Metacritic reviews

The complex narrative counterpoint is anchored by a rock-solid performance by one of the world's great actors, the Beijing theater veteran Hu Jun.

It's not often that Chinese cinema tackles same-sex relationships, and rarer still to see a film of such stark, muted emotion coming from mainland China.

At times too restrained, yet there are moments it captures the erotics of intimacy in a way that makes most American love stories look downright unfree.

It's really just old- fashioned melodrama, dressed up with lustrous cinematography and a few nods to history.

Wong Kar-wai made a much more dynamic film, "Happy Together," five years ago. Lan Yu suffers by comparison.

The connection between Hu and Liu seems more scripted than real, founded on musty allegorical clichés about innocent country folk and corrupt city slickers.

Lan Yu is like a less dizzily gorgeous companion to Mr. Wong's "In the Mood for Love" -- very much a Hong Kong movie despite its mainland setting.

This delicately observed story, deeply felt and masterfully stylized, is a triumph for its maverick director.

Deserves high marks for political courage but barely gets by on its artistic merits.

With its scenes of full-frontal nudity and its references to the Tiananmen Square protests, Lan Yu may be a breakthrough film for China, but it's well-trod territory for American viewers.