East Palace, West Palace

China | 93 minutes | 1996 | Fiction | Mandarin | English Subtitles | 35mm | 14A
中国｜93 分钟｜1996｜虚构｜普通话｜英文字幕｜35毫米胶片｜14A

Beijing, early 1990s – after a random night raid in a local park, a young gay writer, A-Lan (SI Han), is held for an intensive one-on-one interrogation. Unwanted memories offer glimpses of A-Lan’s tumultuous childhood, first sexual experiences, forced farm labour, and his incessant search for love. Through the night, the interrogating officer (HU Jun) confronts feelings that alternate between revulsion and fascination. An awkward but sincere love story unfolds…

90年代初的北京，派出所民警小史（胡军）和同僚常在夜幕降临后到某公园中扫荡、抓捕在那儿幽会的男同性恋人士。某一晚，小史逮住了毫不闪避的作家阿兰（司汗），将他拷回所里，三番四次地羞辱他、甚至暴力相向。然而阿兰对自己是同性恋一事丝毫不觉羞耻，面对着小史，他不动声色又充满诗意地讲起了自己不安的童年、第一次性体验，以及他对爱和亲密的渴望和追寻。而随着对话不断深入，阿兰向小史透露了自己的爱慕……

Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province in 1963, ZHANG Yuan was once a pioneer among China’s sixth-generation filmmakers. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinematography from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989. In 1990, Zhang produced and directed his debut feature, Mama, which won the Jury Award and a Special Mention at the Festival des Trois Continents in Nantes, France. Since then, his films have toured the international film festival circuit with wide acclaim, including Beijing Bastards (1992, Special Mention at Locarno), documentary The Square (1994, Jury Award at Hawaii), Sons (1995, Tiger Award at Rotterdam), East Palace, West Palace (1996, Best Director at Mar del Plata), Seventeen Years (1999, Special Director’s Award at Venice) and Little Red Flower (2006, Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay). He was also an active MTV producer and director, working closely with CUI Jian, China’s “Godfather of Rock & Roll”. His direction of Cui’s Wild in the Snow won the Best Asian MTV Award at the American MTV Awards in 1991, and A Piece of Red Cloth won a Special Mention at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Awards.

张元于1963年出生于江苏南京，1989年本科毕业于北京电影学院摄影系，独立制片人、导演。他凭借长片处女作《妈妈》（1990）斩获法国南特三大洲电影节评委会奖，从此跻身为国际电影节的常客——《北京杂种》（1992）获洛迦诺电影节特别提及，纪录片《广场》（1994）获得夏威夷电影节评委会奖，《儿子》（1995）获鹿特丹电影节金虎奖，《东宫西宫》（1997）获阿根廷电影节最佳导演奖，《过年回家》（1999）获威尼斯电影节特别导演奖，《看上去很美》（2006）获金马奖最佳改编剧本。而作为MTV制片人和导演，他与崔健合作，拍摄了歌曲《快让我在雪地上撒点儿野》和《一块红布》的MTV，均在美国获奖。