POSSIBLE SPOILERS
I was able to catch this on the Sundance channel in June and was very pleasantly surprised. The cinematography is often stunning - this is a gorgeous film, and I found the two primary characters to be fascinating.
My knowledge of gay culture and politics in China is only secondhand, but I did see this film as very allegorical - with the police officer (the official or institutional center of power and control) being confronted with the dignity and self-assurance of the gay man he is interrogating (who represents a cultural or generational shift that is inevitable, gradually emergent, and can no longer be ignored, abused or taken for granted). The gay character is well aware of the value in his own life, which gives him the upper hand emotionally, even (or especially) when he declares his love for his increasingly conflicted captor - the seemingly submissive character in subtle ways manages to control and ultimately hijack the dynamics in this relationship.
In this fashion EAST PALACE WEST PALACE appropriates gay stereotypes that are often exploited in a more regressive fashion, and uses them in subtle but subversive ways to make fascinating, progressive and quite radical (non-gay-specific) social commentary. A gorgeous, fascinating, complex film that deserves a wider audience.
I was able to catch this on the Sundance channel in June and was very pleasantly surprised. The cinematography is often stunning - this is a gorgeous film, and I found the two primary characters to be fascinating.
My knowledge of gay culture and politics in China is only secondhand, but I did see this film as very allegorical - with the police officer (the official or institutional center of power and control) being confronted with the dignity and self-assurance of the gay man he is interrogating (who represents a cultural or generational shift that is inevitable, gradually emergent, and can no longer be ignored, abused or taken for granted). The gay character is well aware of the value in his own life, which gives him the upper hand emotionally, even (or especially) when he declares his love for his increasingly conflicted captor - the seemingly submissive character in subtle ways manages to control and ultimately hijack the dynamics in this relationship.
In this fashion EAST PALACE WEST PALACE appropriates gay stereotypes that are often exploited in a more regressive fashion, and uses them in subtle but subversive ways to make fascinating, progressive and quite radical (non-gay-specific) social commentary. A gorgeous, fascinating, complex film that deserves a wider audience.