In recent years, whenever I re-watch Yang Fan's "Beautiful Youth Love", it always reminds me of Zhu Tiantian's novel "The Hand of the Wild Man". Coincidentally, the two works belong to the same period, with "Wild Hands" published in 1994 and "Beautiful Young Love" premiered in 1998. There are many ambiguous areas of values and aesthetics at the end of the century, conservatives adhere to traditional ethics, and the new generation pursues free will, such a conflict, so that the gay community, although gradually emerging, is still widely regarded as taboo, and homosexuals are often on the cusp of the storm because they are incompatible with their families and the surrounding environment, and their lives are also suffering from the depths of the sea.
"Beautiful Boy's Love" and "Wild Man's Handbook" have a lot in common. Their works are brilliant and decadent, the protagonist is full of repressed guilt; they all unfold from the perspective of a gay man, and the protagonist is marginalized because of his homosexual identity, and turns to the carnival of indulgence in search of relief. But unlike "Wild Man's Handbook", which frequently uses classical vocabulary and religious allusions, and uses a large number of gorgeous words to compile a dazzling web of words, "The Love of Beautiful Teenagers" does not have such a strong sense of elitism, it is more like a light novel with a literary atmosphere, coupled with Lin Qingxia's gentle narration throughout the film, making the whole film seem friendly and warm.
In addition to "The Love of Beautiful Teenagers", director Yang Fan's most well-known work to mainland audiences is probably the Kunqu opera theme of "Dream of Visiting the Garden". Because director Yang Fan has long been influenced by Kunqu opera, although "The Love of beautiful teenagers" is not a Kunqu theme, it is full of the exquisite craftsmanship of Kunqu opera, so that it does not have the rough texture of the general gay movie, but is round and delicate. The leading actors who participated in the performance that year, such as Wu Yanzu, Feng Delun, Shu Qi, and Yin Ziwei, were only in their early twenties, and it was when they were in full bloom, their temperaments were different but complemented each other, or clear as water hibiscus, or demon like poppy evil flowers, director Yang Fan very accurately captured the characteristics of each of them, and let them shine in the film.
Wu Yanzu plays Sam
Although Jet, played by Von der Lun, is born in the wind and moon place, he has a cheerful, sunny and confident personality, and when he strolls down the street with his head held high, he often becomes a flowing landscape. It's just that there is no true love in the fun field, the partner around Jet is like a marquee, and no one can get his true heart. Until one day he met Sam (Wu Yanzu) and his female friend Kana (Shu Qi) who had eye contact with him on the street, their friendly smiles broke through Jet's psychological defenses, and Sam and Jet's tacit understanding was quietly established.
Von der Leyen plays Jet
Sam is also a gay man, but growing up in a traditional family, his father's strict tutors did not allow him to commit unconventional deviant behavior, and he could only suppress his surging lust under a clean and simple appearance. Sam is a policeman, and the uniform he wears when he patrols, like armor and shackles, conceals his true face while also imprisoning him. Probably because of such a strong bondage and kidnapping, the man that Sam falls in love with every time is an unruly prodigal son, in addition to Jet, he also has a dewy love affair with the new star K.S (Yin Ziwei), but K.S's lack of specialization makes Sam easily abandoned.
Because of his lack of experience in love, Sam attaches great importance to maintaining his relationship with Jet. He even introduced Jet to his parents as a good friend, like a young man who talked about marriage with his girlfriend for the first time introduced their future daughter-in-law to his parents. Jet changed his previous cynicism, put away his dusty atmosphere, and participated in Sam's family gathering with a cheerful and healthy image. The smell of fireworks from that meal not only breeds the warmth of the family, but also makes people see the fire of hope that the couple is expected to cultivate positive results. However, they can only cryptically call sam's parents brothers and brothers, still unable to disclose their true relationship and sexual orientation to Sam's relatives, and the flame of hope that is lit is so faint and fragile that once the moth puts out the fire, it will surely kill itself.
But Sam is not always a victim in love, another man named Ah Qing is deeply in love with Sam, he is like Jet, is a dusty man who relies on selling his flesh for a living, although he does his best to pay for Sam, but unfortunately Sam loves Jet the most. Like the male protagonist of "Wild Hands", Ayao, the beautiful teenagers in "The Love of the Beautiful Teenager", when true love cannot be rewarded, they choose to indulge in lust, but unlike Ayao who finally died of AIDS because of promiscuity, Sam realized that he had no hope of achieving the right result with Jet, and jumped down from the roof to end his life.
When Jet reads Sam's brief suicide note, the film abruptly ends with Jet's peaceful sleep and Li Wei's "Answer" singing, and everything seems light but clear. Why this unsatisfactory love affair will be exchanged for a good night's dream of the undead in this undead love, the answer is self-evident - "at least, he knows that he was once deeply loved". At least, we've seen them at their best in this movie.