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      East Palace, West Palace

      Released Jul 18, 1997 1h 34m Drama List
      80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 58% Audience Score 500+ Ratings A heterosexual Beijing policeman (Hu Jun) and a young homosexual (Si Han) challenge each other's sexuality. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (5) Critics Reviews
      Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Though too verbose and static, it's the first film to deal explicitly with gay life in China, and as such adds a panel to the growing body of movies about sexual politics in rigid societies. Rated: B Jul 2, 2011 Full Review Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena Sua inegvel relevncia poltica e social (especialmente poca de seu lanamento) infelizmente no se traduz em qualidade narrativa. Rated: 2/5 Apr 27, 2009 Full Review Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Feels like a stage play with two characters in a single room, but the way the story delicately unfolds keeps us gripped. Rated: 3.5/5 Jul 11, 2004 Full Review Kevin Lally Film Journal International [Has] a sophistication and haunting complexity that would be the pride of any open Western auteur. Oct 30, 2001 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The first mainland Chinese drama to deal openly with the subject of homosexuality. Rated: B Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (10) audience reviews
      Audience Member DEMORALIZING ...somewhat disturbing and overall pointless Just because this movie was banned in China does not mean it's an important work that needs to be seen. It is simply not very good. The main gay character was interesting and sympathetic in the beginning; then turns out to be a sad & pathetic basket case!! Went from Good to Bad to Worse. I found the portrayal of the gay character very offensive!! What was the point here? That imply that gay men are obsessed with seducing and corrupting their law-abiding hetero counterparts? Or that they have so little respect they will endure (almost welcome) abuse and humiliation at any cost? ...like dog that is beaten and abused by his maser; he will still stay and try to please him. JUST SAD!! Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Stagey and arty-farty. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member The first openly gay film to come out of Communist China is a good choice for the Valentines Day couple looking for a little more titillation than romance. This 1996 flick is disconcertingly strange, with a ponderous pace and a fixation on light sado-masochism, but it’s still hauntingly absorbing. A policeman (Jun) arrests a gay man (Han) caught prowling a public park after dark for sex. The officer basically molests and humiliates the man, ostensibly hoping to scare him away from public sex and his “despicable” sexual orientation. But the victim senses something about the cop and arranges to get caught a second time. The policeman takes the prisoner back to his park-side headquarters and starts to question him about his homosexual past and predilections, asking for vivid details. Though the arc of the story holds few surprises, the way it’s told is oddly alluring. The gay man senses his tale has some power over the officer, so he divulges information in spurts, jumping from story to story and throwing in Chinese folklore. Every so often, the gruff cop gets fed up and abuses the gay man, who we sense wanted it all along. It’s mild torture as aphrodisiac, replete with the occasional goofy, over-the-top sexual symbolism. (The prisoner is punished with a hose at one point, get it?) Still, East Palace, West Palace is told with skill and subtle friction, turning the power of Chinese brutality into a method of subversive sexual arousal. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Yuan Zhang's 4th feature. A very beautiful and philosophical dailogue drama between a gay guy and a cop whom he loves. Through the conversation between them at the interrogation at midnight police station, it questions us what is our dignity, what is love, and what is something we just cannot say right or wrong. Despite its minimal number of characters, its theme is deep. The screenplay and cinematography which make the most of natural lights are great. What is the best of this films is sound design - music and sound FXs are used very effectively to describe characters' mentality, to make us feel tension and excitement, and to add some mysterious mood. Si Han (the gay guy) and Jun Hu (the cop), their performances are really superb. Yuan Zhang shows his real ability when he chooses a controversial topic like this one. Described in this film are modern China's doubt, rip current, conflict betwen old and new morals, and something universal. This sincerity of the film moves me. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member An interesting small glimpse into another world. The story is quite slow and the imagery a S&M fantasy. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Like its name Behind the Foridden City, this movie has been foriddened for more than 10 years. Read the original novel before by Wang Xiao Bo. Zhang Yuan knew what was the gay life in China like but he didn't really know about what a gay looks like. anyway, this in one of the first released gay film here. It is a view-changing piece. He told people in Chian: There "are" gays in our country. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis A heterosexual Beijing policeman (Hu Jun) and a young homosexual (Si Han) challenge each other's sexuality.
      Director
      Yuan Zhang
      Producer
      Willy Tsao
      Screenwriter
      Wang Xiaobo, Yuan Zhang
      Distributor
      Strand Releasing
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Chinese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jul 18, 1997, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Dec 9, 2020
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $46.5K
      Runtime
      1h 34m
      Sound Mix
      Dolby, Surround
      Aspect Ratio
      35mm