For NordVPN’s 10th birthday get the exclusive deal here: nordvpn.com/accentedcinema It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30 day money back guarantee. Correction: 2:55 I mean cisgender woman. Apologies for the glaring mistake!
Though it has a completly different approach, don´t forget Ossan´s Love HK (大叔的愛). It´s Hong Kongs first Boy Love Drama and therefore is more on the side of playing queerness for laughs BUT Actor and Canto-pop Idol Anson Lo (盧瀚霆) is openly gay. He became a fan-favorite and his homosexuallity faced suprisingly little backlash. As a queer Person myself, I wanted to express my very deep gratituted for you and your work. Thank you!
@@wrestlinganime4life288 Gay men are generally more stigmatized than women, at least in modern society, since people often associate Gay men with being “feminine” a trait that is more negatively viewed then for instance a masculine women.
Cheung's suicide note: "Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak. This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Tong Tong (Daffy Tong). Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"
He even called all his relatives before he jumped off the building. AND called his manager to pick him up. When his manager came, it was too late. People gathered around this person's body not knowing it was Leslie, but his manager recognize him right away and covered his face to avoid people going crazy about it. It is when you realized that he only called his manager just to pick up his lifeless body.
It didn't seem like Leslie received a lot of backlash for being bisexual, for liking Daffy Tong, I mean this as in, if it were other people liking men, they would receive a lot of criticism more so than Leslie, but because it was Leslie Cheung people loved him too much to care
Wow, as a young LGBT person in Hong Kong right now, I had no idea we had this extensive history of LGBT cinema. I discovered myself recently, but always thought HK was too conservative and hush-hush about gender orientation and sexuality to even begin broaching the topic with anyone outside my immediate, westernised social circle. It's so nice to learn the history of Leslie Cheung and know he was an icon for people like me.
Yeah, I agree. When I was in high school (about 5 years ago), the people around me were still very conservative about LGBT issues. It broke my heart to hear LGBT jokes almost every day and also have some of my teachers join in. The ones who I knew that were more accepting of LGBT people were girls who loved reading BL works with heavily fetishised depictions of gay relationships, and even then it made me ill when they talked about gay relationships in terms of heteronormative gender roles, when obviously realistically it doesn't work that way. It is great to know that Hong Kong has such an extensive history of LGBT cinema though. I really do wish the Hong Kong education system could be more open-minded & allow for the teaching of these works.
Honestly, I think the older generations still hold some stigma to it. While there is this air of indifference, I think some people still see it in a negative light or will subconsciously shy away from the people of this community bc thyre 'different'. As a side note, I think the younger generations in hk (myself included) generally look outside of hk, so american or mainland culture/ media instead of local hk art. Though this could be completely due to the spaces I was in were lol,, but I wish there were more discourse outside the local hk art community bc I hardly notice any promotion aside from occasional posters on tram stations
yeah, there's definitely still a lot of conservatism and stigma- the other night, I made a joke about my brother 'getting girls', and I included 'or boys' as an option. My parents laughed a little and corrected me to just girls. It may not be their fault, but the implicit rejection still stings; it's a sign that the older generation shies away from the topic. Hence why so many of us LGBT youth turn outwards to western media, where it's more normalised.
As an overarching social issue, what one would consider "conventional" HKers (i.e. the cishet majority) seems to have an issue with being extremely sanctimonious and self absorbed, in that they claim to be of a certain social stance (positive or otherwise) while their words and behavior indubitably show a lack of understanding and acceptance (i.e. pretending to be an ally for clout). Ive seen many claim to be supportive while being very much overtly bigoted and seeing things through stereotypes, as well as those who "are cool with it so long as its not around me". This is definitely not an issue specific to LGBTQ+ awareness/media but is definitely one that hits it pretty hard. If you are familiar, the TVB sitcom Love Come Home had an episode last year that featured a trans woman, who had 2 minutes of screentime, during which she (is implied to have) raped or at least attempted to rape another character, the entire ordeal being played as a joke. This kind of "humor" still flies in HK, but I don't see it changing anytime soon. I believe that people can change, but people who dont think they can or even need to arent going to.
After Leslie passed, I continued keeping his number in my cellphone. There was a time I accidentally pressed the number and heard a very familiar voice asking to ‘leave a message’. I left a message saying, ‘Why don’t we start over from the beginning?’ When we filmed Happy Together, that was a line Ho Po Wing often used when speaking to Lai Yiu Fai. -Tony Leung Great video, kisses from Brazil ❤🇧🇷
I still remember his suicide was a big news in Hong Kong, and also I think it was where we found out he was actually Bisexual which was really controversial in 90's Hong Kong as Homosexuality was still seen negatively at the time.
@@W11-o2y I remembered that day. When the news flashed around, the first thing reaction in our office was "Is it an April Fool's joke? Can't be true, right?"
You are right. As much as I adored him, I only knew he was gay after he died, and to see his good friend Anita Mui passed away at the end of that year too, it was such a sad year in HK entertainment industry
Farewell My Concubine is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. Mostly owing to the sublime performance by Leslie. He was a legend and we'll always miss him.
It's the only film I ever watched of his so far, and yet just watching it once, now twice, I felt the love of his character and person. Watching this commemoration video just makes me love him even more 😭
I’ve watched it as a kid on TV with my parents … and rewatched the criterion collection UHD release a couple of weeks ago. It’s still one of my fave movies
I don't follow close enough to know if it's good or not, but from most the of the TVB show I've seen recently, it's certainly worse. An example would be the atrocious show 八卦神探 (Officer Geomancer). It has a killer, who is a lesbian because she was raped as a child; a trans psychopath (not sure if they were trans because they basically stole the identity of someone of the opposite sex and had a surgery to look like that person, to avoid being recognized); toxic masculinity saying men were weak to show emotions; homophobic jokes that men living together as roommates would turn them gay. Probably just to scratch the surface, but it was enough to show what a garbage show it was. I was truly repulsed and disgusted when my parents watched it, and was seriously shocked that it was made in 2014 and not 1914.
@@Pranckall i generally don't, but my parents are so accustumed to it, since they were of older generation and TVB has been around for quite some time. So, I'm stuck with it. Thanks for the recommendation though
I'm a first-generation Chinese-Canadian gay man; my father grew up in Hong Kong and my mother grew up in Guangzhou but, unfortunately, I always felt uncomfortable in my culture because my parents had always made it seem like being Cantonese is mutually exclusive with being gay. Even after I came out, my parents carried on pretending like I was straight. I learned a bit about Leslie Cheung a little while after coming out, when I got curious about queer representation in my own culture -- there wasn't much I could find beyond a few articles which mainly focused on his suicide. Watching this video felt like coming home -- seeing people who shared similar experiences, pain, and joy all while speaking a language and belonging to a culture that I grew up with, it all just feels so right. I can't wait to get to watching all the films that were mentioned.
As a fan of Leslie, I highly recommend you watch his comeback concert in 1997, where he made pioneer performance of tangoing with a man on a pair of red heals in "红" and also let blowers blow up his black silky nightgown in "偷情", performing an oriental Marilyn Monroe‘s moment. The concert ended with his famous declaration to his partner Daffy Tong and two touching songs "月亮代表我的心" "追", stunning the whole Chinese world at that time. In fact, Leslie's exploration in gender art has nearly covered all kinds of topics including narcissism in the MV of "梦到内河". Additionally, I'd like to introduce a scholarly book “The Butterfly of Forbidden Colors: The Artistic Image of Leslie Cheung” as an overall insight on Leslie's artistic ideas.
His music and movies always give me strength, I love how he challenged gender roles and embraced his LGBTQ identity so openly. I admit his suicide left a shadow in me that even today I'm not completely out.
Leslie was suffering from depression due to chemical imbalance. He was hesitant to take medication, which was a big factor behind his passing. If you are facing difficulty, do not hesitate to seek professional help.
@@tianwong152 I... think Accented is smart to avoid politics. Even our own perspective on our own history isn't valid because if it doesn't frame us as an oppressed people who revolve around evil communist oriental despot brainwashing, then Accented will forever be pegged as a CPC bot or some bullshit, remember?
@@peterwang5660 you raise a very valid point about how the West has forced Chinese people to either cry/scream that their country is bad or they are CPC bots or assets. Which is sad, happens to a lot of countries in conflict with US interests like Palestine, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba to name a few. Still he was able to criticize Chinese nationalism without feeling preachy and actually make the good point to not replicate the propagandistic american approach, would love to see his thoughts on Communist epics
My mom was a massive Leslie Cheung fan so I spent alot of my childhood watching his films and concerts with her. I vividly remember that his performances were actually my first exposure to the LGBT community. I also remember her being absolutely heartbroken when he passed. It was probably my first experience seeing another human being experience such extreme sadness over the loss of someone they loved. Now that I think about it, Leslie probably had far more influence on me than I ever realised. Thank you so much for this video. Leslie's influence on the industry and the millions of lives he touched cannot be understated, and neither can the value of your channel and video essays for exploring the life and influence of artists like Leslie who would otherwise go mostly unrecognised outside of chinese media.
