Lan Yu

LAN YU is another indication that films from China are becoming increasingly more poignant, less dependent on spectacle, and certainly more daring in view of the political milieu. Director Stanley Kwan not only has courage to make this poignant film, he also has the gifts to create an atmospheric, gentle, quiet, and luminously photographed love story. He draws understated performances from his actors, never stooping to caricature, always respectful of the inherent delicacy of his subject matter. Lan Yu is a handsome young gay architecture student who becomes involved with Hangdong, a closeted Beijing businessman. The affair they pursue is subtle yet not without passion, the kind of understated passion that rings true rather than playing for sensationalism. The plot twists and turns - Lan Yu is set aside by Hangdong for a "proper marriage" which leads to divorce and to other losses, bringing Hangdong back to seek his real love - Lan Yu. The change in their relationship speaks loudly for a wider acceptance of same sex love. To reveal the ending would be a disservice to the viewer. Part of the joy of this simple story is the sensitivity of Hangdong's colleagues in responding to the his various dilemmas: there is no "bad guy", no prejudice, no castigation - these friends are committed and make homophobia seem merely a foreign, unimportant word. This film is a model of restraint and intelligent, finely crafted story telling. The actors are uniformly excellent and win our hearts. Highly Recommended!

I cried while watching it, and I don't know if I was crying about my life or the movie. "Rainbow Shy and Afraid to be on Camera" kept feeling like it was a bad ending, and near the end thought it was a happy ending, but it almost can be seen as a good ending. The square was mentioned over and over again and I kept wondering if it was really just a romance movie.

Generally I'm not a big fan of melodrama, and LAN YU is a classic, Sirk-league piece of melodrama, so I can't say I loved this film. But it is impressive in a number of ways - the depiction of intimacy, and of a slowly-developing relationship is very well done, and this film is very obviously the work of a thoughtful and talented filmmaker. I also liked the cinematography - very un-flashy, which serves the material well: a dry, slice-of-life look which stands apart from the dramatics of the plot, and definitely underscores the normality (or validity) of gay relationships, perhaps in a culture that is still coming to terms with such relationships. The dinner scenes - which are beautifully shot and staged - stand out.

It should be noted that director Stanley Kwan has a handful of other artistically notable films to his credit, with ROUGE and ACTRESS generating acclaim around the globe. Kwan claims Hollywood melodramatist Douglas Sirk and Japanese contemporary dramatist Yasujiro Ozu as major influences, and both of those influences are apparent here - the studied, careful mis-en-scene of Ozu; and a story balanced between social critique and three-hanky melodrama, in the fashion of Sirk. Kwan is also one of a small (but growing) number of out Asian filmmakers, and noting this (and his artistic influences) helps to understand the overall importance of this film.

If some of the most creative and engaging gay film being made today is coming from Asia, Europe and Latin America - which I believe to be true - then this film is definitely among the best of that wave. Worth a look.

I really wanted to like this movie. The actors are good looking, honest and real, and the very fact that it is a Chinese film is intriguing. However well intentioned this film was, I believe that it fell quite short of its mark.

The story is of two guys who have a relationship; there is not much new here. Although there are some wonderful uses of interesting camera angles and a decided lack of score, Lan Yu was not able to unify these elements into an effective picture.

Don't get me wrong, however, the film was quite interesting. But when I left I felt cheated; the ending is a huge disappointment, and the entire intermittent narrative voice is really unnecessary. Although well intentioned, this film gyrates between excess sentimentality (Chinese film style,) and touching humor; although some movies can pull these two strains together, this one could not.

Whereas other reviewers have stated a great emotional complexity, I caught no such vibe from either of the main characters. Unfortunately, I really did not care that much about either of them, and was unable to believe that their love was as great as they both proclaimed at various times. Although sweet, this movie was really just fluff lite.

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.)