January 16, 2003
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Stanley Kwan, one of Hong Kong's few openly gay filmmakers, directed this drama that blends a same-sex love story into a tableau of China's tumultuous recent history. In 1988, Lan Yu (Liu Ye) is a col... read more 
DVD Release Date: May 20, 2003
Stats: 130 reviews
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Critic Reviews
October 17, 2002
Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune
The movie is gorgeously made, but it is also somewhat shallow and art-conscious. Full Review
October 4, 2002
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
It's probably worth catching solely on its visual merits. If only it had the story to match. Full Review
August 22, 2002
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Assured, vital and well wrought, the film is, arguably, the most accomplished work to date from Hong Kong's versatile Stanley Kwan. Full Review
August 16, 2002
John Terauds, Toronto Star
In the end, we are left with something like two ships passing in the night rather than any insights into gay love, Chinese society or the price one pays for being dishonest. Full Review
August 16, 2002
Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail
There is much that is touching in the affair of Lan Yu and Handong. Full Review
July 29, 2002
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
While it is welcome to see a Chinese film depict a homosexual relationship in a mature and frank fashion, Lan Yu never catches dramatic fire.
July 26, 2002
John Anderson, Newsday
Kwan makes the mix-and- match metaphors intriguing, while lulling us into torpor with his cultivated allergy to action. Full Review
July 26, 2002
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Lan Yu is at times too restrained, yet there are moments it captures the erotics of intimacy in a way that makes most American love stories look downright unfree. Full Review
July 26, 2002
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Deserves high marks for political courage but barely gets by on its artistic merits.
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Lan Yu
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