Lan Yu (2001)

Beijing, 1988. On the cusp of middle-age, Chen Handong has known little but success all his life. The eldest son of a senior government bureaucrat, he heads a fast-growing trading company ... See full summary »

Director:

Stanley Kwan

Writer:

Jimmy Ngai (screenplay)

Stars:

Ye Liu, Jun Hu, Bin Li

9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ye Liu	...	Lan Yu
Jun Hu	...	Chen Handong
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bin Li
Huatong Li	...	Liu Zheng
Shuang Li	...	Weidong
Fang Lu	...	Yonghong
Jin Su	...	Lin Jingping
Shaohua Zhang	...	Niu Ma
Yongning Zhang	...	Daning

Storyline

Beijing, 1988. On the cusp of middle-age, Chen Handong has known little but success all his life. The eldest son of a senior government bureaucrat, he heads a fast-growing trading company and plays as hard as he works. Few know that Handong's tastes run more to boys than girls. Lan Yu is a country boy, newly arrived in Beijing to study architecture. More than most students, he is short of money and willing to try anything to earn some. He has run into Liu Zheng, who pragmatically suggests that he could prostitute himself for one night to a gay pool-hall and bar owner. But Handong happens to be in the pool hall that evening, and he nixes the deal. He takes Lan Yu home himself and gives the young man what turns out to be a life-changing sexual initiation. Handong and Lan Yu meet often, and the boy is soon very secure in his love for the man. But Handong insists that he wants a play-mate, not a lifelong companion, and warns Lan Yu that they will eventually break up. Meanwhile, he showers...

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Plot Keywords:

student | gift | love | villa | investigation | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and some language

Details

Official Sites:

GStage (English)

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Mandarin Russian

Release Date:

22 November 2001 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Histoire d'hommes à Pékin

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,838 (USA) (12 July 2002)

Gross:

$116,192 (USA) (13 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kwan's Creation Workshop, Yongning Creation Workshop

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 89 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Liu Ye and Hun Jun worked on their rapport only four times before production, playing basketball (of which Liu at 6-foot-1 was a star player at school) and dining. They spent time with their respective girlfriend and wife present, to clarify their romance will only be fictional.

User Reviews

Out of unremarkable plot material Kwan has elicited a portrayal of emotions of incredible subtlety and gentleness from his actors

It has an overall feel of an Eric Rohmer film, the portrayal of the reality of emotion and connection in the stark environment of modern Beijing and Chinese society is a feat of amazing subtlety.

Perhaps incomprehensible to people in a society long open, the stark contrast between the comfort of rare privilege and emotional squalor and the material squalor of the young student/architect and emotional richness there goes beyond the triteness the another user accuses this material of.

I am fairly jaded westerner moved to emotional resonance, (certainly not the result of the melodramatic ending I could have done without.)