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Highly Overrated But Still Good

A different way of telling a story

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The land of the Sleeping Dragon has been given license to make movies. This particular film has made the circuit and has been touted by many as Avante guard. The director Cul Zi en has crafted his film to promote cinematic interest and mounting international concern for one of China's fastest growing problems, male prostitution. The film itself is, by western standards, ill conceived and poorly constructed. Furthermore, it proves an ill woven tapestry of minor characters, spectral images, philosophical dialogs and a tangled message which has viewers wondering, if they are in the wrong theater. Lacing a shadowy musical composer who's role and purpose is never fully explained, with that of an elder brother, who's role is equally sketchy at best is confusing enough. His aim is? To save his younger brother from the brutal streets of Bejing. What little is understood of Cul Zi en's message is clear if one is on medication, but the options of a boy prostitutes in any country is doubtful at best. Sandwiched between overt poverty, harsh imprisonment, armies of religious zealots and the mounting problems of a ambivalent nation, prostitution, like any vice, becomes morally offensive, but a necessary evil. The film, like it's message, is destined for the shelves in the library of humanity.

This opus is guerrilla cinema shot on Peking streets without permits, the director and actors risking arrest. I figure the budget at about $9. But it's well worth seeing. In spite of the reticence and denial of the traditional Chinese, gays are as much a presence and the services of young men for "rent" are as much in demand in big Chinese cities as in New York or London or Moscow. Though disease must be a factor in these guys lives, this is not a story of death from AIDS (prophylactics are as much the stars of this movie as the young men). It is about gay and bi young men making a practical choice: washing dishes for a handful of renminbi or the freedom, money and variety of partners offered by hustling. The downside is the boredom of a slow day and irregular sleep because customers may call at any time. These guys are nice young people, matter-of-fact, sane. They give us a different and refreshingly non-Western view on practical hustling. These guys know that suffering and death may be the wages of sin but they are also the wages of everyday life, too. At about 76 minutes the film's lack of production values remains tolerable. Note: The antagonist in this film is the Chinese version of a Christian right proselytizer. Such a waste. He's the cutest character in the film. And he's the one who dies young, not any of the hustlers. Jim Smith

Zi'en Cui is a young cinematic artist producing provocative films in China, and though this venture is not wholly successful, it does show promise of a young filmmaker of cautious bravery. FEEDING BOYS, AYAYA may not be the film the DVD jacket cover suggests, but is a work that informs us of many of the current changes going on in Communist China.Essentially this is a docudrama of sorts: the idea is to follow the day to day routine of of male prostitutes in Beijing, giving insight as to why youths elect to follow this lifestyle. In order to give a feeling of story to the film, Zi'en Cui (who not only wrote and directed but plays a pivotal role of 'composer') has created a dialogue between two brothers - the older one is a virgin who is complying with the religious concept of forgoing premarital sex with his girlfriend since he is a right wing religious conservative, while the younger brother is planning to embrace the life of male prostitution. The argument for and against chastity and prostitution comprises much of the dialogue: the younger brother wants to feel the needs of the poor lower class boys who enter the city from the provinces to make money in any way they can - 'water always flows downhill'. The older brother refuses to understand why one would defy caste just for money.Out on the streets and parks of the city the hustlers entertain each other and plan for their clients not only paying for services but also supplying wardrobes. Money (read 'capitalism') is of paramount importance. They are all constantly challenged by the bible-thumping brother, warning them that 'the end of the world is at hand', pleading with them to forego their occupation. The brother hands his role of evangelist to his girlfriend to continue his work. Meanwhile his younger brother embraces the life of a hustler and even brings his clients home to his parent's house for business, and despite the fact that his parents disapprove of the nature of his life, they condone the fact that at least he has a job! One gets the feeling from the amount of dialogue that goes untranslated in the subtitles that there is a lot more to the movie than what is here outlined. It would be helpful if someone who spoke the language reviewed the film. To this viewer there are some surprising aspects of the film: coming from Communist China it is amazing that there is so much emphasis on Christianity and Capitalism, on social classes in a country whose premise is total social equality (socialism), and a view of the fashion-driven, money conscious activities of the youth.There are many flaws in FEEDING BOYS, AYAYA (whatever 'ayaya' means): the camera work is pedestrian, the editing is choppy, the flow of the film is confusing, the music borders on ambient noise, the actual life of being a hustler is never truly explored(unlike the cover photo, the only shadow of sexuality is in over-guarded bathroom scenes of boys showering and brushing teeth!), and the messages of the story are so mixed that it takes much work to follow the threads. Yet given these problems, this viewer came away with some better concept of current life in Beijing - at least from the vantage of social studies.Grady Harp

The cover notes on the HK DVD release describe the writer and director of this film, Cui Zi En, as probably China's most independent and daring filmmaker. On the evidence of this work, I have to disagree. You will have to go a long way to find another film that offers so little. An amateur cast delivering stilted dialog and filmed by a hand-held camera, made almost unwatchable by the lack of anything but ambient lighting, plus long, long scenes where nothing happens. In particular, it is this last aspect that highlights the fact that this filmmaker has little to say; there is no justification for having scenes where characters just wonder round a park for 2 or more minutes for no particular reason. This film has a running time of 80 minutes. Watch this and you'll swear that time has stood still. Avoid like the plague.