Oct 28, 2024
Lan Yu (2001) // dir. Stanley Kwan
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Austria
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Ukraine
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Mexico
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
Lan Yu (2001) // dir. Stanley Kwan
蓝宇 | LAN YU (2001) dir. Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang Lan Yu, a poor architecture student from northeast China, desperately needs money. He meets an acquaintance who persuades him to engage in prostitution. He is introduced to a successful businessman, Chen Handong. The night they spent together was not only a sexual, but also an emotional awakening, for the younger man. While Lan Yu immediately falls in love with Chen Handong, the very closeted businessman, wants no emotional relationship, only sex. Based on the Chinese novel A Beijing Story, published anonymously on the Internet in 1998 by an author identified only as A Beijing Comrade. (link in title)
ASIAN QUEER MOVIES 🎬🌈
Stanley Kwan - Lan Yu (2001)
Hey! Have you watched 'Your Name Engraved Herein' ? I did it last weekend, and I'm still feeling very miserable. Do you have recommendations for shows/movies that offer the same visceral kind of pain? I'm a sucker for angst so I really wanna see if anything can surpass what this movie did to me lol. ^_^
hi nonnie (❁´◡`❁)
Your Name Engraved Herein is literally an iconic queer film, who HASN'T seen it (┬┬﹏┬┬) It stills leave me reeling after so many weeks after watching it.
But I grew up watching sad angsty LGBTQIA+ films so I've grown accustomed to this specific genre of sad LGBTQIA+ films i wanna bawl my eyes out after watching. so here's a few recommendations you've probably seen already, but i'm just here to give you a nudge to watch them in case you haven't seen (though it's my personal recommendation to take a break or watch happy things in between these films or else after the first few films, you're just numb to the pain and misery, and won't be able to maximize emotional connectability with the characters).
1. Happy Together (1997) dir. Wong Kar Wai
Synopsis: Ho Po Wing and Lai Yiu Fai, a couple from pre-handover Hong Kong, visit Argentina hoping to renew their ailing relationship. The two have a pattern of abuse, followed by break-ups and reconciliations. One of their goals in Argentina is to visit the Iguazu waterfalls, which serves as a leitmotif in the movie.
my thoughts: i didn't know what the hype was with wong kar wai until i watched this film. 100/10 cinematography and it breaks me every time.
2. Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee
Synopsis: Two modern-day cowboys meet on a shepherding job in the summer of ’63, the two share a raw and powerful summer together that turns into a lifelong relationship conflicting with the lives they are supposed to live.
my thoughts: not the best of its genre but i cried a lot watching it the first time so i'm giving it a little space here in this list. Ang Lee has delivered a lot more LGBTQIA+ films
3. Lan Yu (2001) dir. Stanley Kwan
Synopsis: Set in Beijing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film makes vivid reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Lan Yu, an architecture student in desperate need of money, finds himself in the bed of successful businessman Chen Han Dong. While Lan Yu falls in love, Chen tries his best to avoid emotional attachment, showering Lan Yu with expensive gifts and even getting married. However, as the years go by, Chen soon realizes that he cannot live without Lan Yu.
my thoughts: god i want to quote this entire film as i was watching it. THE ANGST. THE PAIN. it's been recently restored in 4k so i rewatched it a while back, god the pain is still visceral.
4. Farewell My Concubine (1993) dir. Chen Kaige
Synopsis: Abandoned by his prostitute mother in 1920, Douzi was raised by a theater troupe. There he meets Shitou and over the following years the two develop an act entitled “Farewell My Concubine” that brings them fame and fortune. When Shitou marries Juxian, Douzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo’s explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.
my thoughts: pain. pain. pain. pain. pain. ABSOLUTE PAIN. but also i adore poetic and tragic films so this was THAT masterpiece for me.
