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Lan Yu (Mandarin)

By Golu

There are a lot of tragic love stories but not many come to mind in the LGBT context. Yes, you will see a lot of queer themed films which have a sad ending, but either they were not really romantic in the first place or the tragedy didn't hit the audience like it does in this film. Apparently, this movie was filmed in Beijing without government permission and is based on a novel published anonymously on the Internet in 1997.

Lan Yu is an architecture student and is desperately in need of money. Someone who knows him suggest prostitution for one night, and Lan Yu is introduced to Handong, who is a successful businessman and international trader. They spend the night together and Lan Yu starts feeling emotionally attached to Handong, for whom this was just another sexual night. They meet a couple more times and Handong showers Lan Yu with expensive gifts and money. ONe night when Lan Yu finds handong wit another young man, he is heart broken and he leaves. Handong does reconnect wit him until a few years later on the night of Chinese army's Tiananmen Square crackdown. The two men start a new chapter in life. Handong now almost loves Lan Yu, gives him time, attention, money and an expensive house to live in. But soon enough Handong meets woman and gives in to marrying her for social pressure. This comes as a shock to Lan Yu, who decides to leave the big house and him and Handong lose all contact. A chance meeting at the airport and Lan Yu's invitation to a home-cooked meal reunited the pair. Finally, Chen Handong reciprocated the love and commitment Lan Yu had so freely given and the two were truly a couple. But again, Handong's company gets into government investigation because of which he is put into prison. Lan Yu sells the home, takes out al his savings and gifts that he was saving to go to US to help Handong come out of prison. Unfortunately, just as he realized that the younger man was truly his beloved and his destiny, Lan Yu is killed in a construction accident. Three years later, Chen Handong is still grief-stricken.

The film shows us a span of almost 1-12 years in the life of these two lovers and how things and situations change with them and around them. People grow up with time and mature and this is so well portrayed in the film. Sadly, its never made clear how much time has passed between the scenes and as an audience you just have to guess whether few months or few years have passed. But lives of both these men go on and the film is about the lovers reuniting a few times and getting separated time and again for one reason or the other. Lan Yu is passive, loves Handong but he never stands upto him. He always just blindly accepts him for what he is. In contrast, Handong is a sharp focused man. He is just not sure of whether he loves this man or not. Also remember, we are talking of the situation in late 80s, when probably being gay was not the easiest thing. One of my personal favorite scene is when they reconnect after Handong's divorce and there is this awkwardness between them. They both clearly still love each other but neither wants to make the first move. Lan Yu still feels cheated and hurt while Handong feels guilty for leaving his true love for a woman. The end was a bit sad, more for Lan Yu, who never really got to live his dream or true love.

I think the film definitely deserves an audience. At less than 90 minutes of run time, this did not disappoint me. (6/10)

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