still finds the energy to consider it unnatural, despite the fact that it flourishes, almost openly, on the streets. With delicate candor, Kwan films a budding relationship between businessman Chen Handong and university student Lan Yu.
It's shot in darkness and shadows, a tremulous camera unwilling to break the heavy silence, the looks of bare lust, the idea of longing. "Lan Yu" brings the audience the small things: Chen giving Lan Yu a heavy coat in a snowstorm, that hint of a smile before a passionate kiss, that lift the film to something approaching a realistic depiction.
That the film seems to have the Tiananmen Square incident in the background is startling, a quick, noxious commentary on the indifference to the event. A Hollywood movie would have centered on the massacre, perhaps, cutting to a slow-motion shot of a torn flag falling to the ground.
Not "Lan Yu"; once the dangers of the Square are dodged, the lovers continue anew, happy to put these events in the back of their memory. Instead, the film prefers to concentrate on the aspect of homosexuality that seems to be foremost in cinema - the character's denial of their sexuality.
Chen, rich and prosperous, treats Liu as nothing more than a paid lover, and is quick to dismiss him, even going as far as getting married.
Well... we know how that's going to work out. As predictable as it might be, it's still pleasurable to see the pain that Chen goes through, that he must suffer, in order to understand his role. He's gay, and he loves Lan Yu.
It's a simple truth and perhaps what makes the film so compelling is that this could easily be a vanilla heterosexual relationship - and it would still carry this weight. "Lan Yu" reminds us, with considerable force that, as Keith Olberman might say, if two people can find love in a world that experiences so much pain and suffering, a world that cycles from war to famine - who are we to take it away from them?
I say: Monumental... "Lan Yu" is another fine example of how Chinese cinema continues to deliver some of the most powerful films of the decade.
See it for: These actors are incredible... the two lovers, played by Liu Ye and Hu Jun, are apparently heterosexual, married and appearing in many popular Chinese films. Of note, Hu Jun plays a powerful kung fu warrior in 2008's incredible historical epic, "Red Cliff".
*this image is from a NY Times article.
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