I was so very disappointed by this movie. There was absolutely no sex at all. Sure, they show you every little thing up until the act that I was waiting for the whole 86 minutes, and then they disappoint you. This movie is the biggest tease ever, in the history if things that tease. Also, why are all movies about gay Chinese men so depressing? They need to get their act together and just be happy like the Thai boys in Formula 17. Other than the great lack of getting it on, this movie did have good qualities. It does a really good job of portraying the growth of a relationship and the mistakes people make. However, the ending was completely unnecessary and seemed as though it was simply a way to make the movie even more depressing. The ending left me feeling the way one feels when the main character wakes up in a great movie and it was all a dream, as though the writers were out of ideas and just slapped something together in an effort to try to mess with the audience.

As someone who has had two or three boyfriends in "The New China", this film is very accurate, not just about gay men in China -- but also about China today with its real estate booms, and banking scandals, and drinking lots of Johnny Walker Black Label if you're rich enough to afford it. And as someone who has been a professional filmmaker, I think the work is well done. I didn't know that Stanley Kwan cited Sirk and Ozu as influences, but I can see them when I look at this movie. It's got a good narrative pacing and intelligent framing, two qualities I associate with Sirk and Ozu. You can't passively consume this movie; if you try, you'll be bored. But by meditatively viewing this film, there are some good rewards that you will feel by the final fade-out.

Although this movie is pretty limited in everything (scenes mostly confine to indoors, simple storyline, characters mostly just talk and do mundane stuff like eating), I still like it because it was able to pull me into the story and makes me care for the characters in it especially Lan Yu.Both lead actors acted well in their respective roles and have good chemistry. Their interaction is very natural and they really look like they love each other. I especially like looking at Liu Ye's facial expressions.I think Stanley Kwan made the right choice in focusing on the lovers. Honestly, like another reviewer said, I really don't care about what happen in Handong's marriage, or the details in Tiananmen Square or Handong's shady business. I also don't care that the movie didn't reflect any Chinese culture or make any social commentary. What I really care about is only Handong and Lan Yu.But I didn't give this movie 10 stars because Stanley Kwan/the scriptwriter could have done better with the time-line. He should make the time-line clearer, how much time has passed between each stage of the development of their relationship. The movie also could have been longer. It's too short!! :( The ending is actually pretty well done (although I still hate it). Made me want to cry when the song came on. The song lyrics is very suitable for this ending.

I have waded through some pretty sniffy comments on how ordinary this movie is. Admittedly, it is a little like Love Story, with Ali MacGraw, which WAS banal and boring, badly acted and badly filmed (boy meets girl, boy gets girl, girl dies). The setting in Lan Yu, however, with its awesome director, lift it way out of the ordinary. Never mind the snide reviews. These actors are hot!