Ethan Mao (2004)

Admirable film.

Absolutely Brilliant!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This film tells the story of a closeted Chinese American teenager, who is discovered by his step-mother that he is in possession of a gay magazine. His father throws him out and disowns him, and he has to turn to desperate measures just to survive.I am impressed by "Ethan Mao" because it is different from other gay films. First, it explores the cultural shackles of being gay in a Chinese family, which is really touching. Secondly, it is almost a gay crime thriller which is very unusual! Third, sex is not needed to sell this film. There is only one kissing scene in the whole film, and that is it! The film is intense and touching, and I cried at the end. I really enjoyed watching "Ethan Mao".

original. moving. wonderful. powerful... sweet & tender. you've got to see it, absolutely! i don't have already realized if the inexperience of the protagonists (ethan & remigio) is a defect, or something that made me appreciate the movie more! but i guess i would opt for the second say, since i cried so much at the end! and i also appreciated the role of the little brother even if i would have liked him...more gay! congratulations to the director who prevented the protagonists to kiss for the whole movie...i was there saying: come on ethan, touch him, kiss him...but at the end I realized where he wanted to go! last scene: the best kiss i've ever seen on a screen. don't miss it!

Almost every gay movie made has either horrible acting, bad filming, or just a crappy story. Ethan Mao was none of these...well OK here and there the acting isn't amazingg but all in all it's good. The movie is touching, sad, and makes you think outside your own boundaries (especially not being Chinese). Definitely a movie that should be seen my young gay men that feel they can't deal with being home anymore, and the realities of what can happen if you decide to leave. That said it's not the typical hustler movie that just leaves you feeling cold and depressed. I definitely recommend it...and only reason I put spoiler on here is because I have to say one of the HOTTEST guy/guy kisses (at the end) that I've EVER seen. I really good have done without seeing the old fat guys goods though! :P

Saw this at the video store and thought I'd give it a try. Sounded like a good story and the cover looked good. That was it. The characters looked good, and the actor who played "Noel", was the most convincing, though he didn't have any heavy time in the movie. I find it really hard to give a movie a bad rating, but this is one, in a minute number, that gets it my book. As the movie went along I kept wanting it to get better but to no avail. Asthetically, it was good. The sound and lighting was good, but the acting in this film killed it for me. It was like watching a low grade soap opera. I just kept saying, "I can't believe they released this move like this". I paused several times out of sheer unbelief that the acting was that bad. There's so much I want to say but I'll just say this, everything else, for the most part, was good, it was the acting, as a final cut, that really did this film in.