Mei shao nian zhi lian

Yes, the cinematography of this movie is well-done, the musical soundtrack is fine, and, as others have pointed out, the main characters are male and, indeed, may be described as beautiful and as eye candy. But, make no mistake, these are gay characters, and their stories are gay ones. So, if other reviews haven't made that abundantly clear, this one is now doing so.

That said, and despite what some other reviewers may have lead you to believe, if you are expecting to see really well done love making scenes that are natural and true-to-life, you're going to be disappointed. The male on male love making shots, for the most part, are made up of fumbling gestures. Rather than actual kissing, there is an awful lot of what I would call "neck nuzzling" (you know, that's what you do when you can't stand to place your lips on those of another human being---but instead spend moment after moment grinding your face in the crook of that person's neck and shoulder). But, wait, there is one end-of-film scene between our two main characters in which actual lip to lip kissing does occur.....and it is exciting. Fortunately for the undoubtedly embarrassed actors, however, the script does call for a quick "interruption" to the proceedings (doesn't that always seem to happen?).

I have a tip for those of you who wish to proceed in purchasing this title on DVD (I honestly don't especially regret doing so, and you can maybe check out some place like yesasia). Here's that tip: the subtitling into English of what is spoken in this film (perhaps a Chinese dialect, such as Cantonese) is, I believe, the poorest I have ever run across. Silly things, for the most part, which detract mightily from the film's story (example: the subtitle is meant to read "From dusk to dawn" but instead shows across the bottom of the picture as "From dust to dawn"). And there is a lot of this type thing. Too bad, because our leads, Wu and Fung, were either born and/or partially raised in the US, one even attending the U. of Michigan. The film makers should have paid these guys a little extra and had them take care of the subtitling. If I were a wannabe star, I'd even have done it for free.

I picked "Bishonen" up on DVD a few months ago when I was in Hong Kong and just finally got around to watching it last night. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but it exceeded whatever those expectations were.

More than anything else, I was very moved by the story insomuch as how it unfolded and how the actors carried the film in both their physical motions (basically how they carried themselves) and simple raw emotions (love, lust, revulsion).

The film was not glossy, but rather chose an almost realistic if not surreal background which complimented it incredibly. Much of it flowed quite smoothly and served to captivate the audience as much as the actors themselves.

Those of you wondering about the plot now that I've got all that out of the way, a male prostitute is roaming the streets of Hong Kong one day and exchanges looks with another young man who is shopping with someone who might be his girlfriend. For the next hour and 40 minutes, the relationship between the two men develop, expand to include other characters (another male prostitute, a Pop singer, a rather unusual photographer) and ultimately explore how are ultimately involved with each other.

This film doesn't exploit gay sex by showing needless amounts of it nor does it reduce it along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The DVD comes with Director's Commentary (of which I unfortunately don't understand a word of), Cast Information, Production Information, an interview with the director, some post card still shots, a photo collage and a couple of short films. The Video CD (if anyone is interested) also contains a film cell.

My Rating is an 8

I managed to buy this DVD when I was based in HK in the late 90's, a time of my Life I loved and will never forget. The movie is based on a true story, partly, when a society playboy DID take numerous photographs of serving, young Police Officers, many of whom worked in the Happy Valley Police Station on HK Island ; I read the Press reports in 1995, and I had a flat a stone's throw from this police Stn. I recognised, indeed frequented many of the bars and cafes featured in the film, and met Terence Yin (KS in the film) in Staunton's Bar in Central on HK Island, and he kindly scribbled his autograph for me in 2001. The street Life of the Territory is lovingly filmed by the director, Yonfan, (whom I saw often in HK) and choice of actors ideal, excepting the cameo role by the Western film critic. Daniel Wu does well in his role of Sam, showing his unhappiness when required and his young modesty and loyalty to Jet(Stephen Fung, rumoured in the 90's to be bisexual in HK) when he felt he should be, but Jet was immature and realised too late he did love Sam and was for a time loved in return. It accurately portrays gay life in HK pre-Handover and the background music is haunting. This film will forever be for me my memento of my happy years in HK and the many friends I knew then, and may well be others who are gay and were based in the former Colony. Finally, in some ways it is a film about a lost love and a missed opportunity for a deep and lasting love over fleeting sexual encounters and the superficiality of many gay/bi relationships. Come the end of the film, I really was choked up. The subtitles are well enough done and not the distraction referred to by another reviewer here ; definitely buy this DVD for a romantic film, in a romantic city setting, and a period of Time now gone.

I really don't understand how this movie is a failure. The story is well-organized, the music is awesome and the castings are good-looking. The story focuses on Jet's love-life in particular and gay world in general thru 4 main characters, Jet, Sam, Ah Ching and K.S, who are all connected with each other somehow. The message from the movie just could be perceived that the love between people of the same sex is just as strong and fervent as normal male and female love, or maybe even stronger. The movie just wants to tell us about a homosexual love, to show us what lays beneath the seemingly disgusting caresses and kisses between two men are true feelings from every beat of their hearts. But they can not be free to live with their true feelings because of social prejudice against gay and duties with their family. The contradictions in their minds could not be easily justified so gay-themed movies usually have an unhappy ending with one of the two seeking for death as a solution, an escape. Moreover, the movie also portrays a dark rubbish world of hustlers with extreme disgrace and even pain in their hearts and bodies. If you view this movie with your ready bias against gay people or just attach too much importance to some of its trivial things, then you could definitely not perceive its message. No matter what criticism it may receive, I really think this movie could touch hearts.

Are you tired of seeing films with pretty gay boys wandering through a Freshmen magazine glossy world who are constantly given the opportunity to take off their shirts? Well, I am and therefore this film was a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious eye-candy but the boy-meets-boy boy-gets-boy boy-loses-boy storyline is tired and the characters are flat and dull. Will some film maker (other than the brilliant John Greyson) realize that the gay film-going audience wants more, needs more, and deserves more?