First, I wouldn't call LAN YU a gay love story. Let us just call it a love story instead, because all the hurt, heartbreaks, and disappointments that are there in any relationship are here in this love story➖the only difference being that LAN YU is a love story between two men.
Lan Yu and Chen Handong touching - or rather grabbing - each other after a long separation, Handong wishing to put Yu away from him with his "When two people come to know each other too well..." dialogue, a heartbroken Yu repeating the same dialogue and surrendering himself to Handong, Handong searching desperately for Yu during the Tiananmen Square massacre, and Yu coming to Handong's rescue financially at the end of the film➖these are all elements of any love story. It's just that this love story is between two men.
I have seen other gay love stories (or films, rather): Gus Van Sant's 'My Own Private Idaho', Pedro Almodovar's 'Law Of Desire' and 'Bad Education', and Wong Kar-wai's 'Happy Together'➖all splendidly made movies, but somehow Stanley Kwan's adaptation of the book 'Beijing Comrades', LAN YU, seemed a notch above these masterpieces I have mentioned. LAN YU doesn't have the rawness and desperation of 'My Own Private Idaho' or the in-your-face sexuality of 'Law Of Desire', 'Bad Education' and 'Happy Together'. LAN YU lays emphasis on love and not that much on sex.
LAN YU is calm, non-filmy, a beautifully composed love story. Only, it is between two men. If one removes the nudity from the film - there is hardly any sex scene in LAN YU (I saw the Strand Releasing DVD version) - it would remain what it is: a beautiful love story.
The performances of the lead cast is remarkable, especially of Ye Liu who plays Lan Yu. He is young (the film released in 2001), handsome, and looks vulnerable enough. The transformation of his character from a poor, diffident student completely under the shadow of a much older, wealthier and cocky Handong (played equally well by Jun Hu), to a successful professional who can look Handong in the eye and also rescues him financially is remarkable. And this has been expressed brilliantly in the scenes.
In the scenes earlier in the film, Handong struts around cockily in his bedroom, ordering his young lover to do things, while Yu just lies in the bed naked, listening to Handong, not knowing what to do. At the end of the film, when Handong's character has just been released from prison and is staying at Yu's place, Yu is already a professional architect, earning his own livelihood, no longer dependent upon anyone. In a scene in this part, Handong, now not as rich as before, is lying in Yu's bed, while Yu is ready in formal clothes, shaving himself with an electric razor, getting ready for work. These two scenes defined the two lead characters, the journeys that they made, together and separately.
I have just one grouse. LAN YU moves too fast. Handong and Yu have to mention to each other that it has been three years since they saw each other for me to understand that three years have passed in just three seconds. In an other scene, Handong has to inform Yu that he is divorced➖neither Handong's divorce nor his wedding were shown. Perhaps, showing Handong's wedding and divorce would have thrown some more light on his character. However, despite this flaw, I was satisfied with LAN YU. I have the novel, 'Beijing Comrades', the English translation by Scott E. Myers published by the Feminist Press, and it is quite a tome! I have not read it yet because I found its size intimidating. To adapt that tome into an 86-minute film - a film shot entirely within China without the government coming to know of it! - is a remarkable achievement in itself. Kudos to screenwriter Jimmy Ngai and director Stanley Kwan for achieving this feat!
LAN YU is a lovely film about love, but it has a sad ending. Why? Why do love stories between two men have to be sad? Why is separation inevitable in such films? Whatever, for me, LAN YU will remain what I have already mentioned at the beginning of my review. It is a love story➖pure, sad, heartbreaking➖but a love story, nevertheless. I wouldn't try to fit in LAN YU into some niche category. LAN YU is a love story, the way a love story is meant to be. Period.
Lan Yu and Chen Handong touching - or rather grabbing - each other after a long separation, Handong wishing to put Yu away from him with his "When two people come to know each other too well..." dialogue, a heartbroken Yu repeating the same dialogue and surrendering himself to Handong, Handong searching desperately for Yu during the Tiananmen Square massacre, and Yu coming to Handong's rescue financially at the end of the film➖these are all elements of any love story. It's just that this love story is between two men.
I have seen other gay love stories (or films, rather): Gus Van Sant's 'My Own Private Idaho', Pedro Almodovar's 'Law Of Desire' and 'Bad Education', and Wong Kar-wai's 'Happy Together'➖all splendidly made movies, but somehow Stanley Kwan's adaptation of the book 'Beijing Comrades', LAN YU, seemed a notch above these masterpieces I have mentioned. LAN YU doesn't have the rawness and desperation of 'My Own Private Idaho' or the in-your-face sexuality of 'Law Of Desire', 'Bad Education' and 'Happy Together'. LAN YU lays emphasis on love and not that much on sex.
LAN YU is calm, non-filmy, a beautifully composed love story. Only, it is between two men. If one removes the nudity from the film - there is hardly any sex scene in LAN YU (I saw the Strand Releasing DVD version) - it would remain what it is: a beautiful love story.
The performances of the lead cast is remarkable, especially of Ye Liu who plays Lan Yu. He is young (the film released in 2001), handsome, and looks vulnerable enough. The transformation of his character from a poor, diffident student completely under the shadow of a much older, wealthier and cocky Handong (played equally well by Jun Hu), to a successful professional who can look Handong in the eye and also rescues him financially is remarkable. And this has been expressed brilliantly in the scenes.
In the scenes earlier in the film, Handong struts around cockily in his bedroom, ordering his young lover to do things, while Yu just lies in the bed naked, listening to Handong, not knowing what to do. At the end of the film, when Handong's character has just been released from prison and is staying at Yu's place, Yu is already a professional architect, earning his own livelihood, no longer dependent upon anyone. In a scene in this part, Handong, now not as rich as before, is lying in Yu's bed, while Yu is ready in formal clothes, shaving himself with an electric razor, getting ready for work. These two scenes defined the two lead characters, the journeys that they made, together and separately.
I have just one grouse. LAN YU moves too fast. Handong and Yu have to mention to each other that it has been three years since they saw each other for me to understand that three years have passed in just three seconds. In an other scene, Handong has to inform Yu that he is divorced➖neither Handong's divorce nor his wedding were shown. Perhaps, showing Handong's wedding and divorce would have thrown some more light on his character. However, despite this flaw, I was satisfied with LAN YU. I have the novel, 'Beijing Comrades', the English translation by Scott E. Myers published by the Feminist Press, and it is quite a tome! I have not read it yet because I found its size intimidating. To adapt that tome into an 86-minute film - a film shot entirely within China without the government coming to know of it! - is a remarkable achievement in itself. Kudos to screenwriter Jimmy Ngai and director Stanley Kwan for achieving this feat!
LAN YU is a lovely film about love, but it has a sad ending. Why? Why do love stories between two men have to be sad? Why is separation inevitable in such films? Whatever, for me, LAN YU will remain what I have already mentioned at the beginning of my review. It is a love story➖pure, sad, heartbreaking➖but a love story, nevertheless. I wouldn't try to fit in LAN YU into some niche category. LAN YU is a love story, the way a love story is meant to be. Period.