East Palace, West Palace ★★ Behind the Forbidden City; Donggong, Xigong 1996 Bold and controversial examination of a shadow world in Chinese society. A-Lan (Han) is a young homosexual, cruising the park outside the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. He's detained in a roundup by a cop, Xiao Shi (Jun), who takes him to the park's police station for interrogation. A-Lan is unashamed of his lifestyle and the cop presses him to tell his life story. It soon becomes clear that the Xiao Shi, though outwardedly homophobic, is actually sexually intrigued by A-Lan's presence as the duo mentally and verbally dance around the charged situation. Chinese with subtitles. 95m/C VHS. CH Si Han, Hu Jun;
Director:
Zhang Yuan;
Writer:
Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaobo;
Writer:
Zheng Jian;
Cameo:
Xiang Min.
