East Palace, West Palace (1997, China)

In this film 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. The interrogation goes on long beyond what might be justified, and it slowly becoems A Lan's explanation of what motivates him, and in parallel Xiao Shi's awakening of his own sexuality.

In the final quarter of the film, A Lan puts on women's clothes in an attempt to please Xiao Shi, and looks quite feminine.

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 East and West Palaces are apparently public lavatories used by gay men to meet, near the Forbidden City in Beijing.

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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