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Moneyboys

Play trailer Poster for Moneyboys 2021 1h 58m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Fei makes a living in the big city working as a hustler. His world collapses when he realizes that his family accepts his money but not his homosexuality. Broken-hearted, Fei struggles to create a new beginning in his life.

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
Javier Ocaña El Pais (Spain) A bit tedious at its core though not enough to disenchant, Moneyboys reaches its best moments when it focuses on family issues... [Full review in Spanish] Jul 8, 2022 Full Review Jordi Batlle Caminal Fotogramas The most outstanding feature of Moneyboys is its esthetic: elegant mise en scène, beautiful frames, a splendid use of space and scope reminiscent of Nicholas Ray that captures and scrutinizes the protagonist to the bone. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 4/5 Jul 7, 2022 Full Review Miguel Ángel Romero Cinemanía (Spain) An effective exercise of homosexual visibility. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 Jul 6, 2022 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills One of the slickest dramatic features at Frameline this year, write-director C.B. Yi’s Taiwan-made, mainland China-set debut is like a more emotionally and stylistically cool version of the Filipino call-boy melodramas Lino Brocka popularized. Jun 28, 2022 Full Review Juan Pablo Russo EscribiendoCine Moneyboys broaches the subject of prostitution in China, choosing to suggest more than show. Only the character's existential journey though guilt, desire, and heartache is explicit. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 8/10 Jun 16, 2022 Full Review Diego Batlle Otroscines.com Boasts an undoubtedly strong narrative and visual landscape – a debut film full of risk and courage. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 Jun 9, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alan W Born in China but educated in Austria since 13, writer-director C.B. Yi's debut is a blend of East-meets-West influences, where, as he himself admits in the post-film Q&A, you'll find shadows of both Michael Haneke and Hsiao-Hsien Hou. The pacing here is best described as art-house, full of long shots and lingering silences, while his camera artfully frames with precision and deliberation. Taiwanese film-star Kai Ko (aka Chen-Tung Ko) plays Fei, a 'moneyboy' in an unnamed Chinese city where homosexuality is as illegal and shameful as prostitution. While he hustles to make money to send home to his family in a rural village, his path crosses first with more experienced moneyboy Max/Xiaolai and then Long, who followed Fei from their village to the big city. Being almost 2hrs long, this film can test one's patience, especially when it's easily trimmable by 20mins if all the moods are removed, but I find this atmospheric film ultimately to be more nuanced and thoughtful after initially feeling it might be too abstract for my taste. The handsome cast is believable and Ko's solid and watchable performance anchors the film well. Despite its arthouse tendencies, there's no shortage of substance or story in its screenplay. The first half of the film takes time to make poignant observations regarding life both as a sex-worker and a homosexual living under a repressive regime in China that occasionally turns a blind eye, especially when it's financially prudent to do so, though they're mostly forgotten later on as the film's focus lands on the central romance between the moneyboys, exploring their loneliness and the transient nature of love and sexuality for them, which has an air of Brokeback Mountain (or Happy Together) about it in its melancholic hopelessness, before the arrival of the obligatory ambiguous arthouse film ending. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Moneyboys

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Movie Info

Synopsis Fei makes a living in the big city working as a hustler. His world collapses when he realizes that his family accepts his money but not his homosexuality. Broken-hearted, Fei struggles to create a new beginning in his life.
Director
C.B. Yi, C.B. Yi
Producer
Guillaume de la Boulaye, Patrick Mao Huang, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, André Logie, Barbara Pichler
Screenwriter
C.B. Yi, C.B. Yi
Production Co
KGP Filmproduktion, La Compagnie Cinématographique, ZORBA production, Flash Forward Entertainment, Panache Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Chinese
Runtime
1h 58m
Aspect Ratio
Digital 2.39:1