Best Asian Gay Films 2/2

Part 2 of my Best Asian Gay Films post.

4. Eternal Summer
Dir. : Leste Chen
Cast: Joseph Chang, Bryant Chang, Kate Yeung

I have to be honest. Before I watched Eternal Summer, I expected it to be as bad as those ghei Japanese movies, which star the talents from D-Boys. Don’t get me wrong, Japan produces the best gay porn in the world (don’t ask me why I know and don’t judge me) but it has yet to come up with a substantial homosexual film that would not make me roll my eyes and yell “fan service!”. Even Grains of Sand and A Touch of Fever didn’t impress me that much. Oh, wait. There’s Funeral Parade.

Anyway going back, this Taiwanese movie reminded me a lot of Dawson’s Creek – only more somber and of course, gay. The acting was just top-notched! Bryant Chang was so superb in his role, I almost wanted to reach out to my screen and let him rest his head on my shoulder as he cries. And I have to mention, too, that their bed scene, albeit short, was just holy fucking awesome (in a very artistic sort of way, okay?).

Though the film had a lot of moments, I can say I was more impressed with what it had done to me at the end. I was on the verge of crying but there were no tears so I was left with a heavy heart and both my hands covering my mouth. Also, props to the writer for that dreary yet hopeful open-ending.

5. Happy Together
Dir. : Wong Kar Wai
Cast : Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung

This film is a classic in so many levels.

It’s in black and white/color with a very film-noir feel but had a mainstream release. It starred two of Hong Kong’s top actors in homosexual roles. It was directed by Wong Kar Wai. ‘Nuff said.

Okay, fine. Maybe I have a bit more to say. One thing you’d realize about this movie is that the homosexual facet of the story wasn’t really highlighted. I mean, if they both didn’t have mustaches, they’d pass for a straight couple. And bitch, please. You can never go wrong with a Leslie Cheung performance.

6. Rainbow Eyes (Mask)
Dir. : Yang Yoon-ho
Cast : Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-seon, Lee Soo-kyeong

If I tell you that this is one of the best films I’ve ever seen, would you believe me? Well, you should. Because I totally had no expectations for this movie and I was just blown away.

Mask is a homosexual film in the guise of a suspenseful “whodunnit” movie. Much as I’d like to tell you the plot, I can’t. Not even because I don’t want to spoil it but because it’s just so fucking complicated and confuzzling. But really, I have so much praises for this production (though the ending was a bit cheesy). To say that it was well pieced together is an understatement. I don’t even know how the writer came up with the story, more so with that tear-your-hair-what-the-hell twist. Also, the director was really gutsy to use a very uncommon, almost MV-like treatment for the flashback scenes with the shaky camera movement and the over-filtered images. Gawd, this movie not only made me cry but made me want to be better in my field so that someday, I’d be able to create something as fantabulous.

Okay, I’m almost spazzing now. Calm down, Kring. Calm down.

Six words, my friends – MASK IS SO BRILLANT, YOU JUST HAVE TO MOTHERFUCKING WATCH IT.

Runners-up:

King and the Clown:

Yes, it’s a really beautiful movie but I don’t consider it a “gay film”. I’m really wishing though that they’d come out with a “director’s cut” that has a bed scene with Lee Jun-ki being the delish uke that he is.

Bara no Soretsu:

This is the ultimate. Like the queen of all Asian gay films. I mean, back in the day when homosexuality wasn’t even talked about in cinema yet, Matsumoto Toshio made one in the 60′s that’s so “whoah are you serious?!”, I’m sure it made him Takashi Miike’s childhood hero.

So there you have it, folks! My fave gay Asian flicks as of December ’08. I’m constantly on the look-out for new ones so there may be another post in the future. And I really hope that even if you’re straight as a rebonded hair, you’d give these films a try. You don’t have to swing the other way but who knows, you might find out your “true calling”…

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