Bishonen
Reviewer: Trinity Helix [website] [email]Overall Rating: A
Media Reviewed: Unknown
Director: Yeung Fan
Starring: Stephen Fung Tak-Lun, Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, Jason Tsang Chi-Yin, Terence Yin
U.S. Release: None
Run time: 111 minutes (full version)
Language: Cantonese
MPAA Rating: Not Rated (international)
Genre: Drama
Bishonen (also known as Bishonen no Koi), provides a beautiful (if at times cold) look at the intertwined lives and loves of several homosexual characters.
The story is primarily about Jet, a homosexual hustler who is both devastatingly charismatic and without purpose, and how he eventually finds the latter through love. However, as the story moves along, we meet the other people in Jet's life and are soon hopelessly entrenched in their hopes and fears as well. Jet's story, in fact, almost becomes lost midway through the movie, as we are treated to several back stories that inevitably lead us to the story's crux.
The pacing and storytelling of Bishonen is very well-done; the different events unfolding in a non-linear fashion make almost cliched sub-plots seem interesting and new. While the film itself is somewhat grainy (or perhaps it was merely the copy I had acquired?), the locations and scenery are as urban and "Real Life" as Jet himself.
What I liked about Bishonen the most, I think, was its portrayal of events in Jet's life. He is a prostitute with good days and bad days; he has it better than most, worse than some. There is none of the overblown angst-fests that Hollywood has made us so acquainted with-- understatement is this movie's middle name. Even a (very brief) non-consensual scene between Jet and a would-be customer was handled in a very tasteful manner; it both distressed and angered him, but was not used as an excuse for angst. This is, for the viewer's information, what Jet's life is about.
Like Jet, we are forced to take things as they come: to accept and adjust and move on. Shit happens; welcome to the real world.
When Jet finally locates Sam and they begin to see each other, the development is as slow and painstakingly subtle as anything we ourselves might experience in real life. There are no lightning bolts (beyond Jet's initial notice of Sam, of course), no tossing away the cares of the world and running away to the proverbial Gay Heaven together. It is slow and awkward, and every moment that Jet spends with Sam is both too much and too little for him. His longing, however deep and desperate, is palatable to even the most stoic of viewers.
The ending is bittersweet as well, leaving the viewers with the inevitable-- the only conclusion one can have in these situations.
There are no lessons to be learned from Bishonen, no preachy banners of Gay or Anti-Gay. It is a story as real as any that could've happened to you or I, and the fact that we can only control our own destinies, and sometimes not even that.
All in all, I would highly recommend this film for the more discerning viewers. If you are looking for a light-hearted gay love story, Bishonen is not for you. While it is hardly lacking in beautiful men and boys, the subject matter is handled with a lot of taste and subtlety-- those in the mood for playful innuendo would best look to Formula 17 instead.