Yeah. He was open about his orientation later in his career but before that everyone thought he was straight and a lot of young women in Asia were falling head over heels for him. People still loved him after he confessed that he was gay.
@@kenlee2923 This is similar to George Michael! I literally didn't even had any doubt of Leslie and George being gay. They seemed straight to me. I was shocked to find out that they were gay lol.
Also known as "Zhang Guoying" in Mandarin, as he was more commonly known back then, he was a HUGE star in Asia back in the day that could handle both commercial flicks and arthouse films. One of the "Trinity" of male stars -- Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, and himself. A heart-throb to young women fans of Asia, a bad-ass for the male fans who idolized the 'bros' in John Woo movies. His performance in "Bawangbieji" was, I'd dare say, immortal. I still remember the day when I heard of his suicide and it sent shockwaves through the region. RIP Cheung.
Leslie and Tony are freaking deadly combination in film. Both talents are so bright, but when they are together in a film, they didn't outshine each other and you'll immerse yourself with their performances. They don't seem like acting but actually living in the film.
I was very surprised to see Tony playing gay character… he actually was very homophobic at the beginning of his career. In the interview with K100, he said he would not want to be in anything that associate with homosexual.
I am getting Heart broken everytime the passing of Leslie is brought up because to me he Is alive in films and music. His performance as Kit in A Better Tomorrow grabbed my attention and from that I watched both Happy Together an Farewell my Concubine, the later of which has become my favorite movie of all time. As a gay man finding media that represents mys struggles is Kind Of Hard as most of it Is made with the broader straight audience in mind and thus can fall into stereotypes and not expand beyond that. But people like Leslie brought that nuance that was what I believe a step forward. I was actually very excited when you announced this video as this channel helped me Explore Chinese language cinema and probably the reason why I considered watching Farewell my Concubine was bc of yours and Xiran's recommendation, to which I thank you a lot. Keep up the Great work and thank you again For covering this topic. Really appreciated!
I'm so happy to see Twilight's Kiss get the attention it deserves! Not only does it depict LGBT relationships in the Chinese-speaking Asian context, it also focuses on older men instead of just celebrating youth and the energy that comes with it. It's really unique and important in that sense.
In college, “Farewell My Concubine” was radical, beautiful and life changing. That movie broke me. Leslie Cheung was our LGBTQ+ hero. When he suicided, my heart was so broken. I was hoping for a long, illustrious career for him.
As a gay man, I’m really grateful for the humanizing and sympathetic movies that have come out recently. I haven’t seen any that show the damage I’ve experienced growing up gay. Even before I knew I was gay, I heard gay jokes every day. I had to put conscious effort into changing the way I walked because my hips swayed just a little too much and I got picked on for it. For me and many people, growing up gay is learning to constantly make these little changes to yourself until you don’t even realize you’re doing it anymore. I just knew that some part of me was hated by other people, and so I started hating myself for it. It was so bad for me that I had completely lost my sense of self. How I acted, what I said, if I even said anything: it all depended on the people around me. I started shifting every part of who I was to best suit whoever I was around, in big ways and in small ones. To this day I still struggle with intense self-loathing, depression and anxiety, and several personality disorders. All this to say: there’s something incredibly damaging to a human when they’re raised in an environment that doesn’t support them. I’d go so far as to say that at a certain point, the hatred you experience from other people doesn’t even compare to the hatred you’ve learned to have for yourself. That’s the way it is for me, at least, and I have yet to see a movie that approaches this topic. That would be one Hell of a downer movie though.
I'm so sorry you had to go through that. We cultured people on the internet have your back though! I hope you can see the amazingness, yass queen ness that we all see in you.
@@recadasilva2241 but let's not forget that for things like identity, it's not that easy. i still remember back then where only some parts of Europe and small parts of America are tolerant of gays. many gay people either hid who they were or even died for gay tolerance to get to today, where people can actually find big, accepting communities, and where bigotry is slowly being shunned.
Sorry for the hurt you had to go through…hope you are in a much better place now…even before leaving the church, I was educating my students about sexuality and gender, but as the two voices clashed, I stopped church completely…I have realized religions have done and do so much damage to the psyche…if only they helped with more open-mindedness in this area…
I watched Happy Together a while ago, and recently one of the idols I follow (I'm sure everyone knows him, V of BTS) had posted about Leslie, both pictures and videos of him. I googled him since I recognized him and I read about his story, but it wasn't delivered with the context of his films and everything else. I'm unsure of why, or I am sure I just don't know how to properly put it into words, but this video brought tears to my eyes. I'm a non-binary gay person and internalized homophobia is awful and it haunts me everywhere I go. In a way, how Leslie was and the fact he was so unapologetically, makes me feel a bit better and, honestly, a bit braver. Thank you for this video, you never fail
Oh wow. Thank you so much for this. Leslie Cheung was one of three celebrity deaths that just devastated me. As an American just discovering 90's HK cinema for myself, he was an instant favorite. Mesmerizing. His talent made me spend so much money and time tracking down all his work I could find on even crappy quality VHS (!)) (before the time of streaming). I was transfixed by his immense talent. I cried my eyes out when I heard the news of his death. I felt the terrible loss over time to not to be able to watch him continue to grow on screen and as the staggering ICON he was becoming for LGBT people. Gosh. I'm tearing up now.
His role in Farewell My Concubine really made me cry. The acting was both marvelous and painful. It was too heartbreaking for me to watch more than three times😢
It's a pity the West still don't know the insane influence of Leslie Cheung. I tear up everytime I think about him. But it's also a pity that despite his effort, HK's biggest corporate media TVB continues to use queerness as a joke, even to this day.
When Leslie's death hit the news, most of us thought it was a April's Fool joke (since it's exactly that day), but then we're proved wrong, and there're so much mourning, and his death made to the top headlines next day. That showed how huge his influence was. As noted, he'll forever be remembered for his achievements in music and acting, but also as an icon of LBGT community. His death also showed the society how depression can destroy a person, thus urging people suffered from it to get help, so he also helped the society in another way. As for Hong Kong, LBGT works continued to ripe, including The First Girl I Loved from last year, though showings in Hong Kong was largely rocked by the pandemic. But the society's acceptance of the issue, on the other hand, didn't really improve since Hong Kong is still a conservative society, by all accounts.
I agree. When Leslie came out the USA was still living in the shadows about the LGBT. Gay men were especially facing death threats in the US while Leslie was loved by everyone.
"His death immortalized his image" Well said! Leslie Cheung was actually bisexual. Perhaps he had too much love. His late concerts were very bold but were not well received by the media and that was when he started getting the depression issue. In hindsight, his concerts were simply way ahead of time. Besides his talent and personality, people still remember him almost 20 years after his passing because his peak time coincided with the golden era of Hong Kong, and his traits embody what Asian usually cherish (hard working, unassuming, willing to help others etc.). He was perfect on many levels and yet he was also very controversial because of his sexuality.
As someone who is bi and trans as well as Filipino American, seeing ANY form of LGBTQ rep in Asian media makes my heart flutter. I am definitely going to show this to my university's Pride Alliance and maybe try to push for a screening of one of these films at my uni, hehehe
hi i don't comment often but i'd just like to say, as a queer person born and raised in hong kong but unfamiliar with hong kong's film and media, your channel has helped me gain interest in a lot of interest in hong kong's film. great video !
He's SO charming on screen. I think my favorite is "Days of Being Wild." That scene with Maggie Cheung, where he tells her they're "one minute friends" is wonderful. (p.s. That line would have 100% worked on me.)
Days of being wild is definitely my favourite Wong Kar Wai film, it's really depicts the problem of not having a real mother figure, when you are boy and then become a man, you still that boy, that's not taking responsibility for your feelings and actions, it's really great to look it right now. For me it's movie that associated with summer and rain outside, it's so comfy
I didn’t know the reach of Leslie’s popularity back in the day…until my high school friend from South Korea mentioned him when we were chatting about films. He was a legitimate star, and his portrayal of queer characters in turn humanized LGBT people. For that he’s dearly missed, not just as an artist, but also as an icon.
Hong Kong cinema was the pop culture Korean Gen x:ers and early millennials grew up on. Before Japanese took over in the early 2000’s and Korean pop culture started to dominate Hong Kong stars was everything in Korea.
I watched “Farewell, my concubine” just a few days ago for the first time finally. It really moved me, Dieyi’s character most of all so I wanted to learn more about the actor behind him and it saddened me that he passed away already. Reading about him got me feeling so many emotions and watching your video made me appreciate him even more. Thank you! Now I will have even more movies to watch in my watchlist ❤
I am a human being with the labels… 60 year old, white, hetero, female, American whose voracious appetite to understand the human soul has lead me to the BL dramas of the various Asian film industries. This beautifully crafted tribute to Leslie Cheung was just the history lesson I didn’t know I was yearning for. Tears came to my eyes from the gratitude I feel for having viewed your fine film and the greater understanding I have gained from it. Thank you so much for making this effort.