5. Maurice (1987) dir. James Ivory
Synopsis: After his lover rejects him, Maurice, a young man in early 20th-century England, trapped by the oppressiveness of Edwardian society, tries to come to terms with and accept his sexuality.
my thoughts: hugh grant is gay af and i'm always here for it. i never fully bought him being charming male lead in all those het romcoms he got
happy watching! \(￣︶￣*\))
蓝宇 | Lan Yu (2001) dir. Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang cine. Zhang Jian & Tao Yang
Earliest Branded Pairs in BL
Hu Jun and Liu Ye
They played Chen HanDong and Lan Yu in Lan Yu (2001) directed by Stanley Kwan. They also acted in Painting Soul (2003), by the same director, which was not a BL.
Hu Jun had previously acted in East Palace, West Palace (1996). Episode 6 of Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (2024) had Qi Lu and Qin Xiao watching that movie.
Stills from Lan Yu and Manifesto.
They appeared together in the Chinese TV Show Where Are We Going, Dad? Season 3 (2015), an event celebrated by their CP fans! They also acted together in Manifesto (2023). This is in line with Chinese government's complicated history with shipping and fu-cultures.
CCP is not always hostile towards BL and shipping. I mean, CCP is the second largest political party in the world with like nearly hundred million members. Some of them are fu-people, who create and consume BL. Some of them engage in shipping - of characters as well as real people including celebrities and senior party members. (I have discussed this in the context of Addicted here.) The appeal of a branded pair, who is not against getting shipped, doing a series like Manifesto is therefore manifold. Hence, JunYe CP is one of the most important branded pair ever.
Watanabe Daisuke and Hamao Kyousuke
They played Saki Giichi and Hayama Takumi in 4 BL movies:
Takumi-kun Series 2: Rainbow Colored Glass (2009)
Takumi-kun Series 3: The Beauty of Detail (2010)
Takumi-kun Series 4: Pure (2010)
Takumi-kun Series 5: That, Sunny Blue Sky (2011)
and acted in an non-BL movie:
Our Kogen Hotel (2013)
All of these movies were directed by Yokoi Takeshi. While I wonder if he's going to repeat it with the new cast of Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa. (2023), I am less sure given Kato Daigo who played Saki Giichi in the new movie is already 24 and he can only play a high schooler for so long. Also, I am not sure how the movie performed on the box office and if it would have a sequel.
This pair started off with The Musical Prince of Tennis #4 where Watanabe Daisuke played Tezuka Kinimitsu with Hamao Kyousuke as Kikumaru for 2 years.
WATANABE DAISUKE & HAMAO KYOUSUKE Interview in Thailand DAICHAN : I was always asked how could I become an actor. Was it because being per
All early 21st century Japanese live action BL had a handful of actors (Saitoh Takumi, Kawai Ryunosuke, Yoshikazu Kotani, Aiba Hiroki, Takahashi Yuta, Saito Yasuka and Namikawa Hajime) who appeared in multiple BL works but with different onscreen partners, so DaiMao branded pair was pretty unique.
Japanese BL doesn't have any branded pair currently.
Link to extended version of this post.
[updated on 01 March 2025] They played Chen HanDong and Lan Yu in Lan Yu (2001) directed by Stanley Kwan. They also acted in Painting Soul (
Saw your tags on the Lan Yu gifset and fun fact if you haven’t looked into it already. Hu Jun the lead playing Chen Handong, was also the police officer in East Palace, West Palace. Lan Yu is really an underrated gem, so I’m excited to hear your thoughts on it as an adaptation if you end up checking it out!
Interesting! He’s so pretty!
Before I knew much at all about BL, Beijing Comrades was a book that changed my view on what was possible to do in and to feel from queer fiction, along with some of Alan Hollinghurst’s works, Sebastian Barry’s, Casey Plett’s and Mary Renault’s (especially The Persian Boy).
Imma try to watch it sometime soon, maybe over my spring break, and I’ll try to remember to tag you if/when I get my thoughts down.