East Palace, West Palace

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Movie
German title East Palace, West Palace
Original title 东宫 西宫
dōng gōng xī gōng
Country of production PR China , France
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 1996
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Zhang Yuan
script Wang Xiaobo , Zhang Yuan
production Christophe Jung ,
Christophe Ménager ,
Zhang Yuan
music Min Xiang
camera Zhang Jian
cut Vincent Lévy
occupation

East Palace, West Palace ( Chinese  东宫 西宫 , Pinyin dōng gōng xī gōng ) is the ninth film by the sixth generation Chinese director Zhang Yuan . At the time of its production in 1996, it was the first film from the People's Republic of China with an explicitly homosexual theme. The showing of the film in China was banned by the Chinese censors and the film roles had to be smuggled out of the country in order to be able to end post-production in France . Director Zhang Yuan's passport was revoked so that he could not attend the premiere of the film at the Cannes International Film Festival . Only after eight months of being banned from leaving the country and Zhang Yuan's assertion that he would cooperate with the Chinese film authorities in the future, did he get his passport back. The film has not yet been published in the People's Republic of China, but it is available on the Tudou video platform .

action

Beijing's homosexuals refer to one of their few meeting places as East Palace, West Palace , the public toilets east and west of Tian'anmen Square in the Forbidden City Park . The police conduct raids there every evening, during which they track down homosexuals cruising , humiliate them or force them to humiliate themselves.

One evening the policeman Shi Xiaohua caught the young writer A-Lan while cruising. He doesn't show remorse, as is customary. Instead, he provocatively displays his homosexuality by kissing the policeman on the cheek before fleeing from him. A few days later, Shi receives a book with a dedication, and he knows who sent it to him. A few nights later, the two meet again. This time the policeman takes A-Lan to the police station to subject him to an interrogation that will last all night. It quickly becomes apparent that more than mere investigative zeal prompted him to do so. A-Lan willingly tells stories from his life, which are inserted as flashbacks. Shi demands to know more, it becomes clear that his own, subliminal homoerotic curiosity drives him, just as A-Lan obviously takes a liking to his peinger. The interrogation thus becomes a sadomasochistic chamber play about sexuality and power, suppressed desire and the art of seduction, comparable to a drama by Jean Genet . The power relations that seem to have been fixed at the beginning shift visibly as the plot progresses. Does power rest with the ruler or with the one who opposes - the seducer or the one who opposes?

Reviews

"With EAST PALACE, WEST PALACE, Zhang Yuan, protagonist of the sixth generation of Chinese cinema, that young, independent generation of directors after the era of export stars Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, is also making a personal commitment: the commitment of a filmmaker to who cannot be corrupted and yet sees himself inextricably linked with the rulers and cultural functionaries of his country. A Lan's love of enemies is also his: the dangerous liaison between artist and censor. "

- Christiane Peitz : The time

“The little sadomasochistic scenario that stretches between the two men offers space for confession, confession, compulsion to speak with the intention of seduction. One notices, of course, Zhang's story that these are second-hand experiences, a slow, slightly flavourful approach to a reality of life that is not his own. Despite the constant psychologization, there is no story behind the characters. The references to reality disappear behind the stage decoration. This may be due to the precarious production conditions, but maybe just because of Zhang's desire to transform every image into a personal metaphor. 'I love my country and I love the party, just as A-Lan loves this cop,' he said in an interview. That too is a power game, albeit a less predictable one than the one in the film. "

- Robert Weixlbaumer : Berliner Zeitung

“'East Palace, West Palace - Interrogation in the Dark' is a Chinese underground film made on a tight budget, the international premiere of which took place in 1997 in Cannes in the absence of the director, who was not allowed to leave the country. The psychologically nuanced and excellently played two-person chamber play is a fascinating Far Eastern film noir away from the official cinema of the PR China, not only because of its intense shots of nightly gay meeting places and police raids, but above all because of its plea for tolerance and respect for feelings that do not necessarily correspond to social norms. "

- Ernst Corinth

Awards

Mar del Plata Film Festival , Argentina 1996

  • Best Director: Zhang Yuan
  • Best script: Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaobo
  • Special mention: Zhang Jian (for his cinematography)

See also

literature

In order to be able to assess East Palace, West Palace appropriately in its context and not rashly, as some reviewers in the western hemisphere have done, misunderstanding as regressive, since it underpins clichés and stereotypes, it is advisable to examine the situation of Chinese gays ( tongzhi ) and the Chinese film . With this in mind, a small selection of further literature:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obsessive China . In: Die Zeit , No. 28/1998
  2. ↑ Robert Weixlbaumer: Forbidden love before the forbidden city . In: Berliner Zeitung , June 25, 1998, p. K7
  3. ↑ Ernst Corinth : Gaywatch.de ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gaystation.info