Men and Women (1999 film)
Encyclopedia
Men and Women is a 1999 Chinese comedy-drama film directed by Liu Bingjian
. The film was co-written by Cui Zi'en, one of the few openly gay writers in China. Cui also has a cameo-role in the film, as the host of an underground radio show.
One of China's few films touching on LGBT
-films, Men and Women was cast with openly gay actors. Unlike earlier films like Zhang Yuan's East Palace, West Palace
, Men and Women focused on the daily lives of its characters, rather than their underground existence in Chinese society.
The film won a FIPRESCI
award at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival
.
in search of a job. There he is taken in by Qing Jie, who not only gives him a home in her apartment, but also a job in her clothing store. While she tries to set Xiao Bo with her friend A Meng, Xiao Bo resists and eventually moves out when he is assaulted by Qing Jie's husband. He moves in with his friend, Chong Chong, with whom a romantic relationship is kindled.
Qing Jie, meanwhile, discovers that she may have feelings for A Meng, and decides to leave her husband.
Liu Bingjian
Liu Bingjian is a Chinese film director who emerged on the cinema scene in the late 1990s with his LGBT-themed film Men and Women.- Career:...
. The film was co-written by Cui Zi'en, one of the few openly gay writers in China. Cui also has a cameo-role in the film, as the host of an underground radio show.
One of China's few films touching on LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
-films, Men and Women was cast with openly gay actors. Unlike earlier films like Zhang Yuan's East Palace, West Palace
East Palace, West Palace
East Palace, West Palace is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan starring Hu Jun, Si Han. It is also known as Behind the Forbidden City or Behind the Palace Gates....
, Men and Women focused on the daily lives of its characters, rather than their underground existence in Chinese society.
The film won a FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
award at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
.
Plot
Men and Women follows the travels of a young homosexual man, Xiao Bo, who goes to BeijingBeijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in search of a job. There he is taken in by Qing Jie, who not only gives him a home in her apartment, but also a job in her clothing store. While she tries to set Xiao Bo with her friend A Meng, Xiao Bo resists and eventually moves out when he is assaulted by Qing Jie's husband. He moves in with his friend, Chong Chong, with whom a romantic relationship is kindled.
Qing Jie, meanwhile, discovers that she may have feelings for A Meng, and decides to leave her husband.
Cast
- Yu BoYu BoYu Bo , born on July 22, 1976 in China, is a well-known actor.- Dramas :-External links:* *...
as Xiao Bo - Yang Qing as Qing Jie, the cast's only professional actor (Yang had previously acted in Chinese television), Yang plays Qing Jie, who befriends Xiao Bo and gives him both a place to stay and a job at her clothing store.
See also
- East Palace, West PalaceEast Palace, West PalaceEast Palace, West Palace is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan starring Hu Jun, Si Han. It is also known as Behind the Forbidden City or Behind the Palace Gates....
, director Zhang Yuan's earlier film, often seen as the first Chinese film to have homosexual themes.