''Utopians'' is a 2015 film by the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

film-maker

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second World, Second and Third World, Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporti ...

, the production-crediting name of Danny Cheng Wan-Cheung. It is the story of a university student who becomes deeply attracted to his (male) professor, and whose life changes as a result. The film received its world premiere on 31 October 2015 at the New Directors Film Festival in Japan. ''Utopians'' explores several themes traditionally regarded as 'taboo' in Hong Kong society and features full-frontal male nudity in several scenes. It is the sixth of seven publicly released films by Scud. The six other films are: ''

City Without Baseball ''City Without Baseball'' (; stylized: ; jyutping: mou4 je5 zi1 sing4) is a 2008 Hong Kong drama film starring Ron Heung and other members of the Hong Kong National Baseball Team. It is directed by South African-born Hong Kong filmmaker Lawren ...

'' in 2008, ''

Permanent Residence ''Permanent Residence'' () is a 2009 Hong Kong film starring Sean Li and Osman Hung. It was directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Danny Cheng, also known as Scud. The film explores several themes traditionally regarded as 'taboo' in Hong Kong society, ...

'' in 2009, ''

Amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

'' in 2010, '' Love Actually... Sucks!'' in 2011, ''

Voyage Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by ...

'' in 2013 and ''

Thirty Years of Adonis ''Thirty Years of Adonis'' (), is a 2017 film by the Hong Kong film-maker Scud (filmmaker), Scud, the production-crediting name of Danny Cheng Wan-Cheung. It is a story of a young man who is a Beijing Opera actor. He decides to pursue acting, and ...

'' (which features footage from ''Utopians'') in 2017. The eighth film, ''Apostles'', was made in 2022, as was the ninth, ''Bodyshop'', but neither have yet been released. The tenth and final film, ''Naked Nations: Hong Kong Tribe'', is currently in production. ''Utopians'' includes a scene in which the main character, played by mainland China actor Adonis He Fei, is shown completely naked stroking his erect private parts as he sighs with pleasure until he shoots his semen in the uncut version of the film.

Plot

''Utopians'' is a

coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or internal ...

about a young student, Hins Gao (Adonis He Fei), who unexpectedly finds himself deeply attracted to his male professor, Antonio Ming (Jackie Chow). Despite having had a conservative upbringing, Hins wants to get close enough to Ming to understand him. The experience transforms his life and comes to define his adult identity. The story is described as a "visually stunning paean to open love and pan-sexuality freely blending straightforward narrative and fantasy elements".

Production

The film's director, Scud, says that he drew inspiration for the film from the writings of Plato and the culture of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, which he describes as the "best era of mankind" when being gay was mainstream, and that "the dream of a utopian life" is one where education "serves to enhance love instead of forbid it", and that this became clear to him ever since he was aware of the sexual alternatives available. Scud says that he fell into depression after making his fifth film, ''Voyage'', and was considering ending his career. But one day a 19-year-old boy came to him and talked about his story of having fallen in love with a policeman, and about a Japanese writer whose work Scud had read extensively when he was younger. He felt his next film should pay tribute to the period of enlightenment brought about by great philosophers and artists. Scud says that Utopians took only weeks to write and shoot. He also experimented with a more "democratic" method of film-making by consulting the cast on the roles they most preferred to take and encouraging them to resolve matters among themselves, much like the situation in ancient times. Casting was conducted openly in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, with over 300 attending in Hong Kong on a particularly stormy day. The film's leading man, Adonis He Fei, is an actor from mainland China. His agent provided a resume so that He could fit ''Utopians'' into his busy filming schedule.

Main cast

* Adonis He Fei ... Hins Gao * Jackie Chow ... Professor Antonio Ming * Ching-Man Chin ... Swan (credited as 'Moe Chin') * Fiona Wang ... Joey * Jie Shui ... Mother * Ben Fu Wai Bun... Dean * William Lo ... Boy on boat trip / Bonfire Boy * Jung Jen Pao ... Boy on boat trip / Bonfire Boy * Eric Cheng ... Father * Yeung Man Lok ... Baby Hins

Languages

In the movie four languages are spoken:

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and English. Even though much of the film is centered around Hong Kong, the main characters speak Mandarin-Chinese among each other, e.g. Hins, his mother, his girlfriend and Ming. The other languages are spoken in much shorter segments. This multitude of languages is also reflected in the

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

of the Chinese characters of the title () given by the producer which is

and reads ''tung lau hap woo'', whereas one would expect a transcription in Mandarin

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

for such a mostly Mandarin spoken movie which would be ''tóng liú hé wū''.

References

External links