Los Caifanes Reviews

An adolescent boy named Ah-Ching is savagely beaten and expelled from his home when his father finds him in bed with another man. The distraught youth takes refuge in a section of a downtown park, commonly known as the Office, that serves as the gathering place for other abandoned gay men. As Ah-Ching bemoans his fate, he is befriended by an older photographer who invites him to his home, a makeshift photography studio, where he is given food and shelter for the evening. When the boy tries to sleep, he is subjected to an assortment of nightmarish recollections of his family life. When he awakens, his host invites him to turn his temporary refuge into a permanent home, and Ah-Ching attempts to put his past life behind him, but can't shake those troubling nightmares. Director Yu K'an-p'ing's layered adaptation of the novel by the best-selling gay author Pai Hsien-jung (Kenneth Pai) is the story of a homosexual outsider who exists on the periphery of love. Yu masterly portrays his portagonist's longings and sufferings as he attempts to find acceptance in the world.