Loading ...Gay life in the city of Beijing is the subject of this fascinating exploration encompassing a disparate circle of not-so-closeted gay men in contemporary China. And while gay sex is still forbidden by the authorities, the extent to which it is practiced bears little relation to that official stance.
In Tongzhi in Love (f.k.a.A Double Life), their latest and most lyrical film yet, the Oscar-winning team of director Ruby Yang and producer Thomas Lennon have captured an intimate, poignant portrait of three young men navigating the precarious dilemmas of living out and gay in modern China, torn between the lure of big city life and the powerful demands of generations of cultural tradition.
Frog and his friends, Feng and Ze, live and work in cosmopolitan Beijing, reveling in a level of freedom that sophisticated urban life affords. Yet a Chinese son’s solemn duty is to produce a child and to carry forward his family’s line and name. Does their relative freedom and happiness come at the expense of their parents and centuries of cultural tradition? Can they live out and be happy and still be “good sons”?
China’s laws limiting most families to a single child only compounds pressures on gay men, many of whom resort to sham marriages.
Additional Information:
Director: Ruby Yang
Producer: Thomas Lennon
Editor: Gary Wong
Cinematographer: Yang Yishu
Music: Bill Frisell, Brian Keane
Principal Cast: Frog Cui, Xiang Feng, Long Ze
China, 2008, 30 Minute Running Time
Additional Countries: USA
Topics: Asian, Documentary, Gay/Lesbian
Language: Mandarin Chinese English Sub-Titles
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