Lan Yu (2001) Synopsis:
Based on the internet novel which was an underground hit in China, two men conduct an on-off relationship over time, against a background of change and social upheavel.
Lan Yu (2001) Movie Review:
Filmed secretly in mainland China, Stanley Kwan translated a cult gay novel ("Beijing Story") which was published pseudonymously (credited to a "Beijing Comrade") to screen. Set against the tumultuous events of China during the late 1980's, Handong, the worldly, macho successful businessman son of a government official, meets the young and innocent architect student, Lan Yu, in a bar, and begins an affair which begins and ends several times throughout an unspecified period of time. In the beginning, both approach their relationship differently: while Lan Yu's feelings are sincere, Handong's laissez-faire approach causes the other much hurt and anger. Though love finally blossoms, tragedy inevitably strikes.
Kwan specialises in films of doomed love and romance, their melodrama balanced by the writing, dialogue and the performances of the actors. The look of this film compared to his previous projects could not be more different. In "Rouge", Kwan re-created the lush, decadent world of 1920s Shanghai courtesans and complex sexual rituals. "Lan Yu" does not have the same lushness, looking rough and ready. This may be due to the environment in which the film was made, which apparently was done secretly to escape notice from a regime which until recently has denied the existence of homosexuality in China. The film could benefit from some judicial editing to produce a tighter film: it feel dull and lengthy in parts.
Kwan chooses to focus primarily on the characters and their relationship to each other. For instance, we never discover why Handong's eventual heterosexual marriage ended. The momentous events that occur in the background are neither examined nor explained (though maybe it would be understandable to those living in China or Beijing). The interaction between the two lovers provide much of the impact of the film: though Lan Yu's heartfelt words ache in their grief and pain, while Handong, for all his extrovert qualities, struggle to articulate his inner feelings, until it was too late.
Apart from the politics of this film, it doesn't break any new grounds. Its theme of love, loss and romantic doom is universal enough to appeal to all mainstream audience.
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Lan Yu (2001) review written by: Eden Law
6th September, 2008 
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