Thank you for bringing up Leslie's great achievement as an actor as well as a human being who just happened to love men more than women. I fell in love with him in "Chinese Ghost story." He had a mysterious charm as a young student in search of truth in life. Later I got to know he was a fantastic performer and singer. In Japan in1980 I could collect little information about him. I went to Chinatown in Yokohama trying to get some movie magazines and videos. I still treasure all of his videos.
I still remember vividly the day I heard about his death. I was in tenth grade during then and it was the first time I experienced genuine depression over a celebrity death which really never happened to me before. I've been a fan of his for as long as I could remember and his films and songs meant quite a bit to me.
I’ve lived in hong kong all my life. It’s always irked me when people (mostly the older generation) would denounce LGBTQ+ representation, culture, and people (literal people!) all while reminiscing about the glory days of Hong Kong pop culture circa 1980s. My family has always liked Leslie Cheung’s music (most people over 40 do, here in Hong Kong) and as a teenager I was delighted to find that in one of his most iconic concert photos he was wearing a skirt - artistic expression and subversion of heteronormative expectations in the 90s! I thought it was great that my parents liked this artist, especially because I was closeted (still am). And then the next day my mother fake-whispered to me on the street when we went past a man who was wearing makeup and baggy pants that look like a skirt (who was just minding his own damn business). I realised then that my parents accepted LGBTQ+ culture as just a tragic quirk of Leslie’s artistry (much like how some people see depression as the tragic quirk of Van Gogh’s artistry) that they can admire and lament from a comfortable distance away. In case anyone wants to know about the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Hong Kong: to this day we have no marriage equality (the most recent judicial review was quashed in 2019), but things are getting better. In 2013, a trans woman fought for the right to marry her boyfriend and won, with the Court of Final Appeal (our highest court of the land) acknowledging the importance of protecting minority rights and letting the living constitution evolve. From around 2016 onwards, same-sex couples started getting more rights in terms of parental rights, visa, housing, spousal benefits for civil servants, etc. Don’t get me wrong, each right was *fought for* and *won* by the individuals who launched judicial reviews against government departments that excluded queer couples from their policy - our judicial system is almost the only hope for any sort of progressive change, but nevertheless things are changing. Just last month, the Court of Appeal ruled that trans people could change the gender on their ID without undergoing full sex reassignment surgery (greatly improving trans people’s access to gender-segregated spaces). These court cases never should have had to be brought in the first place, and the applicants never should have had to go through the physical and mental stress (not to mention undertaking the financial risk) of a court trial, but I’m glad they won - its a victory they so richly deserve. As for the general social situation in Hong Kong. There’s still stigma, there’s still (mostly informal/verbal) discrimination. There’s still the expectation for you to “snap out of” your queer phase, find a nice (wo)man, and settle down. (There’s also the expectation to produce children, of course, but that’s a whole other can of worms.) But more and more people are becoming more accepting and celebratory of love. Apparently a recent survey, for the first time, showed majority support for marriage equality, with the younger generation being the most supportive. I see people freely holding hands on my university campus, sometimes. Those people dressing “unconventionally”, the boys wearing makeup and girls with a buzz cut my mother likes to scoff at and whisper about-they’re there. They exist. April 2023 marks the twentieth year since Leslie’s suicide; they put up billboards commemorating his legacy near my home last week. I hope he’s somewhere kinder. I hope he’s proud of us.
He’s such an amazing singer, director, performer, actor…nothing can beat hk 80s-90s talent. I miss him so much!!! I’m so grateful you did a video on him. ❤️
My mom was so into hong kong films when i was very young. By chance, i watched one of Leslie's movies with her. I eventually forgot the title and even the whole story as i grew older. I can really only remember his performance. It was very striking. I can't say what made it so memorable but all i could remember was his character. When i became an adult, i saw it again and looking at his performance as an older person, it was even better. The movie was Farewell my Concubine.
Brilliant! As a gay person who was born in the early 2000s, I didn't know who he was until this video. Really touched by his beautiful life and his pieces of work. "Your love belongs to you alone" Taught me a lot about loving yourself. Thanks for doing this tribute. Really means a lot to me :)❤❤❤
Lovely video as always. Glad that someone is out here making such great videos about all these amazing Hong Kong movies. My favorite Leslie movie will always be Chinese Ghost Story... you can tell he had fun playing such a himbo 😂
Besides acting gay in a small part of his movies, Leslie Cheung is a handsome and stylish man! He is a straight guy in most of his movies. He acts with his body language and his eye very well! Miss Leslie!
When I had started getting into Kung Fu films and digging into early Hong Kong cinema, I bought A Chinese Ghost Story on a whim. I was floored by the movie, but I fell in love with Leslie Cheung's acting. This was around 2005, so I was heartbroken when I looked him up and learned he had passed away a few years prior. I dug into his past some more and learned he was a gay man and it made sense. Society is cruel to those it deems as "the other" and it is devastating that Leslie didn't get the help he so desperately needed. To make it doubly worse, I suffer from depression myself, so learning of his fate left a mark on my life that I still feel upset over to this day.
Wow this video really touched me, though I am not gay, I hope that one day we can all live and express ourselves freely as human beings not be judge nor judge others. Thanks for making this one, greetings from Costa Rica
So glad you did a piece on Leslie Cheung. Huge fan of his. Loved him in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow and Shanghai Grand. The man was truly a wonderful talent!
Another awesome presentation. Every time I saw a Leslie Cheung quote on screen, my eyes teared up. Accented Cinema is indisputably one of my top five favorite channels on RUclips.
As a mixed Asian of Cantonese 🇭🇰background growing up in Britain and HongKong was a lot . Then being a bisexual was also another issue . But he was such a gift to LG(B)T kids in British hongkong back in the 1990s and early 2000s .
After watching farewell my concubine immediately looked up this guy, i coudn't believe he didn't get the oscar for it, immediately heart broken after finding out why his career is so short, what a shame, that movie is burnt in my head long after i watched it, more because i went with 0 expectations, i spontaneously chose one old china movie with good imdb score and went for it, hell of a ride, mr Cheung was double acting playing a character playing a character, and crushed it twice. Absolute legend.
Leslie’s influence spans through decades and I can testify to that. I was born mere years after his death, it’s sad knowing that will never get to meet him in this lifetime-only in afterlife. But the legacy he left is something I will forever cherish and hold dear close to my heart, his films, music, and memory. He will always be remembered for generations to come, I do not feel this way for most celebrities I am a fan of, but Leslie is one of those few; I cannot elaborate as to why I feel such, all I know is that I adore him. So long, Gor Gor.
Thank you so much. I grew up on HK cinema, and I identify as non-binary and asexual. I watched Farewell My Concubine in 1995 or so and I was like "That's me! Not exactly, but it is me!"
Last year I began this tradition for myself of watching a queer film for every day of Pride Month. Thank you so much for all the new recs. You should have heard the cheer I let out when I heard 'two bisexual women'. 😊😊
This year marks the 19th anniversary of the death of our哥哥 ( Leslie Cheung ). We still miss him very much. Every image of him remains on the screen forever, and we thank him for winning people's acceptance and recognition for homosexuality. Great video! thank you
I clicked because he looked so damn good in the thumbnail. And then the more I look at this video I feel like I've come across his legacy somewhere before. Then it hit me he might be the one from the movie kids watch in reply 1988 series, and he is! I am so happy.
Finally, Mr. Leslie Cheung. I’m so happy that you finally make something about him, but at the same time, I’m super scared to read or watch anything related to him. I’m just afraid of getting too emotional and then be emo for days and weeks. Effect every single time. He had such a big influence on my childhood, his works and everything that he represented. R.I.P. 哥哥
I think it's worth pointing out that Leslie Cheung began his career as a pop idol - he had (and still has) tons of adoring female fans, who'd call him 哥哥 (gor-gor), or older brother. He was very handsome and was casted in various romantic roles with HK's leading ladies. This, in a way, further emphasises the work he'd done for the LGBT community and queer cinema, because he'd graduated from being boxed as a matinee idol who could act, to an iconic pillar of HK cinema. I would also love to hear you discuss Anita Mui! She was Leslie's best friend, and had a similar, androgynous image. Their film, "Rouge", is one of my favourites!
One of the best, well-made video essay i have ever seen. Got me so emotional, I cried by the end of it. Leslie is an inspiring icon! Definitely will be watching his works. Rest in peace. And thank you for the amazing video speaking about a great actor and lgbt history in Hong Kong.
Hope you would cover this old British sitcom called 'Mind Your Language'. It was a controversial series because it stereotypes various cultures. Yet, despite issues, it's somehow more popular & more accepted around the world, especially among Asians, more so than to the the British Asians, who are rightfully confounded by the sitcom. So popular, the series inspires all kinds of knock-offs in countries such India, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. It's also fascinating to see the wide gap between Asian viewers in the West, who had to put up with the poor stereotypes; and the Asian viewers within the continent, who somehow relate to the characters on some level.
