esrosedotblog

It is hard to know what to make of this gay film made in China.

It is mostly about coming out of the closet and then going back in again. It is Chinese and some of the themes are quite retro. I imagine that gay men there are going through a lot of the stuff that happened here in the 70s.

In any case there is a lot going on. Too many subplots. But it tries hard. A gay Frenchman falls in love with a local man who is easily seduced and likes the experience.

The two male leads are nice to watch. The female lead, one of the guy's girlfriend, does everything she can to disrupt things and the results are tragic all around. She is a villain. Pure and simple.

The speechlessness comes from the fact that one of the men is rendered that way from a head injury. But you don't understand this until much later. I thought that he was legitimately mute and just getting along in the world but that is not the case.

There is some nice loving type of sex between the men. There is real kissing. There is enough gayness to make it real. But the social situation is hard to handle. I am not Chinese and so I do not get a lot of the difficulties that these men encounter.

I didn't like it very much and certainly don't want to buy it. Gay positive, it is not. But it defends gayness and shows homophobia at its most destructive. So it is a moral tale without much positivity.

And so on.

I sure do not want to see it again.

Labels: gay films