FilmCriticLalitRao As a film, "Lan Yu" can be classified as a simple love story whose protagonists make their intentions clear as they have concrete ideas about how far their relationship would go. It can be surmised that this type of brutal honesty might be appreciated by a certain section of viewers. As this is one of the few original gay themed films to come out of Hong Kong, director Stanley Kwan steers clear of any undue controversy as his film briefly alludes to a time period when Tiananmen Square protests caused tremendous anguish in China. Lan Yu does feature some scenes of mild nudity. However, viewers would find them to be timid if a comparison is made with other gay themed films especially by directors such as François Ozon, Pedro Almodovar and Fassbinder. This film can also be seen in the backdrop of a bigger sociological phenomenon as according to a latest estimate 16 million women are married to gay men in China. This is exactly the fate of this film's hero as he too had to marry to save face. This aspect forms part of the second half which is rather weak. It is from here that the film begins to end on a sluggish note. Finally, Lan Yu is a good film for anybody interested in exploring films made by Stanley Kwan.

Alan J. Jacobs I expected something tepid and tormented, like "East Palace West Palace" and instead found a wonderful drama about the China of the 80s and 90s.A successful businessman sees, at a fancy party, a young man brought to the party by another attendee. He and a co-worker decide to pounce: they take him (Lan Yu) out and treat him royally. The young man winds up staying with the businessman, who gives him money, but is ambivalent about whether he wants to see Lan Yu again. He feels that he can have relationships and remain unattached.Lan Yu shows up periodically over the course of years, and the businessman gives him larger and larger gifts, including a fancy house in the suburbs. But the businessman meets a woman who translates for him in a deal he's making with Russians. He decides to marry the woman. Lan Yu will not put up with it and refuses to see the businessman.The businessman's shady deals get him into trouble, and he loses almost everything. Then Lan Yu comes back into the picture and . . . (I'll leave it there).Besides being a wonderful melodrama, this is also a hot gay film. Full frontal and dorsal nudity, some sex. The men are hairless and sexy, but real. Lots of kissing. And all the time you're wondering: did they actually film this in China? Do they allow this in China? How did they get away with this....It must have been filmed in Hong Kong. Well, according to the Sundance website, this was filmed in China, and based on a short story that appeared only on the Internet.It's by far my favorite Chinese movie, and if you're interested in gay life in the new China, this is the one to see.

David Generally I'm not a big fan of melodrama, and LAN YU is a classic, Sirk-league piece of melodrama, so I can't say I loved this film. But it is impressive in a number of ways - the depiction of intimacy, and of a slowly-developing relationship is very well done, and this film is very obviously the work of a thoughtful and talented filmmaker. I also liked the cinematography - very un-flashy, which serves the material well: a dry, slice-of-life look which stands apart from the dramatics of the plot, and definitely underscores the normality (or validity) of gay relationships, perhaps in a culture that is still coming to terms with such relationships. The dinner scenes - which are beautifully shot and staged - stand out.It should be noted that director Stanley Kwan has a handful of other artistically notable films to his credit, with ROUGE and ACTRESS generating acclaim around the globe. Kwan claims Hollywood melodramatist Douglas Sirk and Japanese contemporary dramatist Yasujiro Ozu as major influences, and both of those influences are apparent here - the studied, careful mis-en-scene of Ozu; and a story balanced between social critique and three-hanky melodrama, in the fashion of Sirk. Kwan is also one of a small (but growing) number of out Asian filmmakers, and noting this (and his artistic influences) helps to understand the overall importance of this film.If some of the most creative and engaging gay film being made today is coming from Asia, Europe and Latin America - which I believe to be true - then this film is definitely among the best of that wave. Worth a look.

Matthew-Barison I really wanted to like this movie. The actors are good looking, honest and real, and the very fact that it is a Chinese film is intriguing. However well intentioned this film was, I believe that it fell quite short of its mark.The story is of two guys who have a relationship; there is not much new here. Although there are some wonderful uses of interesting camera angles and a decided lack of score, Lan Yu was not able to unify these elements into an effective picture.Don't get me wrong, however, the film was quite interesting. But when I left I felt cheated; the ending is a huge disappointment, and the entire intermittent narrative voice is really unnecessary. Although well intentioned, this film gyrates between excess sentimentality (Chinese film style,) and touching humor; although some movies can pull these two strains together, this one could not.Whereas other reviewers have stated a great emotional complexity, I caught no such vibe from either of the main characters. Unfortunately, I really did not care that much about either of them, and was unable to believe that their love was as great as they both proclaimed at various times. Although sweet, this movie was really just fluff lite.