I guess Asian in the west view this stereotype as inferior because it was made to be a joke. Due to them thinking it is inferior, instead of turning it around for something to be proud of, they felt ashamed to be associated with such stereotype, and they want to change as to fit in and to not stand out. On the other hand, Asian in Asia having live among themselves didn’t have this such feeling at all on trying to fit in, so they were able to not care or laugh along with it, and sometimes even relate to it. Like most Americans were able to relate to or laugh along with their stereotypes. Also PS: that show has stereotype of many countries lol
Native Asians don't deal with racism as much. They don't live in fear of being mocked or bullied for their ethnicity, because they're surrounded by others who look like them and are of the same culture. Asians in Europe and North America are basically punchlines, and desensitized to news stories of Asians being beaten up on the streets for seemingly 'no reason'. I'm Asian Canadian, and I lost count how many times I've heard people casually do mock accents, joke Chinese names, squinting their eyes, and multiple other ways to stereotype a culture. It's something I thought was perfectly normal, but it severely hurt my self esteem. It's only evident to me as an adult how awful me and my Asian friends were treated.
As a white gay boy in Canada in the 80s and 90s, I was deeply marked by Leslie Cheung's performances. I was fortunate that a local non-cable TV station ran subtitled Hong Kong movies on Saturday evenings, and also that my local arthouse cinema ran HK films. When I eventually got toHong Kong in 2003, I made a beeline to Leslie's square on the walk of fame. I got chills when I put my fingers on his handprint.
thank you so much for this compilation / documentary, saying its bittersweet is just not enough, he truly is an icon, his work is legendary and he is definitely a trailblazer at that time. My heart is aching because of his tragic passing and can only be quenched by his music and cinema.
Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui were some of the HK celebs that formed my adolescence. They were huge when it came to LGBT rep in HK cinema. My favorite LC films are Happy Together and Moonlight Express. His passing is still felt even now. Thank you for doing this tribute so that more people will know about him. 💜
This is so touching, Leslie is perfect as a human being, and appreciate this perspective about his representation for lgbt group. Keep up ur good work!
As a Chinese I grew up hearing Leslie’s name, and you can still hear his name being mentioned till date. It was just 2 years ago when I discovered his musics and movies, as I know more about him I fall deeper for him, and I cry literally every time when I think of his death. He’s really a true artist and an lgbt icon for most of the queer kids in China
I've been following your channel since the very beginning and it is, by far, my favorite channel about films since I have a deep interest in classic asian cinema, especially in chinese language. I'm also LGBT and it always makes me feel embraced when you talk about LGBT cinema. Thank u for your sensibility, Yang, and hugs from Brazil
Thank you for sharing these films with us, now I have new movies to add to my list to my list where lgbt characters don’t die, don’t need to come out at the climax of the movie and the characters are just people, this gives me hope thank you, I’m already out so I wanted content with that theme too uwu
This is one of your best videos, and I've truly enjoyed all of your videos so far! Thank you for this well-deserved tribute to Leslie Cheung. I hope you will introduce us to more LGBT films in the future.
Thank you so much for making this video on LGBTQ+ representation in Hong Kong films and Leslie Cheung’s huge contribution to it. It’s thanks to these incredible and courageous artists that there are even discussions about LGBTQ+ portrayal in media and LGBTQ+ rights in Hong Kong. Unfortunately we as a city still have a long way to go - many contemporary films and television dramas still use homosexuality and transgender characters as distasteful and harmful punchlines. We need more people like you to amplify media with depictions of LGBTQ+ characters as normal people reserving the same rights as cis straight people.
Leslie being a homosexual was kept quiet at first, but when he finally came out, I don’t feel that it stopped people from loving him. He was an icon and an incredible one at that. He not only sang, but he acted as well and was incredibly talented at both. He was such a bright star and his short life was so unfair. His suicide was one of the worst feelings that I had ever felt as a child. Rest in peace, Leslie. You are sorely missed. ❤❤❤
This is an amazing video. I'm beyond impressed. Never once have I watched a video about Leslie that truly portrayed his impact. I sincerely thank you for making such a spectacular video on Leslie. Hopefully more people will come to realise his influence on LGBT culture.
Thank you. I was so in love with his character in the Eagle Shooting Heroes when I was a young girl that I felt sick. Didn’t know he was gay. Admired him more when I found out how ground breaking of an actor he was later on in my life sadly after he passed.
I always remembered him as the guy who died on April Fools. My mom said when his death was reported, people thought it was a joke as it was on April Fools day. I heard his songs growing up, but not much of his films as they were rated😅 but now i am starting to fully appreciate his impact in the hk film industry as well:)
Still cannot watch a Leslie Cheung performance without being heartbroken... Very glad that RUclips recommended me this channel, looking forward to more of your content!
list of all movies mentioned in this vid (by first mention) Leslie Cheung: Days of Being Wild (1990) He's A Woman, She's a Man (1994) *Happy Together (1997) All's Well Ends Well (1992) The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993) Farewell My Concubine (1993) Rouge (1987) A Better Tomorrow (1986) A Chinese Ghost Story Once a Thief (1991 Not Leslie Cheung: Oh! My Three Guys (1994) A Queer Story (1997) Hold You Tight (1998) Enter The Phoenix (2004 Thirty Years of Adonis (2017) All About Love (2010) *Twilight's Kiss (2019)
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Correction:
2:55 I mean cisgender woman. Apologies for the glaring mistake!
Welcome back!
when people talk about LGBT in hongkong, they tend to forget about Wong Yiu Meng, i think he is also a very good representation too
Though it has a completly different approach, don´t forget Ossan´s Love HK (大叔的愛). It´s Hong Kongs first Boy Love Drama and therefore is more on the side of playing queerness for laughs BUT Actor and Canto-pop Idol Anson Lo (盧瀚霆) is openly gay. He became a fan-favorite and his homosexuallity faced suprisingly little backlash.
As a queer Person myself, I wanted to express my very deep gratituted for you and your work. Thank you!
ruclips.net/video/gbcPXj30Gh0/видео.html nki
Taekook 💚💜
Whoa, 90s Hong Kong LGBT films had more balls than modern American LGBT films. I had always heard of Leslie but never knew how influential he was.
Course....look at all the famous women with short hair promoting it too. HK is a testing ground.
He was the King. My mom still talks about him.
He's arguably the best chinese/cantonese actor to date
I mean in the 90 America was losing their mind over Sailor Moon
@@wrestlinganime4life288 Gay men are generally more stigmatized than women, at least in modern society, since people often associate Gay men with being “feminine” a trait that is more negatively viewed then for instance a masculine women.
The fact that his lover (Daffy) still posts pictures of him on his ig is so wholesome and heart touching.
yessssss😢😢😢
and sad
Yes, he still posts their photos yearly especially on his birthday, Xmas and Chinese New Year.
That love, I have never seen. And I always ask myself how Daffy, will ever be ever to love anyone else, like he did love Leslie.
Cheung's suicide note:
"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak. This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Tong Tong (Daffy Tong). Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"
:(
😭
He even called all his relatives before he jumped off the building. AND called his manager to pick him up. When his manager came, it was too late. People gathered around this person's body not knowing it was Leslie, but his manager recognize him right away and covered his face to avoid people going crazy about it. It is when you realized that he only called his manager just to pick up his lifeless body.
I'm crying damn hard
@@maracas3894 Omg that’s so sad.
“they walk out the room looking like an incel’s idea of a couple” I am CHOKING
He gets the humor of English!
complete with spousal abuse is what got me good LOL
It got me too haha. Spot on description
LMAOOOO
People to quick to tag other people who have a different opinion. Bigot, phobic, incel, etc etc.
Bey Logan summed up people's feelings towards Leslie best: "They knew he was different, but they loved him too much to care."
It didn't seem like Leslie received a lot of backlash for being bisexual, for liking Daffy Tong, I mean this as in, if it were other people liking men, they would receive a lot of criticism more so than Leslie, but because it was Leslie Cheung people loved him too much to care
Yes, because loving him, our fans don't care
Wow, as a young LGBT person in Hong Kong right now, I had no idea we had this extensive history of LGBT cinema. I discovered myself recently, but always thought HK was too conservative and hush-hush about gender orientation and sexuality to even begin broaching the topic with anyone outside my immediate, westernised social circle. It's so nice to learn the history of Leslie Cheung and know he was an icon for people like me.
henlo
Yeah, I agree. When I was in high school (about 5 years ago), the people around me were still very conservative about LGBT issues. It broke my heart to hear LGBT jokes almost every day and also have some of my teachers join in. The ones who I knew that were more accepting of LGBT people were girls who loved reading BL works with heavily fetishised depictions of gay relationships, and even then it made me ill when they talked about gay relationships in terms of heteronormative gender roles, when obviously realistically it doesn't work that way.
