''Men and Women'' () is a 1999 Chinese comedy-drama film directed by

Liu Bingjian Liu Bingjian (born October 16, 1963, in Anhui) is a Chinese film director who emerged on the cinema scene in the late 1990s with his LGBT-themed film ''Men and Women''. Career Originally trained as a painter, Liu attended the prestigious Beijin ...

. The film was co-written by

Cui Zi'en Cui Zi'en (), born 1958, in Harbin in the People's Republic of China, is a film director, producer, film scholar, screenwriter, novelist and an outspoken LGBT activist based in Beijing. He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wi ...

, one of the few openly gay writers in China. Cui also has a cameo-role in the film, as the host of an underground radio show. One of China's few films touching on

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

-films, ''Men and Women'' was cast with openly gay actors. Unlike earlier films like Zhang Yuan's ''

East Palace, West Palace ''East Palace, West Palace'' (Simplified Chinese: 东宫西宫, Pinyin: ''Dōng gōng xī gōng'') is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan, starring Hu Jun and Si Han, and based on a short story by writer Wang Xiaobo. It is also known as ' ...

'', ''Men and Women'' focused on the daily lives of its characters, rather than their underground existence in Chinese society. The film won a FIPRESCI award at the 1999

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

Plot

''Men and Women'' follows the travels of a young homosexual man, Xiao Bo, who goes to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in search of a job. There he is taken in by Qing Jie, who not only gives him a home in her apartment, but also a job in her clothing store. While she tries to set Xiao Bo with her friend A Meng, Xiao Bo resists and eventually moves out when he is assaulted by Qing Jie's husband. He moves in with his friend, Chong Chong, with whom a romantic relationship is kindled. Qing Jie, meanwhile, discovers that she may have feelings for A Meng, and decides to leave her husband.

Cast

Yu Bo Yu Bo (; born July 22, 1976) is a Chinese actor. Biography Yu was born on July 22, 1976 in Shenyang, Liaoning. From 1996 to 1999 he worked at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing as a security guard. He entered the Beijing Film Academy i ...

as Xiao Bo * Yang Qing as Qing Jie, the cast's only professional actor (Yang had previously acted in Chinese television), Yang plays Qing Jie, who befriends Xiao Bo and gives him both a place to stay and a job at her clothing store.

References

External links

* * 1999 films 1999 drama films Films directed by Cui Zi'en Films set in Beijing Chinese LGBT-related films 1990s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Liu Bingjian LGBT-related drama films 1999 LGBT-related films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links