Fearless From Red China

By: Love this film

By: amazing!

By: anonymous

Watched this movie with my husband and daughter with much interest. I think this is a movie for all kinds of people, men, women, straight, gay, old, young...there is something universal in the story, about rebellion, self destruction, awakening, transformation and liberation. I understand that this was shot on a tiny budget but given the budget it is really well done if you count how many characters, locations and scenes it has! Congratulations!

By: anonymous

I can't help laughing out loud when I hear Wu Wei saying to the rent boy on the phone at the end of the movie "Your grandfather has died many times. Sorry, I can't help you this time." It is so true! There are many young handsome buff boys who believe they can earn big money with their looks and charm and so make lots of stories to hustle, like "my grandma is sick and I need money to pay her medical bills" or "my grandpa just passed away and I need money for his funeral."

In the end of the movie, Wu Wei doesn't believe that rent boy any more. "Your grandfather has died many times." What other original stories can he make? LOL. Funny.

I would recommend this movie to you!

By: Amos Lassen

We do not often think of China when we think of gay movies but "Fearless in Red China" might just change that. The film spans fifty years of China as it meets the Western world. We see how Communist China changed and we see it through the eyes of a Chinese gay male and the people around him. The two major issues here are humanity and morality as China moves to globalization, race, gender, religion and sexuality and the marginalized Chinese who are still not a part of their country's society.
Huai Bao has directed this film with love and passion and there in not a thing "Hollywoodish" about it. Using the character of Wu Wei, we are privy to emotion and we go on a personal journey. Before the Cultural Revolution, Wu Wei was born to a family with an artistic bent in Beijing. Until he went into the army e was trained as a ballet dancer but in the army he went through what is known as re-education and his future seemed bleak as this was a time when artistry was regarded with great suspicion. One way out would have been to marry a Western woman and Wu Wei tried very hard to arrange this but to no avail. Ultimately he was sent to Paris to study and he found himself there and found gay love as well.
He returned to Beijing in the late 1990's but success eluded him and he later found his way to Tibet hoping to find some kind of rebirth there. He remained in love with two people to whom he had no access. Interestingly enough, the actor who plays Wu Wei is the character about whom the story is written At the beginning of the movie we see him as he boards a train for Tibet and as he traveled he net Jean Gaudette, a former client from his days in Paris as a male prostitute. Together the two find and experience Nirvana in Tibet.
This is quite an illuminating film that is beautiful to watch and that was made for very little money. The cast save one person, is made up of amateurs and when all is taken together is quite an experience.
The story catches the viewer at the beginning, because Wu Wei is a non-conventional character. His life experience is so unique, but at the same time it is also a reflection of the era during which China underwent drastic changes. There is a lot of adventure here as well and it ranges from mental and physical to spiritual adventure. Here is the story of a Chinese dancer that meets the world and the struggles he has until he finds peace and love in Tibet.

By: anonymous

By: anonymous

I must tell you that I really enjoyed your movie. PLEASE don't give up and make sure this does get released...even if it takes a little longer. It's not like the other gay movies we see, no perfect buff bodies, no killer face, no softcore love making scenes, but yours looks so natural with a thought-provoking story. There's so much depth in it. It proves that gays are not all shallow, only looking at perfect bodies and faces, but they can be deep and spiritual, too. Thanks for your work!

By: anonymous

The movie is a bit outrageous! And so many jerking off scenes! Well, I confess that I won't send the movie to my Mom. Or my sister (although that is conceivable). Or my students. (laughing). At least, not the students I have now. If I were teaching something related, sure, no problem. Hope that some day I have that chance.

--Sylvia Dean, Ohio

By: anonymous

By: anonymous

Just saw your film with much interest. Congratulations! I used to have the same kind of dream : to become a Movie Director. But it's just a dream for me because I don't have any chance and have never tried. So I am really happy for you. You are very brave, intelligent, confident and most importantly, you must be very hard working to put all the efforts together to make your dream come true!

--Cathie Young, Vancouver, BC, Canada

By: anonymous

By: anonymous

By: anonymous

I watched your film again today and would like to tell you my impression. Please forgive me if you feel some comments are unacceptable. I write purely out of love for this story and out of an expectation and requirement for a professional filmmaker.

The story intrigued me at the beginning, because Wu Wei is a non-conventional character. His life experience is so unique, but at the same time it is also a reflection of the era during which China underwent drastic changes. This is also a good story of an adventure of a Chinese artist in the world; the adventure is not only physical, geographical, but more spiritual, because an artist must have more profound inner struggles than ordinary people. And his discovery of peace in Tibet also attracts me in trying to know more of his journey. What's the driving for Wu Wei to help him endure this life experience and become "fearless?" What is he looking for? What's the ultimate devil, both inside and
outside of him, that he is fighting for? How could he find peace in Tibet? What has Tibetan Buddhismn given him? I met the actor--Mr. Wang in person. His calm posture and voice - both in the film and in life -- are quite impressive to me, and made me more curious about the film.

After watching the film, I have to say I am disappointed. First of all, I feel very uncomfortable with Mr. Wang's acting, which is way too unnatural, and the make-up is not convincing enough to cover his aging face. How could he play a
young man of 19 years old? Some other actors' acting is also poor. I assume they are all amateurs? I have to admit that I cannot really stay through the whole film.

Then the story line itself. The film is just a collection of Wu Wei's time moments, piece by piece, but what's his real motivation, and what's his deep inner struggle? Ultimately, what is he really looking for in life? His many relations and conflicts in both Chinese and Western society can be explored much deeper and in a more interesting way. But you almost gave the same weight and did not dig into any one, such as his triangle relationship in the army, his real love with the French guy, who died at last (forget his name), his relationship with the Chinese young man, etc.. And his mother is also a very interesting character who would marry 3 times just in exchange to send his son to Paris, another "fearless" and outstanding figure. He must have a special relation with her, but this part has not really been touched, except a brief introduction.

Some life turning moments, I mean the moments that touch his spirit, are not highlighted and developed, such as his decision to become an escort, and the Tibet journey. Until the last moment, I still have not found out why he is drawn
to the Tibetan culture, and what the significant change it did on his life. There is one shot that he went to a temple, but the monk is not a Tibetan monk, is a Daoist wearing a black hat. There are several such things in the film, as the way the actors are wearing the army uniform, and their make up, etc.. not quite right. I know it is a low, very low budget film, but if you want to reflect the the time period, you have to make it look right, no matter what, otherwise, it can only damage the whole production quality.

The ending is so sudden that just makes me confused and more disappointed. How come he got married in Vancouver? Not enough development to drive the story to this point.

The camera work also looks rough. It could be more refined, some intimate scenes could be more interesting and complex. The quality of the pictures is more like a TV melodrama than a film.

Overall, I feel the story has lots potential, but the film does not fulfill these potentials. The major character is not been fully developed. It is a rushed production. The current version is more like a rough cut. The editing does not flow well.

I just feel if you make the film a semi-documentary, letting Mr Wang naturally tell his life stories (he has a good voice) while using the film footage as reenactment, and add more old photos, etc.., cut the weak part of the acting and
dialogue, to make all these elements an integrated whole, that will make it more visually interesting. But most importantly, I feel the film should dig more deeply into the soul of Wu Wei and make the character really stand out.

That is my overall impression. I have made notes on many detail part, but I don't have time to list them all here. Once again, if you feel any words here are irritating and annoying, please forgive my straightforwardness. I always
keep in mind a line from a master filmmaker (whose name I forgot) used to say, " We should not just satisfy us to be able to make a film, we should require ourselves to make a really good film." So I write this as an expectation to a
promising filmmaker to make good films.