It is great to know that Hong Kong has such an extensive history of LGBT cinema though. I really do wish the Hong Kong education system could be more open-minded & allow for the teaching of these works.
Honestly, I think the older generations still hold some stigma to it. While there is this air of indifference, I think some people still see it in a negative light or will subconsciously shy away from the people of this community bc thyre 'different'. As a side note, I think the younger generations in hk (myself included) generally look outside of hk, so american or mainland culture/ media instead of local hk art. Though this could be completely due to the spaces I was in were lol,, but I wish there were more discourse outside the local hk art community bc I hardly notice any promotion aside from occasional posters on tram stations
yeah, there's definitely still a lot of conservatism and stigma- the other night, I made a joke about my brother 'getting girls', and I included 'or boys' as an option. My parents laughed a little and corrected me to just girls. It may not be their fault, but the implicit rejection still stings; it's a sign that the older generation shies away from the topic. Hence why so many of us LGBT youth turn outwards to western media, where it's more normalised.
As an overarching social issue, what one would consider "conventional" HKers (i.e. the cishet majority) seems to have an issue with being extremely sanctimonious and self absorbed, in that they claim to be of a certain social stance (positive or otherwise) while their words and behavior indubitably show a lack of understanding and acceptance (i.e. pretending to be an ally for clout). Ive seen many claim to be supportive while being very much overtly bigoted and seeing things through stereotypes, as well as those who "are cool with it so long as its not around me". This is definitely not an issue specific to LGBTQ+ awareness/media but is definitely one that hits it pretty hard.
If you are familiar, the TVB sitcom Love Come Home had an episode last year that featured a trans woman, who had 2 minutes of screentime, during which she (is implied to have) raped or at least attempted to rape another character, the entire ordeal being played as a joke. This kind of "humor" still flies in HK, but I don't see it changing anytime soon. I believe that people can change, but people who dont think they can or even need to arent going to.
After Leslie passed, I continued keeping his number in my cellphone. There was a time I accidentally pressed the number and heard a very familiar voice asking to ‘leave a message’. I left a message saying, ‘Why don’t we start over from the beginning?’ When we filmed Happy Together, that was a line Ho Po Wing often used when speaking to Lai Yiu Fai. -Tony Leung
Great video, kisses from Brazil ❤🇧🇷
I still remember his suicide was a big news in Hong Kong, and also I think it was where we found out he was actually Bisexual which was really controversial in 90's Hong Kong as Homosexuality was still seen negatively at the time.
Bro why on April 1st tho, I feel so bad for laughing at the date
I can imagine when his fans received the news they might thought it was just a prank
@@W11-o2y I remembered that day. When the news flashed around, the first thing reaction in our office was "Is it an April Fool's joke? Can't be true, right?"
This didn’t age well…
You are right. As much as I adored him, I only knew he was gay after he died, and to see his good friend Anita Mui passed away at the end of that year too, it was such a sad year in HK entertainment industry
Farewell My Concubine is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. Mostly owing to the sublime performance by Leslie. He was a legend and we'll always miss him.
張国荣演活了程蝶衣太好看極了
It's the only film I ever watched of his so far, and yet just watching it once, now twice, I felt the love of his character and person. Watching this commemoration video just makes me love him even more 😭
I’ve watched it as a kid on TV with my parents … and rewatched the criterion collection UHD release a couple of weeks ago. It’s still one of my fave movies
He would've loved what the LGBTQ+ representation looks like today because of him. Thanks for covering this!
In HK? China? It's worst.
I don't follow close enough to know if it's good or not, but from most the of the TVB show I've seen recently, it's certainly worse. An example would be the atrocious show 八卦神探 (Officer Geomancer). It has a killer, who is a lesbian because she was raped as a child; a trans psychopath (not sure if they were trans because they basically stole the identity of someone of the opposite sex and had a surgery to look like that person, to avoid being recognized); toxic masculinity saying men were weak to show emotions; homophobic jokes that men living together as roommates would turn them gay. Probably just to scratch the surface, but it was enough to show what a garbage show it was. I was truly repulsed and disgusted when my parents watched it, and was seriously shocked that it was made in 2014 and not 1914.
@@GoGoPooerRangers in mainstream media of course, but in the internet and younger generation it's thriving
@@huyluonggia6403 also dont watch tvb - young people in hk now all watch viutv and it has much better lgbtqia+ representation
@@Pranckall i generally don't, but my parents are so accustumed to it, since they were of older generation and TVB has been around for quite some time. So, I'm stuck with it. Thanks for the recommendation though
I'm a first-generation Chinese-Canadian gay man; my father grew up in Hong Kong and my mother grew up in Guangzhou but, unfortunately, I always felt uncomfortable in my culture because my parents had always made it seem like being Cantonese is mutually exclusive with being gay. Even after I came out, my parents carried on pretending like I was straight. I learned a bit about Leslie Cheung a little while after coming out, when I got curious about queer representation in my own culture -- there wasn't much I could find beyond a few articles which mainly focused on his suicide. Watching this video felt like coming home -- seeing people who shared similar experiences, pain, and joy all while speaking a language and belonging to a culture that I grew up with, it all just feels so right. I can't wait to get to watching all the films that were mentioned.
xx
As a fan of Leslie, I highly recommend you watch his comeback concert in 1997, where he made pioneer performance of tangoing with a man on a pair of red heals in "红" and also
let blowers blow up his black silky nightgown in "偷情", performing an oriental Marilyn Monroe‘s moment. The concert ended with his famous declaration to his partner Daffy Tong and two touching songs "月亮代表我的心" "追", stunning the whole Chinese world at that time. In fact, Leslie's exploration in gender art has nearly covered all kinds of topics including narcissism in the MV of "梦到内河". Additionally, I'd like to introduce a scholarly book “The Butterfly of Forbidden Colors: The Artistic Image of Leslie Cheung” as an overall insight on Leslie's artistic ideas.
Sending you love from one 1st gen Chinese immigrant to another 🫶🏼🏳️🌈
Have you been to China bro? Shanghai has a thriving LGBTQ community. Most Chinese people don't care about your sexual orientation in China.
His music and movies always give me strength, I love how he challenged gender roles and embraced his LGBTQ identity so openly. I admit his suicide left a shadow in me that even today I'm not completely out.
Leslie was suffering from depression due to chemical imbalance. He was hesitant to take medication, which was a big factor behind his passing.
If you are facing difficulty, do not hesitate to seek professional help.
@@AccentedCinema Can you dive into Communist epics? Like the recent 觉醒年代？
@@tianwong152 I... think Accented is smart to avoid politics. Even our own perspective on our own history isn't valid because if it doesn't frame us as an oppressed people who revolve around evil communist oriental despot brainwashing, then Accented will forever be pegged as a CPC bot or some bullshit, remember?
@@peterwang5660 All the more reason to talk about it. I think we should encourage him to talk about it.
@@peterwang5660 you raise a very valid point about how the West has forced Chinese people to either cry/scream that their country is bad or they are CPC bots or assets. Which is sad, happens to a lot of countries in conflict with US interests like Palestine, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba to name a few. Still he was able to criticize Chinese nationalism without feeling preachy and actually make the good point to not replicate the propagandistic american approach, would love to see his thoughts on Communist epics
My mom was a massive Leslie Cheung fan so I spent alot of my childhood watching his films and concerts with her. I vividly remember that his performances were actually my first exposure to the LGBT community.
I also remember her being absolutely heartbroken when he passed. It was probably my first experience seeing another human being experience such extreme sadness over the loss of someone they loved. Now that I think about it, Leslie probably had far more influence on me than I ever realised.
Thank you so much for this video. Leslie's influence on the industry and the millions of lives he touched cannot be understated, and neither can the value of your channel and video essays for exploring the life and influence of artists like Leslie who would otherwise go mostly unrecognised outside of chinese media.
I was not ready for “holy shit he’s GAY!?”
ikr, it should be a meme 😂
That was when Ricky Martin announced it.
Yeah. He was open about his orientation later in his career but before that everyone thought he was straight and a lot of young women in Asia were falling head over heels for him. People still loved him after he confessed that he was gay.
holy shit he's gay
@@kenlee2923 This is similar to George Michael! I literally didn't even had any doubt of Leslie and George being gay. They seemed straight to me. I was shocked to find out that they were gay lol.
Also known as "Zhang Guoying" in Mandarin, as he was more commonly known back then, he was a HUGE star in Asia back in the day that could handle both commercial flicks and arthouse films. One of the "Trinity" of male stars -- Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, and himself. A heart-throb to young women fans of Asia, a bad-ass for the male fans who idolized the 'bros' in John Woo movies. His performance in "Bawangbieji" was, I'd dare say, immortal. I still remember the day when I heard of his suicide and it sent shockwaves through the region. RIP Cheung.
Zhang Guorong
As a gay dude, he is both a heart-throb and idol lol
@@legendofnoob thanks for the correction!
