Twilight's Kiss
It’s been said that good things come in threes, and that’s certainly true of this year’s coincidental appearance of three contemporary same-sex love stories focused on older adults. The fine new Twilight’s Kiss, set in Hong Kong, follows on the heels of the moving French drama Two of Us, while the mini-trend was ushered in a few weeks ago by the terrific Supernova, with Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth.
There are no stars in Twilight’s Kiss, and that’s fine. The film is about people living beneath the radar, struggling to find a sense of purpose in their later years. Pak (Tai Bo) is a taxi driver nearing 70 with a wife and two adult children, a married son and unmarried daughter. His secret is that he cruises public restrooms for furtive sexual encounters with other men. Outside one men’s room he meets Hoi (Ben Yuen), a retired factory worker who lives with his devoutly Christian son and his family. The two men gradually form a powerful bond, meeting at a bathhouse for private trysts and cuddles.
The film packs a lot into just over 90 minutes: the state of gay rights in Hong Kong, the men’s differing religious experiences, Pak’s daughter’s engagement to an unemployed younger man, Hoi’s covert activism at an LGBT community center, the travails of other lonely elderly gay men, and a good deal of cooking and eating. There’s also a Parasite-like glimpse of subsistence living in the midst of flashy, cosmopolitan Hong Kong. But the sturdy through-line is Pak’s and Hoi’s navigation of their love affair, which is deftly handled by writer-director Ray Yeung without an ounce of melodrama. Their relationship grows in small, undiscussed increments until Pak’s wife starts to suspect something.
The two leads are perfectly suited to their roles. Tai Bo’s Pak is jaded and yet selfish enough to cling to a thread of hope, and the actor keeps him reserved but alert to possibility. Ben Yeun’s Hoi is both more worried and more determined, yet he knows better than to push Pak beyond his comfort level. Yeun’s eyes alone powerfully express his feelings, despite the minimal dialogue between the lovers.
An acknowledgement buried at the end of the credits reveals that Yeung’s screenplay was inspired by an oral history project focused on aging gay men in Hong Kong, which explains the movie’s considerable social scope and its ability to capture supporting characters’ lives in short minutes of screen time. Of the three same-sex cinematic love stories in recent weeks, it’s the most subdued and yet also the most ambitious. Its grounding in anthropological reality also puts it at something of a narrative disadvantage, since it’s less easy to impose neat closure on stories inspired by real life. Still, Twilight’s Kiss is an engrossing and groundbreaking work, showing a side of Hong Kong life you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
Grade: B-plus. Not rated but PG-13 equivalent for non-explicit sexual situations. Available to rent via grailmoviehouse.com.
(Photo: Strand Releasing)
