Kwan’s 2001 film was the strongest in a wave of gay-themed Chinese films and remains a poignant work that tugs at audience heartstrings
At the start of Stanley Kwan’s masterly 2001 melodrama, entrepreneur Chen Handong (Hu Jun) thinks back to the 1980s and to the night he met young architecture student Lan Yu (Liu Ye), freshly arrived in Beijing from the country and ripe for mentoring and more. The older man warns his toy boy not to get attached. “When two people know each other too well, it’s time to separate,” he says – then signally fails to heed his own advice. He showers Lan Yu with gifts, even buying him a villa, but external events exert unreasonable pressures on them. Handong feels obliged to marry a woman, while Lan Yu joins the protests in Tiananmen Square. The massacre may be reduced here to noises off but its inclusion helps explain,...
At the start of Stanley Kwan’s masterly 2001 melodrama, entrepreneur Chen Handong (Hu Jun) thinks back to the 1980s and to the night he met young architecture student Lan Yu (Liu Ye), freshly arrived in Beijing from the country and ripe for mentoring and more. The older man warns his toy boy not to get attached. “When two people know each other too well, it’s time to separate,” he says – then signally fails to heed his own advice. He showers Lan Yu with gifts, even buying him a villa, but external events exert unreasonable pressures on them. Handong feels obliged to marry a woman, while Lan Yu joins the protests in Tiananmen Square. The massacre may be reduced here to noises off but its inclusion helps explain,...
- 9/11/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The latest in a never-ending series of propaganda movies from mainland China, Manifesto is an account of the life and times of Chen Wangdao, the translator and scholar who completed in 1920 China’s first translation of “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Chen undertook this life-changing task when he returned from his studies in Japan. Chen Duxiu, Yu Xiusong, Shi Cuntong, Jing Hengyi, Dai Jitao and other key historical figures are also portrayed in the movie. (Sources: Douban and China Daily)
Director Hou Yong has worked on Zhang Yimou’s movies, The Road Home (1999) and Hero (2002), in cinematography and the camera/electrical department. He was also a co-director for a 2021 drama series The Rebel Princess starring Zhang Ziyi. Manifesto‘s cast members include Liu Ye, Hu Jun and Janice Man. It has premiered in China on March 24, 2023.
Director Hou Yong has worked on Zhang Yimou’s movies, The Road Home (1999) and Hero (2002), in cinematography and the camera/electrical department. He was also a co-director for a 2021 drama series The Rebel Princess starring Zhang Ziyi. Manifesto‘s cast members include Liu Ye, Hu Jun and Janice Man. It has premiered in China on March 24, 2023.
- 4/6/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
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