"Zhang Guoying" excuse me?
Cheung Kwok-wing in Cantonese
Leslie and Tony are freaking deadly combination in film.
Both talents are so bright, but when they are together in a film, they didn't outshine each other and you'll immerse yourself with their performances. They don't seem like acting but actually living in the film.
I was very surprised to see Tony playing gay character… he actually was very homophobic at the beginning of his career. In the interview with K100, he said he would not want to be in anything that associate with homosexual.
@@SyTacLoc ohh, maybe that's why wkw didn't tell him it's a gay movie at first
@@SyTacLoc His first role was actually the son of Leslie's lover, but when it started filming, Director Wong changed his role to Leslie's lover.
I am getting Heart broken everytime the passing of Leslie is brought up because to me he Is alive in films and music. His performance as Kit in A Better Tomorrow grabbed my attention and from that I watched both Happy Together an Farewell my Concubine, the later of which has become my favorite movie of all time.
As a gay man finding media that represents mys struggles is Kind Of Hard as most of it Is made with the broader straight audience in mind and thus can fall into stereotypes and not expand beyond that. But people like Leslie brought that nuance that was what I believe a step forward.
I was actually very excited when you announced this video as this channel helped me Explore Chinese language cinema and probably the reason why I considered watching Farewell my Concubine was bc of yours and Xiran's recommendation, to which I thank you a lot. Keep up the Great work and thank you again For covering this topic. Really appreciated!
I'm so happy to see Twilight's Kiss get the attention it deserves! Not only does it depict LGBT relationships in the Chinese-speaking Asian context, it also focuses on older men instead of just celebrating youth and the energy that comes with it. It's really unique and important in that sense.
In college, “Farewell My Concubine” was radical, beautiful and life changing. That movie broke me. Leslie Cheung was our LGBTQ+ hero. When he suicided, my heart was so broken. I was hoping for a long, illustrious career for him.
"Suicide" is not a verb, nor is it a criminal, sinful, or morally wrong act. _Died by suicide_ is the preferred term.
As a gay man, I’m really grateful for the humanizing and sympathetic movies that have come out recently. I haven’t seen any that show the damage I’ve experienced growing up gay.
Even before I knew I was gay, I heard gay jokes every day. I had to put conscious effort into changing the way I walked because my hips swayed just a little too much and I got picked on for it. For me and many people, growing up gay is learning to constantly make these little changes to yourself until you don’t even realize you’re doing it anymore. I just knew that some part of me was hated by other people, and so I started hating myself for it. It was so bad for me that I had completely lost my sense of self. How I acted, what I said, if I even said anything: it all depended on the people around me. I started shifting every part of who I was to best suit whoever I was around, in big ways and in small ones. To this day I still struggle with intense self-loathing, depression and anxiety, and several personality disorders.
All this to say: there’s something incredibly damaging to a human when they’re raised in an environment that doesn’t support them. I’d go so far as to say that at a certain point, the hatred you experience from other people doesn’t even compare to the hatred you’ve learned to have for yourself. That’s the way it is for me, at least, and I have yet to see a movie that approaches this topic. That would be one Hell of a downer movie though.
U can watch aligard also indian movie about gays its great
I'm so sorry you had to go through that. We cultured people on the internet have your back though! I hope you can see the amazingness, yass queen ness that we all see in you.
@@recadasilva2241 but let's not forget that for things like identity, it's not that easy. i still remember back then where only some parts of Europe and small parts of America are tolerant of gays. many gay people either hid who they were or even died for gay tolerance to get to today, where people can actually find big, accepting communities, and where bigotry is slowly being shunned.
Sorry for the hurt you had to go through…hope you are in a much better place now…even before leaving the church, I was educating my students about sexuality and gender, but as the two voices clashed, I stopped church completely…I have realized religions have done and do so much damage to the psyche…if only they helped with more open-mindedness in this area…
Here’s my virtual hug. I understand what you went through completely😊
I watched Happy Together a while ago, and recently one of the idols I follow (I'm sure everyone knows him, V of BTS) had posted about Leslie, both pictures and videos of him. I googled him since I recognized him and I read about his story, but it wasn't delivered with the context of his films and everything else. I'm unsure of why, or I am sure I just don't know how to properly put it into words, but this video brought tears to my eyes. I'm a non-binary gay person and internalized homophobia is awful and it haunts me everywhere I go. In a way, how Leslie was and the fact he was so unapologetically, makes me feel a bit better and, honestly, a bit braver. Thank you for this video, you never fail
He is still an icon throughout East and Southeast Asia. Not knowing him is like saying idk who Leonardo DiCaprio is
Where did V post about him?
at least one person in bts has taste
@@MorgannaMGone ?
@@doraaaa0613 illiterate?
Oh wow. Thank you so much for this. Leslie Cheung was one of three celebrity deaths that just devastated me. As an American just discovering 90's HK cinema for myself, he was an instant favorite. Mesmerizing. His talent made me spend so much money and time tracking down all his work I could find on even crappy quality VHS (!)) (before the time of streaming). I was transfixed by his immense talent. I cried my eyes out when I heard the news of his death. I felt the terrible loss over time to not to be able to watch him continue to grow on screen and as the staggering ICON he was becoming for LGBT people. Gosh. I'm tearing up now.
His role in Farewell My Concubine really made me cry. The acting was both marvelous and painful. It was too heartbreaking for me to watch more than three times😢
It's a pity the West still don't know the insane influence of Leslie Cheung. I tear up everytime I think about him.
But it's also a pity that despite his effort, HK's biggest corporate media TVB continues to use queerness as a joke, even to this day.
When Leslie's death hit the news, most of us thought it was a April's Fool joke (since it's exactly that day), but then we're proved wrong, and there're so much mourning, and his death made to the top headlines next day. That showed how huge his influence was. As noted, he'll forever be remembered for his achievements in music and acting, but also as an icon of LBGT community.
His death also showed the society how depression can destroy a person, thus urging people suffered from it to get help, so he also helped the society in another way.
As for Hong Kong, LBGT works continued to ripe, including The First Girl I Loved from last year, though showings in Hong Kong was largely rocked by the pandemic. But the society's acceptance of the issue, on the other hand, didn't really improve since Hong Kong is still a conservative society, by all accounts.
I agree. When Leslie came out the USA was still living in the shadows about the LGBT. Gay men were especially facing death threats in the US while Leslie was loved by everyone.
"His death immortalized his image" Well said! Leslie Cheung was actually bisexual. Perhaps he had too much love. His late concerts were very bold but were not well received by the media and that was when he started getting the depression issue. In hindsight, his concerts were simply way ahead of time. Besides his talent and personality, people still remember him almost 20 years after his passing because his peak time coincided with the golden era of Hong Kong, and his traits embody what Asian usually cherish (hard working, unassuming, willing to help others etc.). He was perfect on many levels and yet he was also very controversial because of his sexuality.
As someone who is bi and trans as well as Filipino American, seeing ANY form of LGBTQ rep in Asian media makes my heart flutter. I am definitely going to show this to my university's Pride Alliance and maybe try to push for a screening of one of these films at my uni, hehehe
IM A BISEXUAL FILIPINO WHOS ALSO UNDER THE TRANS SPECTRUM HIIIIIIIII. ALSO HOW DID IT GOOO
Panoorin mo si Eddie Garcia sa Bwakaw (2012) at Rainbow's Sunset (2018) two queer films from our very own industry
hi i don't comment often but i'd just like to say, as a queer person born and raised in hong kong but unfamiliar with hong kong's film and media, your channel has helped me gain interest in a lot of interest in hong kong's film. great video !
He's SO charming on screen. I think my favorite is "Days of Being Wild." That scene with Maggie Cheung, where he tells her they're "one minute friends" is wonderful. (p.s. That line would have 100% worked on me.)
Watch he’s a woman , she’s a man. Very great movie
Days of being wild is a great great great movie
Days of being wild is definitely my favourite Wong Kar Wai film, it's really depicts the problem of not having a real mother figure, when you are boy and then become a man, you still that boy, that's not taking responsibility for your feelings and actions, it's really great to look it right now. For me it's movie that associated with summer and rain outside, it's so comfy
his song “i am what i am” still holds a special place in my heart. an icon, a legend, a beautiful soul.
I didn’t know the reach of Leslie’s popularity back in the day…until my high school friend from South Korea mentioned him when we were chatting about films. He was a legitimate star, and his portrayal of queer characters in turn humanized LGBT people. For that he’s dearly missed, not just as an artist, but also as an icon.
Yeah. He was a real icon. Every women in Hong Kong were heart-throbbing over him.
Leslie is more popular in South Korean than Jacky Chan I think.
Hong Kong cinema was the pop culture Korean Gen x:ers and early millennials grew up on. Before Japanese took over in the early 2000’s and Korean pop culture started to dominate Hong Kong stars was everything in Korea.
