Thursday, November 18, 2010

Taiwan : Nie Zi (The Outcasts) (1986)

Is this the first ever Taiwan's gay-themed film?

In 1986, Kan Ping Yu directed what could be the first gay themed film from his country, Taiwan. Nie Zi, which means, Outcasts, was made based on the popular gay themed novel from the same country - Crystal Boys (1983) translated to English in 1990, which was written by Pai Hsien-Yung.

The success of the book prompted the film to be produced, which demonstrated the life of gays in Taipei. Ah-Ching ran away from home, after being abused physically by his father, who had learned of his son's sexual orientation. Ah-Ching was found by an older guy, Ah Yang, who offered Ah-Ching shelter in his own home. There, Ah Yang and his lady companion took care of Ah-Ching and three other gay homeless gay boys.

This movie worked around Ah-Ching's memory of his deceased young brother, his reunion with his runaway mother and confrontation with his father. At the same time too, Ah-Ching found a love interest in a young adult, who held a dark secret.

For a country of the east, it is remarkable how Taiwan matured ahead of the other countries in the same region, by its openness to the world of gays, and willing to accept the portrayal of homosexuality in the silver screen. Although Outcasts was the first released in 1986, it took some time for Taiwan to produce even more gay themed related media. In 2003, Crystal Boys was remake again, but this time into a 21 episodes of a tv series, and it was a huge success among the tv viewers and went on to win several awards. In 2004, Formula 17 caught the attention of the media by being a huge box office success, winning the main star Tony Yang an award, and this was continued by other gay themed films produced and released - Eternal Summer (2006) and Go Go G-Boys (2007).

Nie Zi did not draw much attention nowadays, due to the huge influx of gay themed films, but it should always be remembered fondly as the first gay themed film from Taiwan which started the wave.

IMDB: Nie Zi

1 comment:

  1. Outcasts is a classic for gays of my generation and should be venerated to the highest!

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