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Dong gong xi gong (1996)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
24 July 1998 (USA) morePlot:
In China, homosexuality isn't illegal, but homosexuals are routinely persecuted by police and arrested for "hooliganism"... more | add synopsisAwards:
4 wins moreUser Comments:
Taut Psychological Drama moreCast
(Credited cast)Additional Details
Also Known As:
Behind the Forbidden City (USA)East Palace West Palace (International: English title)
more
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
90 min | Canada:94 min | Netherlands:94 minCountry:
ChinaLanguage:
MandarinColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Dolby SRFun Stuff
Trivia:
In 1997 the Chinese government put director 'Zhang, Yuan' under house arrest and confiscated his passport. His friends smuggled this movie out of the country so it could be shown at the 1997 Cannes film festival. moreFAQ
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For anyone who views understatement in cinema as dull, this is not the film to see. Every line, every angle, every event are introduced almost as if the viewer were in the same room with the actors, or at least on the edges looking in closely. Even its more melodramatic moments seem controlled, almost introspective.
The classical unities of stage drama hold sway here. Like the latter scenes in the film "Bent," there is a sexual tension that merges with a political theme. Ultimately that demonstrates freedom exercised in the face of tyranny. While I think it would be too limiting to emphasize either one or the other of these two elements, as some of the few comments here have stated or implied, any perceptive viewer is likely to come away with a feeling of frustration. And that is as it should be. It is a hallmark of any good story, cinematic or otherwise, to engage the imagination of a viewer or reader so as to elicit more questions than answers.
This is a movie that could just as well be a play acted in a small theater, a short story from the pages of a literary magazine, or a reality show played out before a psychology class. A small gem.