I watched “Farewell, my concubine” just a few days ago for the first time finally. It really moved me, Dieyi’s character most of all so I wanted to learn more about the actor behind him and it saddened me that he passed away already. Reading about him got me feeling so many emotions and watching your video made me appreciate him even more. Thank you! Now I will have even more movies to watch in my watchlist ❤
Leslie😢😢😢I was born in the year he passed away….but no matter how he’s always my 1st idol 😢🙏true legend, miss you so much gorgor, we love you ❤️
Leslie is the warmest person ever！His performance on stage as a singer was even more charming❤
I am a human being with the labels… 60 year old, white, hetero, female, American whose voracious appetite to understand the human soul has lead me to the BL dramas of the various Asian film industries. This beautifully crafted tribute to Leslie Cheung was just the history lesson I didn’t know I was yearning for. Tears came to my eyes from the gratitude I feel for having viewed your fine film and the greater understanding I have gained from it. Thank you so much for making this effort.
Thank you for bringing up Leslie's great achievement as an actor as well as a human being who just happened to love men more than women. I fell in love with him in "Chinese Ghost story." He had a mysterious charm as a young student in search of truth in life. Later I got to know he was a fantastic performer and singer. In Japan in1980 I could collect little information about him. I went to Chinatown in Yokohama trying to get some movie magazines and videos. I still treasure all of his videos.
I still remember vividly the day I heard about his death. I was in tenth grade during then and it was the first time I experienced genuine depression over a celebrity death which really never happened to me before. I've been a fan of his for as long as I could remember and his films and songs meant quite a bit to me.
Please join Leslie Cheung international fan club on Facebook
I’ve lived in hong kong all my life. It’s always irked me when people (mostly the older generation) would denounce LGBTQ+ representation, culture, and people (literal people!) all while reminiscing about the glory days of Hong Kong pop culture circa 1980s. My family has always liked Leslie Cheung’s music (most people over 40 do, here in Hong Kong) and as a teenager I was delighted to find that in one of his most iconic concert photos he was wearing a skirt - artistic expression and subversion of heteronormative expectations in the 90s! I thought it was great that my parents liked this artist, especially because I was closeted (still am).
And then the next day my mother fake-whispered to me on the street when we went past a man who was wearing makeup and baggy pants that look like a skirt (who was just minding his own damn business). I realised then that my parents accepted LGBTQ+ culture as just a tragic quirk of Leslie’s artistry (much like how some people see depression as the tragic quirk of Van Gogh’s artistry) that they can admire and lament from a comfortable distance away.
In case anyone wants to know about the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Hong Kong: to this day we have no marriage equality (the most recent judicial review was quashed in 2019), but things are getting better. In 2013, a trans woman fought for the right to marry her boyfriend and won, with the Court of Final Appeal (our highest court of the land) acknowledging the importance of protecting minority rights and letting the living constitution evolve. From around 2016 onwards, same-sex couples started getting more rights in terms of parental rights, visa, housing, spousal benefits for civil servants, etc. Don’t get me wrong, each right was *fought for* and *won* by the individuals who launched judicial reviews against government departments that excluded queer couples from their policy - our judicial system is almost the only hope for any sort of progressive change, but nevertheless things are changing. Just last month, the Court of Appeal ruled that trans people could change the gender on their ID without undergoing full sex reassignment surgery (greatly improving trans people’s access to gender-segregated spaces). These court cases never should have had to be brought in the first place, and the applicants never should have had to go through the physical and mental stress (not to mention undertaking the financial risk) of a court trial, but I’m glad they won - its a victory they so richly deserve.
As for the general social situation in Hong Kong. There’s still stigma, there’s still (mostly informal/verbal) discrimination. There’s still the expectation for you to “snap out of” your queer phase, find a nice (wo)man, and settle down. (There’s also the expectation to produce children, of course, but that’s a whole other can of worms.) But more and more people are becoming more accepting and celebratory of love. Apparently a recent survey, for the first time, showed majority support for marriage equality, with the younger generation being the most supportive. I see people freely holding hands on my university campus, sometimes. Those people dressing “unconventionally”, the boys wearing makeup and girls with a buzz cut my mother likes to scoff at and whisper about-they’re there. They exist.
April 2023 marks the twentieth year since Leslie’s suicide; they put up billboards commemorating his legacy near my home last week. I hope he’s somewhere kinder. I hope he’s proud of us.
He’s such an amazing singer, director, performer, actor…nothing can beat hk 80s-90s talent. I miss him so much!!! I’m so grateful you did a video on him. ❤️
Whenever his name pops up, I’m always reminded of the theme song of A Better Tomorrow
same here
My mom was so into hong kong films when i was very young. By chance, i watched one of Leslie's movies with her. I eventually forgot the title and even the whole story as i grew older. I can really only remember his performance. It was very striking. I can't say what made it so memorable but all i could remember was his character. When i became an adult, i saw it again and looking at his performance as an older person, it was even better. The movie was Farewell my Concubine.
Brilliant! As a gay person who was born in the early 2000s, I didn't know who he was until this video. Really touched by his beautiful life and his pieces of work. "Your love belongs to you alone" Taught me a lot about loving yourself. Thanks for doing this tribute. Really means a lot to me :)❤❤❤
Lovely video as always. Glad that someone is out here making such great videos about all these amazing Hong Kong movies. My favorite Leslie movie will always be Chinese Ghost Story... you can tell he had fun playing such a himbo 😂
Your well-thought and heart-felt commentary and essay is much appreciated.
Besides acting gay in a small part of his movies, Leslie Cheung is a handsome and stylish man! He is a straight guy in most of his movies. He acts with his body language and his eye very well! Miss Leslie!
I cried through this montage. Thank you for doing this. Have watched his each and every movie. I absolutely love him.
《春光乍泄》是我最喜欢的爱情电影 虽然我是直男 但是其中很多感情中的波动和矛盾都能感同身受
I deeply appreciate your videos, both as a diasporic Chinese and as a queer youth
When I had started getting into Kung Fu films and digging into early Hong Kong cinema, I bought A Chinese Ghost Story on a whim. I was floored by the movie, but I fell in love with Leslie Cheung's acting. This was around 2005, so I was heartbroken when I looked him up and learned he had passed away a few years prior. I dug into his past some more and learned he was a gay man and it made sense. Society is cruel to those it deems as "the other" and it is devastating that Leslie didn't get the help he so desperately needed. To make it doubly worse, I suffer from depression myself, so learning of his fate left a mark on my life that I still feel upset over to this day.
Wow this video really touched me, though I am not gay, I hope that one day we can all live and express ourselves freely as human beings not be judge nor judge others. Thanks for making this one, greetings from Costa Rica
I loved Leslie Cheung, he was one of my favorite actors. I still miss him.
So glad you did a piece on Leslie Cheung. Huge fan of his. Loved him in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow and Shanghai Grand. The man was truly a wonderful talent!
This essay was perfect. The quote at the beginning hit me in the feels. As always sure you've knocked it out the park. Thank you
Another awesome presentation. Every time I saw a Leslie Cheung quote on screen, my eyes teared up. Accented Cinema is indisputably one of my top five favorite channels on RUclips.
He is one of the biggest actors of whole Asia. Its never too late to discover him.
As a mixed Asian of Cantonese 🇭🇰background growing up in Britain and HongKong was a lot . Then being a bisexual was also another issue . But he was such a gift to LG(B)T kids in British hongkong back in the 1990s and early 2000s .
After watching farewell my concubine immediately looked up this guy, i coudn't believe he didn't get the oscar for it, immediately heart broken after finding out why his career is so short, what a shame, that movie is burnt in my head long after i watched it, more because i went with 0 expectations, i spontaneously chose one old china movie with good imdb score and went for it, hell of a ride, mr Cheung was double acting playing a character playing a character, and crushed it twice. Absolute legend.
well you know how american award shows act towards POC *ehem ehem* billboards *ehem ehem*
Thanks for the great video. Leslie Cheung remains an icon to this day.
Leslie’s influence spans through decades and I can testify to that. I was born mere years after his death, it’s sad knowing that will never get to meet him in this lifetime-only in afterlife. But the legacy he left is something I will forever cherish and hold dear close to my heart, his films, music, and memory. He will always be remembered for generations to come, I do not feel this way for most celebrities I am a fan of, but Leslie is one of those few; I cannot elaborate as to why I feel such, all I know is that I adore him. So long, Gor Gor.
Thank you so much. I grew up on HK cinema, and I identify as non-binary and asexual. I watched Farewell My Concubine in 1995 or so and I was like "That's me! Not exactly, but it is me!"
Last year I began this tradition for myself of watching a queer film for every day of Pride Month. Thank you so much for all the new recs. You should have heard the cheer I let out when I heard 'two bisexual women'. 😊😊
This year marks the 19th anniversary of the death of our哥哥 ( Leslie Cheung ). We still miss him very much. Every image of him remains on the screen forever, and we thank him for winning people's acceptance and recognition for homosexuality. Great video! thank you
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I clicked because he looked so damn good in the thumbnail. And then the more I look at this video I feel like I've come across his legacy somewhere before. Then it hit me he might be the one from the movie kids watch in reply 1988 series, and he is! I am so happy.
