East Palace, West Palace

The story is so much more than the description. The acting, direction and editing were perfection. The unfolding of the story, how one's childhood experiences play a great part in who we are as adults, is a dimension the helps understand why each man is who he is, but this is a small part of the story. There is a sado masochism element to the relationship between the men that is so powerful it takes control of all other thoughts & feelings each had. The struggles of the police officer to fight this attraction was brilliantly executed. The story makes one question definitions of love, obsession and an emotional/mental connection that has less to do with the past, but an attempt to heal wounds from childhood.

Quatrefoil, a non-profit LGBTQ library in Minneapolis, sells overstock items on Amazon. Most of the used DVDs I purchased from Quatrefoil are very rare. When they are available online, the cost is much more than the library's asking price. My shipment arrived 2 days after I ordered, with a nice thank you note. Quatrefoil: Your first stop for rare, out of print LGBTQ books and movies! Visit them when in Minneapolis....and don't forget the donation box. Well done Quatrefoil!

Just because this movie was banned in China does not mean it is something meaningful that needs to be seen. It is simply not very good. The main gay character was interesting and sympathetic in the beginning; then turns out to be a sad & pathetic basket case that I would want to stay far away from!! It went from Good to Bad to Worse.I found the portrayal of the gay character very offensive!! What was the point here? To imply that gay men are obsessed with seducing and corrupting their law-abiding hetero counterparts? Or that they have so little respect they will endure (almost welcome) abuse and humiliation at any cost simply to get some affection? ...like dog that is beaten and abused by his maser; he will still stay and try to please. JUST SAD!!Since this is supposedly the first "gay" film out of China, and 25 years old ...perhaps this mess can be useful to gauge/compare future films; to show how film making (and possibly Chinese society) have changed (hopefully improved).

Whatever your country of origin is, wherever you live, and regardless of your gender or sexual orientation, this film will be probably be unsettling in one or many ways. But I am convinced that it will touch you. If you can watch it with an open mind, and with genuine curiosity. The script might have worked for a one act play. But the gorgeous cinematography (close-ups, camera angles, foliage, weather, etc) added a lot. What will YOU see when you watch this film? It will tell you something about yourself, and/or about cultures you did not know. If you only see a "tragic homosexual" stereotype, I am sorry, but I think you will have missed the film entirely. If you only see a top/bottom, submissive/dominant sexual power dynamic, you will have seen just part of the what the film is. This film is at once simple (minimal cast, mostly a dialogue between two people) and also multi-layered. The two main characters are quite complex and opposites in many ways, yet I identified with both. The storyline is not comfortable or satisfying in the Hollywood tradition, and neither is the way the story is told. I truly hated the interludes/visions with traditional theatrical characters and music, but that is part of experiencing something new and different. The pace may feel slow to a US audience, but if you sit back, suspend judgment and just drink it all in, perhaps you will feel as exhilarated as I was. The ending is ambiguous. For me it evoked both tragedy and triumph. That is something rare works of art can do.

Excellent condition.

Good psychologic movie from Hong Kong of young Chinese struggling with their sexuality and self-determination.Probably, it lost much in translation.

This is the first Chinese film explicitly dealing with homosexuality and I've never seen such an all-stereotypes-in-one character anti-homosexual propaganda piece in my life. Before acknowledging the blisteringly antiquated prejudice of this film, it's simply overly theatrical event set a glacial pace with bizarrely slow editing & needlessly slow direction. Without the exotic visual of a foreign setting, it would have been unwatchable, ie., the use of a hip height running water hose as stand-in for the cop's arousal in the climax was beyond eyeroll-jawdrop-laughable-cringey-abysmal].Is Chinese culture not able to explore a heterosexual being sexually triggered by a homosexual without bludgeoning the homosexual into a sad, mental, pathetic temptress? Is it not? The heterosexual protagonist has to work so hard to make faulty motivations work it becomes fascinating for all the wrong reasons. Insulting to gay men, so it should be to everyone. Now 24 years old, hopefully this can be watched as a measure of progress as one might the U.S. "Birth of a Nation". Use it as a litmus test for homophobia.

A twisted psychological encounter between a young man cruising a park at night and a policeman. It will leave you wondering.

Esthétisme discret et épuré d' un film où il nous est conté comment tordre le cou au hasard et provoquer la rencontre tant désirée par le jeu de plusieurs manipulations croisées dans une société répressive.....Et l' ennui n'est pas au rendez-vous.

This is a rare gem of Chinese film making, and the director and actors should be respected for their brave effort to give us in the free West a glimpse into the claustrophobic suppression of thought and emotion in a totalitarian society. The acting is outstanding and the two actors keep our attention for the whole duration of this film. On the whole this film is not a minor achievement and deserves wider distribution and appreciation.

This film is base on wong xiao bo's book which is the same name. wong and his wife Li yin he have writed the story for her research on the homosexual of man. In the west , many people know Ang Lee's film Brokenback Mountain. this film is a oriental homo story like BM on certain point,but not all.In 1997 the Chinese government put director 'Zhang, Yuan' under house arrest and confiscated his passport. His friends smuggled this movie out of the country so it could be shown at the 1997 Cannes film festival___by imdbIn china , only a few people know this film, in fact , the few people have labeled it as a gay film,but I think more than "gay"Chinese goverment don't like their people say to many on the sex , so the political enviroment is like their attitude on the sex, zhang want to show this homo story to reflect our politcs. If you know something about the chinese democracy revolution, then you can watch this movie and understand it's meaning easily.