Bishonen (1998)

Member Rating:

A gay romantic mystery, Bishonen is roughly based on an incident that was the biggest scandal to hit the Hong Kong Police force. A cache of photographs was discovered in the home of a wealthy playboy, which all featured handsome young men in police uniforms, some of them half nude, others holding law enforcement paraphernalia such as clubs in suggestive poses. An investigation by the Police Department revealed that some of the men were indeed policemen, whereas others were hustlers and gigolos. The focus of Bishonen is not this scandal, but rather the highly unusual meeting of two different worlds, illustrated in the romantic entanglement involving a policeman, two male prostitutes and a gay pop singer. The film starts with a simple love story and a series of emotional knots, some of which are impossible to untangle. Tragedy is inevitable. Jet is the star of a group of male hustlers in the steaming city of Hong Kong. He is arrogant and sexy; everyone is in love with him but he loves no one, until one day he meets Sam, the best looking policeman around. After meeting Sam, Jet tries to change into someone he is not: innocent, sweet, clean and pure. This is his way of setting a trap to catch Sam, but he falls into a trap himself. In the process, he discovers that the righteous young cop has a darker side. Things go out of control when Sam's past and Jet's present become intermingled -- not unlike Hong Kong itself, a cauldron of traditional Chinese ethics and modern Western values. Happiness will be achieved only in the harmony of the discordant elements. All four leading actors are newcomers to the big screen; Steven Fung who plays Jet, has become one of the biggest teen idols in Asia. The film begins on a good premise; however, it slowly slides into comfortable melodrama with a predictable ending. Bishonen was screened in the Panorama section of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi