A Country in Turmoil, Two Hearts in Tumult

One evening in 1988, in a tasteful upscale bar in Beijing, a man playing pool takes notice of the arrival of a handsome younger man. The latter is an impoverished architectural student who is about to prostitute himself with the bar’s owner. But the pool player, a decisive, aggressive businessman, claims the student for himself.

It is the unexpected beginning of a tempestuous love affair, set against a time of rapid change and unrest in China, in the terse yet romantic “Lan Yu.” Assured, vital and well wrought, the film is, arguably, the most accomplished work to date from Hong Kong’s versatile Stanley Kwan.

“When two people get to know each other too well, it’s time to separate,” warns Hu Jun’s virile businessman, Chen Handong, after a passionate night of love with Liu Ye’s Lan Yu.

Lan Yu has never hustled before and has done so out of desperation; indeed, he may never before have been sexually involved with a man. Since the attraction between them is intensely mutual, the two meet many times.

It’s clear that Lan Yu, essentially an idealistic country boy, has fallen in love right at the start, but true to his words, Handong remains determined in his detachment and instead showers Lan Yu with gifts and financial aid beyond what he needs or wants.

Neither may realize it, but they’re now on an emotional seesaw.

Handong is driven to risk losing Lan Yu forever before he is able to acknowledge that he loves him in return, and his life threatens to turn upside-down before he can even think of committing himself to a relationship.

In the meantime, the Tiananmen conflict occurs and the market crashes, wrecking Handong’s heretofore rapidly expanding trading company and exposing him to the dangers of resorting to shady tactics to stay afloat.

On the one hand, “Lan Yu” is an implicit criticism of the ruthless, greedy materialism fostered by a freer market economy; on the other, it is a reminder of the transitory nature of life and all the quirks of fate that go along with it.

Expertly adapted by Jimmy Ngai from an anonymous Internet novel, “Lan Yu” has remarkable scope and passion for a film that runs a brisk 86 minutes. Yet it is a quite sufficient length of time to explore a rocky romance in depth and to evoke various currents coursing through a Chinese society that is simultaneously undergoing the stresses of brutal political repression and dizzying economic expansion. It’s not the most conducive time for a gay man to come out, especially when passing for straight is automatic for a man as thoroughly masculine as Handong.

Widely regarded in China as the leading stage actor of his generation, Hu is best remembered on the screen as the policeman in Zhang Yuan’s provocative “East Palace, West Palace,” while “Lan Yu” marks Liu’s first leading role in a film.

Both give notably powerful, far-ranging portrayals, backed by a supporting cast as sharp and succinct as they are.

Yang Tao’s graceful, gleaming camera work and Zhang Yadong’s spare yet dramatic score underline Kwan’s characteristically easy, flowing style and sensitivity to shifting moods and emotions.

Kwan has said that he was attracted to the novel upon which “Lan Yu” is based in part because it offered the chance to see if he could make complicated elements less so and its simple aspects even simpler. A consummate storyteller, he has succeeded with a film of exceptional accessibility and clarity.

Unrated. Times guidelines: nudity, lovemaking, complex adult themes.

‘Lan Yu’

Hu Jun...Chen Handong

Liu Ye...Lan Yu

Su Jin...Lin Jingping

Li Huatong...Liu Zheng

A Strand Releasing presentation of a Yongning Creation Workshop production. Director Stanley Kwan. Executive producer Jian Qin. Producer Zhang Yongning. Screenplay by Jimmy Ngai; based on the Internet novel “Beijing Story,” written anonymously by “Beijing Comrade.” Production designer/editor William Chang. In Mandarin, with English subtitles.

Exclusively at the Fairfax Cinemas, Beverly Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue, (323) 655-4010, and the Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 844-6500.