Incrocio d'amore

I went to see this by chance one wet afternoon after work and came out feeling great. It's a quirky little gem that carries you along and reminds you of the innocence and emotions you felt as a teenager. It does this in a manner that is totally authentic to the culture from which it comes and reminds us of our own cultures loss of identity.

The male character is interesting as he is initially manipulated as a naive male teen by the lead female (who is lesbian), but later metamorphosis's into a strong and true friend who we could all use. I loved the bit where they sit on their bicycles next to each other in the traffic and watch each others faces in between inching alternatively ahead of each other.

First of all, if something has to be written about this film, it's about the poetic way the director talks about teenage problem in Asia. The story, about a young man and two young girls is really close to the "2 girls and a boy" type and at the beginning, you can be afraid that the film would be like a boredom teenage movie, but be confident, it's not and so go on watching it... The love story is about teenagers who don't love the right person (the girl who loves her classmate who is also a girl, who loves a young man, who loves the first girl) and the thing which makes it interesting is the fact that the story is not focused on the three people but only on two of them who try to create a false couple (as their love is not mutual and shared). This couple transforms itself in a kind of friendship, born from incomprehension.

How sometimes destiny makes us meet some people by chance, those who will be essential to our lives. That's the real topic of this movie. Little by little, the girl, who's afraid to love girls and the guy, who's afraid to be alone start to know each other and to love each other, even if they'll never be a couple. The movie is good because of that way to treat teenage relationships and also by the quality of the image.

The work on image is really really good. Some sequences are quite splendid (like the first sequence or the one with the two main characters on bicycles) and the music is also really good (a simple piano theme). The actors are really incredible and fit absolutely their characters.

The whole charm of the movie lies in the real fragility of teenage relationships and on how life is taken by these characters : complicated, light and sometimes quite incredibly beautiful.

Upon seeing it at the AFI Fest, Yee Chin-yen's "Blue Gate Crossing" instantly became one of my favorite pictures of 2003.

The premise is very simple, and yet it is one of those about which the less is said, the better. Simply put, it examines the effect on two girls, best friends in high school, when one has a crush from afar on a boy, and the other actually starts talking to him. The writing is delicate, the performances completely natural and real. Even the look of the movie -- echoing Wong Kar-Wai's elegantly composed, florescent-lit romances -- is stylish without being over-stylized. The narrative is never forced, and yet the ground covered encompasses the awkwardness of a first kiss, the vagaries of sexual orientation, the safety of fantasy over reality, and the nature of friendship -- both the kinds that just happen and those that come about because they've been earned. Finally, the last minute of this movie made a mess of me, I haven't gushed so hard since "Whale Rider."

Yes, this is a Taiwanese "art film"; and it does explore an old and worn theme - coming of age in high school. However, it does so in a tender, unusual way. Additionally, it tells a teen lesbian awakening, still now quite daring material for film from that part of the world. But, it is a sweet film, which really does not come off as being neither artsy nor gay. The characters are common people, yet sensitive and well developed. They come across as average, normal people one can relate to. In short, this is a little gem: simple, very believable, well told, leaving one full of good feelings at the end.

"A fantastic film about adolescence"

Unfortunately, I doubt many in the U.S. will ever see it. I'm also unsure as to whether U.S. audiences would like it much anyway. I myself loved it - it's very beautiful, one of the best films on that age group I've ever seen.

The story revolves around three teens in a Taipei high school, two girls and a boy. The girls like to think of themselves as BFFs ("best friends forever!") and, like any two best friends, they talk to each other about boys. The third character is the boy one of them likes. The two girls look for him one night and the girl who doesn't like him approaches him to tell him that her girlfriend has a crush on him. The second girl, however, is too nervous and flees the scene. The boy then thinks that the girl who approached him actually likes him but won't say it straight out.

I won't go on with the plot. If I am wrong and it does get a U.S. release, I don't want to be the one who ruins the surprises (I'll let the professional critics do that). Suffice it to say that, unlike American films about high school, Blue Gate Crossing remains simple and honest all the way through. There are no subplots or melodramatic developments. No one gets knocked up or dies in a tragic drag racing accident. We are just left to witness the sweet and beautiful events in the lives of these three characters. The reason that I believe it will never be officially released in the United States is this: it'll seem far too innocent. These kids are meant to be between 16 and 18 years old. For a U.S. audience, their actions and attitudes will seem like those of sixth graders. Perhaps even in Taiwan it will be seen as quaint. One of the film's producers, Peggy Chiao, was present at the screening I attended and she said that the director himself (Yi Chih-yen) was afraid that the film was too sweet. It's really up to 1) distributors and 2) film critics. Let's face it, the first obstacle for U.S. distribution will be nearly impossible to overcome. As for critics, people love to flaunt that critics in this modern day and age are meaningless. That may be true for the latest teen sex comedy, but for foreign films they are of the utmost importance. I am afraid that they will see little but an after school special in Blue Gate Crossing. Let's all hope I'm wrong and that this'll be the biggest foreign hit since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 9/10.