Finally, Mr. Leslie Cheung.
I’m so happy that you finally make something about him, but at the same time, I’m super scared to read or watch anything related to him. I’m just afraid of getting too emotional and then be emo for days and weeks. Effect every single time. He had such a big influence on my childhood, his works and everything that he represented. R.I.P. 哥哥
this is a BEAUTIFUL homage to Leslie's memory and a MASTERCLASS on video essays. thank you SO MUCH!
Thank you for elevating and highlighting both the issues at hand and the brillant acting choices of Leslie. He will forever be our Brother.
R.I.P Leslie Cheung your missed wish you were still with us sharing your art
I think it's worth pointing out that Leslie Cheung began his career as a pop idol - he had (and still has) tons of adoring female fans, who'd call him 哥哥 (gor-gor), or older brother. He was very handsome and was casted in various romantic roles with HK's leading ladies. This, in a way, further emphasises the work he'd done for the LGBT community and queer cinema, because he'd graduated from being boxed as a matinee idol who could act, to an iconic pillar of HK cinema.
I would also love to hear you discuss Anita Mui! She was Leslie's best friend, and had a similar, androgynous image. Their film, "Rouge", is one of my favourites!
One of the best, well-made video essay i have ever seen. Got me so emotional, I cried by the end of it. Leslie is an inspiring icon! Definitely will be watching his works. Rest in peace. And thank you for the amazing video speaking about a great actor and lgbt history in Hong Kong.
Hope you would cover this old British sitcom called 'Mind Your Language'. It was a controversial series because it stereotypes various cultures. Yet, despite issues, it's somehow more popular & more accepted around the world, especially among Asians, more so than to the the British Asians, who are rightfully confounded by the sitcom. So popular, the series inspires all kinds of knock-offs in countries such India, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. It's also fascinating to see the wide gap between Asian viewers in the West, who had to put up with the poor stereotypes; and the Asian viewers within the continent, who somehow relate to the characters on some level.
I guess Asian in the west view this stereotype as inferior because it was made to be a joke. Due to them thinking it is inferior, instead of turning it around for something to be proud of, they felt ashamed to be associated with such stereotype, and they want to change as to fit in and to not stand out. On the other hand, Asian in Asia having live among themselves didn’t have this such feeling at all on trying to fit in, so they were able to not care or laugh along with it, and sometimes even relate to it. Like most Americans were able to relate to or laugh along with their stereotypes.
Also PS: that show has stereotype of many countries lol
Native Asians don't deal with racism as much. They don't live in fear of being mocked or bullied for their ethnicity, because they're surrounded by others who look like them and are of the same culture. Asians in Europe and North America are basically punchlines, and desensitized to news stories of Asians being beaten up on the streets for seemingly 'no reason'. I'm Asian Canadian, and I lost count how many times I've heard people casually do mock accents, joke Chinese names, squinting their eyes, and multiple other ways to stereotype a culture. It's something I thought was perfectly normal, but it severely hurt my self esteem. It's only evident to me as an adult how awful me and my Asian friends were treated.
@@murdockfiles9406 If only a fraction of that empathy existed in Asia for non-Asian peoples...
I really loved Happy Together, I didn't know much about Leslie but he's surely a legend ❤️
As a white gay boy in Canada in the 80s and 90s, I was deeply marked by Leslie Cheung's performances. I was fortunate that a local non-cable TV station ran subtitled Hong Kong movies on Saturday evenings, and also that my local arthouse cinema ran HK films. When I eventually got toHong Kong in 2003, I made a beeline to Leslie's square on the walk of fame. I got chills when I put my fingers on his handprint.
thank you so much for this compilation / documentary, saying its bittersweet is just not enough, he truly is an icon, his work is legendary and he is definitely a trailblazer at that time. My heart is aching because of his tragic passing and can only be quenched by his music and cinema.
This episode is an absolute masterpiece. Thank you for your work and keep going.
Thank you very much for an excellent video!! I followed Leslie Cheung for years, it was very sad to learn of his passing in 2003.
Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui were some of the HK celebs that formed my adolescence. They were huge when it came to LGBT rep in HK cinema. My favorite LC films are Happy Together and Moonlight Express. His passing is still felt even now. Thank you for doing this tribute so that more people will know about him. 💜
This is so touching, Leslie is perfect as a human being, and appreciate this perspective about his representation for lgbt group. Keep up ur good work!
He also presented the Teddy Award with Maggie. He quitely did a lot for LGBT movie. Also he was treated unfairly because of Happy Together.
As a Chinese I grew up hearing Leslie’s name, and you can still hear his name being mentioned till date. It was just 2 years ago when I discovered his musics and movies, as I know more about him I fall deeper for him, and I cry literally every time when I think of his death. He’s really a true artist and an lgbt icon for most of the queer kids in China
This makes me cry 😭😭 May you rest in peace. Thank you for your contribution to making the world a better place. 🙏
I've been following your channel since the very beginning and it is, by far, my favorite channel about films since I have a deep interest in classic asian cinema, especially in chinese language. I'm also LGBT and it always makes me feel embraced when you talk about LGBT cinema. Thank u for your sensibility, Yang, and hugs from Brazil
Thank you for sharing these films with us, now I have new movies to add to my list to my list where lgbt characters don’t die, don’t need to come out at the climax of the movie and the characters are just people, this gives me hope thank you, I’m already out so I wanted content with that theme too uwu
This is one of your best videos, and I've truly enjoyed all of your videos so far! Thank you for this well-deserved tribute to Leslie Cheung. I hope you will introduce us to more LGBT films in the future.
Thank you so much for the video. Loved every bit and added some new movies to my list. Leslie Cheung will always be an icon
What an incredible video, I love your work so much. Gentle, intelligent, interesting and inspiring dissection of cinema.
Thank you Accented Cinema for making this lovely tribute. Brought tears to my eyes.
Thank you so much for making this video on LGBTQ+ representation in Hong Kong films and Leslie Cheung’s huge contribution to it. It’s thanks to these incredible and courageous artists that there are even discussions about LGBTQ+ portrayal in media and LGBTQ+ rights in Hong Kong. Unfortunately we as a city still have a long way to go - many contemporary films and television dramas still use homosexuality and transgender characters as distasteful and harmful punchlines. We need more people like you to amplify media with depictions of LGBTQ+ characters as normal people reserving the same rights as cis straight people.
Leslie being a homosexual was kept quiet at first, but when he finally came out, I don’t feel that it stopped people from loving him. He was an icon and an incredible one at that. He not only sang, but he acted as well and was incredibly talented at both. He was such a bright star and his short life was so unfair. His suicide was one of the worst feelings that I had ever felt as a child. Rest in peace, Leslie. You are sorely missed. ❤❤❤
i am just completely memorized by leslie cheung. i am so grateful for the art he made during his time on earth. so completely beautiful.
I’m so thankful for this channel 🙏🏾
This is an amazing video. I'm beyond impressed. Never once have I watched a video about Leslie that truly portrayed his impact. I sincerely thank you for making such a spectacular video on Leslie. Hopefully more people will come to realise his influence on LGBT culture.
Leslie is the best all rounded superstar in the history of mankind. The only perfect artist of all time. Really perfect as an artist and as a person🎉
Agree
This video was beautiful and so so informative. I’m so excited to see all the movies you mentioned in the video!! Love your video essays :)
Thank you. I was so in love with his character in the Eagle Shooting Heroes when I was a young girl that I felt sick. Didn’t know he was gay. Admired him more when I found out how ground breaking of an actor he was later on in my life sadly after he passed.
I always remembered him as the guy who died on April Fools. My mom said when his death was reported, people thought it was a joke as it was on April Fools day. I heard his songs growing up, but not much of his films as they were rated😅 but now i am starting to fully appreciate his impact in the hk film industry as well:)
Still cannot watch a Leslie Cheung performance without being heartbroken... Very glad that RUclips recommended me this channel, looking forward to more of your content!
list of all movies mentioned in this vid (by first mention)
Leslie Cheung:
Days of Being Wild (1990)
He's A Woman, She's a Man (1994)
*Happy Together (1997)
All's Well Ends Well (1992)
The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
Rouge (1987)
A Better Tomorrow (1986)
A Chinese Ghost Story
Once a Thief (1991
Not Leslie Cheung:
Oh! My Three Guys (1994)
A Queer Story (1997)
Hold You Tight (1998)
Enter The Phoenix (2004
Thirty Years of Adonis (2017)
All About Love (2010)
*Twilight's Kiss (2019)
I watched Farewell My Concubine a few years ago for a film class - now I want to watch it again. Thank you for the beautiful video essay
dude i think this guy is the best youtuber on the site and im very sure even that is an understatement