East Palace, West Palace (1997, China)

Set in China, we see the police routinely harassing cruising gays. One young man, A Lan (played by Si Han) contrives to get picked up by a policeman Xiao Shi (played by Hu Jun) and questioned all night long. As A Lan suspected, the policeman is attracted to him, although he doesn't admit this to himself at first. At one stage A Lan dresses.

This is not an easy film to watch, partly because of the heavy use of allegory, comparing this sequence with ancient Chinese fable. The opening titles have the words, "I Can Be a Woman; I Can Be a Man; I Can Be Anyone" under the main title to reinforce the message.

The film is also known as Behind the Forbidden City. The Chinese title is Dong gong xi gong.

HF December 2001

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