Feeding Boys, Ayaya

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Main Program: C+

 

 

It is difficult to do anything about human sexuality, especially gay sexuality in a country like China, but the underground for such things continues to grow.  Cui Zi en’s Feeding Boys, Ayaya (2003) tries top be a comic look at middle class life there and what it means to be gay.  That includes hustlers and the conflict occurs when Xiao Bo goes for this life, while his older brother is an evangelical Christian!  Even being religious could be dangerous in China, so that twists the story in a way it would never happen in the United States.

 

Unfortunately, all it can offer is conflict and some subversion, but not much else.  It is not too graphic for being the unrated version, mostly featuring talk, which is usually intelligent.  Otherwise, the project does not know what it wants to do with itself, but its short 80 minutes running time is sufficient enough that it gets to finish whatever it was setting out to do.  This was ambitious enough to take seriously.  Though not a breakthrough, Feeding Boys, Ayaya is an indication something in China is changing and may help foreigners in understanding how.

 

The image is credited as widescreen on the DVD case, but this is 1.33 X 1 tape and it shows, often looking darker than average on purpose and softer than expected for a recent taped production.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is simple stereo at best, faring technically better considering the final result is on location taping.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo