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End of Love
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (7th June 2010). |
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The Film
 End of Love (Simon Chung Tak-Sing, 2008) 
Simon Chung Tak-Sing, the director of End of Love, is no stranger to the independent film scene, having been the director of two low-budget features (End of Love and the semi-autobiographical Innocent, 2004) and a number of short films (‘Life is Short’, 1996; the ‘Boys Briefs’ segment of the portmanteau film Stanley Beloved, 1998; and ‘Sam Fooi’, in First Love and Other Pains, 1999), all of which focus on the lives of young gay men in Hong Kong. In fact, along with Kit Hung and Scud, Chung is one of a small handful of Hong Kong directors who are consistently making films with gay themes. Aside from his work as a writer-director, Chung is also one of the founding members of Ying E Chi, the independent Hong Kong-based distributor (which, since its inception in 1997, has received ongoing financing from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council) dedicated to helping independent filmmakers. End of Love, which has an elliptical narrative structure, opens with the death of a middle-aged woman, which is explained later in the narrative. Then, via analepsis, we are shown a young man, Cheung Wai-Ming (Chi-Kin Lee) arriving at the New Life Centre, an isolated Christian mission/rehabilitation centre that is managed by a man named Chi-An. Upon arrival, Ming is introduced to Keung (Guthrie Yip), a former heroin addict who acts as Ming’s mentor. Keung entered the rehabilitation centre voluntarily, following the death of his mother, in a bid to get ‘clean’. 
Through a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that Ming is a former salesmen who was apparently sent to the New Life Centre after being arrested following an indiscretion involving Ecstasy and Ketamine. In these flashbacks, we are shown Ming beginning a relationship with Yan (Ben Yeung), a customer in the clothes shop in which Ming works. However, one day Ming’s friend Cyrus (Clifton Kwan) introduces Ming to an older man, Wilfred. Wilfred begins to court Ming and bestow upon him lavish gifts (with a declaration that declaring ‘I have no future as a gay man. But I have one thing: money’). Ming sleeps with Wilfred, noting that ‘This is the first time I’ve slept with someone for money’. Wilfred asks Ming how it feels. ‘Not much different than normal’, Ming replies. After this, Ming begins to work as a male prostitute and is gradually introduced to the drugs scene. However, after meeting with a client and mixing Viagra and poppers, Ming is hospitalised. Confronted by Yan in the hospital, Ming tells Yan ‘It’s just a job; it’s no different from being a salesperson’. However, as Yan and Ming make plans to move in together, Ming is arrested when the drugs squad raid a party that Ming is attending. This is the incident that led to Ming’s incarceration in the Christian rehabilitation centre. In the present of the narrative, Yan visits Ming and reveals that it was he who called the police, hoping that the arrest would simply scare Ming into fighting his addiction to drugs. These events cause Ming to retreat into himself and reflect on his past; through more flashbacks we are shown Ming’s turbulent relationship with his apparently domineering mother. 
Upon being released from the rehab centre, Ming moves in with Keung, who is unaware that Ming is gay, and Keung’s girlfriend Jackie (Joman Chiang). Ming appears to develop feelings for Keung, but Jackie has eyes on Ming. Jackie also openly takes hard drugs and offers them to Ming. Ming slips back into his old lifestyle and sleeps with Jackie. Jackie, confused about Ming’s feelings towards her, ends her relationship with Keung, and in despair Keung falls into his own spiral of decline, losing his job and eventually rekindling his love affair with heroin. Hoping to help Keung, Ming goes back to working as a male prostitute. 
In interviews, Chung has suggested that he aims to be seen as more than a filmmaker of formulaic ‘gay cinema’. Interviewed by Nigel Collett for Fridae in 2009, Chung suggested that 'Gay films are a niche […] but also a cage, as they limit how people see you' (Chung, quoted in Collett, 2009: np). Chung also suggested that his films are not necessarily well-received by the gay community in Hong Kong: 'The expectations of gay audiences can be a bit limiting […] Most young audiences are disappointed if there is no coming out story or a slushy romance; my films don't fit this paradigm. I don't just want to celebrate gay life with pretty love stories. I want to show the darker sides of gay life, and gay audiences don't always appreciate seeing that' (ibid.). Likewise, in the extra features on this DVD release of End of Love, interviewed by Clifton Kwan (one of the actors in the film), Chung asserts that his intentions with the film were to make a picture dealing with ‘the theme of love’ as explored through 'different types of love, relationships […] between a heterosexual couple, a gay couple, a mother and son. And in all these relationships, there is a kind of unhealthiness about this love pushed to the extreme, and that's why it's called “End of Love”'. Chung has offered a more detailed overview of this theme, in an interview with HK Magazine, claiming that he ‘wanted to explore the concept of love, not just the “romantic” version for heterosexual or homosexual couples, but […] the love between a mother and son, between friends, and also the flipside of love, which is obsession and control’ (Chung, quoted in Pong, 2009: np). It is certainly true that in End of Love, all relationships founded on love are, well-meaning or not, ultimately destructive. In this sense, Chung’s film shows an ambivalence towards the concept of love that is matched by its ambivalence towards both drug culture, which is depicted as both simultaneously destructive and exhilarating, and the Christian rehabilitation centre that acts as a locus for the narrative. 
On the topic of the rehabilitation centre, in the interviews on this DVD Chung asserts that he conducted extensive research into the types of Christian rehab centres of the kind depicted in the film, which are apparently quite common in Hong Kong. The research Chung conducted undermined Chung’s preconceptions, which were largely negative, and Chung argues that these places 'really work for these people', the drug addicts who are admitted to them. As the above synopsis might suggest, the film equates love with addiction to drugs; both are driven by desire and obsession and are depicted as having profoundly negative consequences for the characters in the film. As Keung returns to heroin following the departure of his girlfriend Jackie, with whom he is clearly deeply in love (regardless of her character flaws, which are all too obvious to the viewer), Ming returns to Yan and asks for financial help. Driven by desire for Ming but frustrated by Ming’s behaviour, Yan rapes Ming in the stockroom of the shop in which Yan works. (‘Don’t you believe how much I love you?’, Yan asks Ming during the rape.) The scene is shocking and dramatically effective for the way in which it parallels Yan’s rape of Ming with Keung’s return to his heroin habit; both actions are motivated by obsessive desire. Ming’s betrayal of Keung, by sleeping with Jackie, is equally significant for the way it precipitates the downfall of all of the central characters. 
The film is shot with an almost documentary-like aesthetic, which sometimes looks cheap and trashy (as per the films Paul Morrissey made for Andy Warhol in the 1960s) but more often than not works to the film’s advantage, especially during one particular sequence, in which the members of the rehab centre hold a round-table discussion of their relationships with drugs. The scene is shot in an elliptical cinema-verite style, and it is moments such as this that make End of Love a pleasure to watch, despite its depressing subject matter. Runtime: 97:04 mins (PAL). Uncut.
Video
The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1,78:1, with anamorphic enhancement. Shot on digital video, the film has an aesthetic of digital realism. In many sequences, the film aims for a documentary-style look, characterised by handheld shots and elliptical editing. There are no problems with the transfer.  
Audio
Audio is presented in two-channel stereo, with some subtle surround encoding. Dialogue is in Cantonese dialect, with optional English subtitles.
Extras
Interviews: - Simon Chung (8:08) (in English) Interviewed by Clifton Kwan, Chung discusses the origins of the film in his discussions with a friend who worked as a male prostitute. Chung aimed to make a film dealing 'with the theme of love' and exploring 'different types of love, relationships […] between a heterosexual couple, a gay couple, a mother and son. And in all these relationships, there is a kind of unhealthiness about this love pushed to the extreme, and that's why it's called “End of Love”'. Chung conducted extensive research into the types of Christian rehabilitation centres depicted in the film; this research undermined Chung's preconceptions, and Chung argues that these places 'really work for these people', the drug addicts who are admitted to them. Chung also claims that he tried to adopt a documentary-style aesthetic for the film and cut the film quickly 'so as to get that feeling of immediacy'. Chung also claims that he intended not to portray drugs in a positive or negative light. Kwan asks Chung about his methods for shooting the sex scenes. Chung also reveals that he underwent 'a drug period' in his life and this inspired the film's treatment of drug addiction. – Guthrie Yip (7:23) (in Cantonese, with burnt-in English subtitles) Kwan interviews Guthrie Yip, who plays Keung. Yip discusses his role in the film and the character's progression from being 'very positive to being self-destructive'. He also discusses the theme of addiction and obsession that runs throughout the film and the research he undertook before appearing in the film. – Clifton Kwan (2:47) (in Cantonese, with burnt-in English subtitles) Clifton Kwan, who plays Cyrus in the film, talks about his association with the film and his role as an advisor in the production of the film, helping some of the straight cast members to convincingly play members of Hong Kong's gay community. – Chi Kin (8:42) (in Cantonese, with burnt-in English subtitles) Kin talks about his feelings towards the film, suggesting that what he originally thought 'was a regulay gay movie' was actually 'quite sad'. Kwan asks Kin how he prepared for the role of Ming, the lead in the film and Kin's approach to the sex scenes. – Ben Yeung (7:43) (in Cantonese, with burnt-in English subtitles) Kwan interviews Yeung, who play Yan. Yan suggests that different people respond differently to the film: 'If you're pessimistic, it will make you even more so. But if you're more optimistic, the film will make you look at drugs, homosexuality, love and sex in a different light'. Yeung also discusses his first responses to the script and how he built up the character of Yan. Kwan also asks Yeung about how, as a straight actor, he approached the filming of the sex scenes. Deleted Scenes (4:52)
Overall
End of Love is an interesting, although occasionally harrowing experience. Chung’s desire to explore the darker, obsessive side of love results in a film that is antithetical to the sensibilities of much mainstream cinema. Chung’s film should be applauded for its daring, and the elliptical narrative structure works well for the film too. More detail about Ming’s relationship with his mother may have helped to add a little more balance to the narrative; the film balances Yan and Ming’s relationship with that of Keung and Jackie, but when Ming’s relationship with his mother becomes the focus of the narrative, very little detail has to that point been imparted about Ying and his mother. This quibble aside, End of Love is a worthwhile viewing experience; but don’t go into the film expecting any happy endings. Network’s DVD contains a good transfer of the film with a strong range of contextual material. Sources: Collett, Nigel, 2009: 'Coffee with Simon Chung Tak-Sing'. [Online.] http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2009/03/20/2242.coffee-with-simon-chung-tak-sing Pong, Johannes, 2009: ‘Boys on Film’. HK Magazine (April 29, 2009). [Online.] http://hk-magazine.com/feature/boys-film For more information, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
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