It is, as we learn later in the film, not enough to just be beautiful to dominate someone’s psyche. He is doted on and desired, though I never could fully grasp the impetus behind the ardor. He is consistently beloved, but never truly known (maybe he is by Long because of a shared childhood, but that is only presumed).
We linger on silences when we’re in desperate need of story, and longing glances are prioritized over climactic action.įei’s disposition also proves perplexing. However, by the end, the visual conceit dampens the pace that the narrative yearns to move at. At the beginning, the languorous pace, the often-still camera that lingers and observes, creates a rich and textured atmosphere you are immediately brought into this tenuous world between danger and glamor. It gives the film an eerie sensual detachment with frames reminiscent of Rüben Ostlünd’s work, switching out Scandinavian design for Taiwan’s verdant landscape.ĭetachment is a word that comes up often in Haneke’s work, as it has with Yi’s, and it’s one of the most simultaneously successful and puzzling elements of the film. The same goes for Moneyboys’s cinematography, which is stylish, glossy, sleek, and always kept at a distance. Haneke’s camerawork is similar: employed at a distance to carefully watch but never intruding on action, letting anticipation and tension simmer but rarely resolve. Haneke often explores cold people, those who fit into society but protect a damning secret, which leaves them overly restrained until a fit of violence. Yi was Michael Haneke’s student at the renowned Vienna Film Academy, and it shows through the diligent and carefully composed camerawork. Fei returns to Shenzhen, with Long following closely behind like a hungry puppy on his own tormented journey to become a moneyboy.Ĭ.B. A group dinner that starts off amicably erupts into an emotional brawl. It’s made clear that his family (and the other villagers) are repulsed by his lifestyle, though they happily take his money. Unfortunately, Fei receives little of these comforts. What does anyone want from a homecoming? Closure? Safety? Warmth? When Long asks how long Fei’s staying, he responds with a noncommittal “Depends.” It’s unclear what he wants, though.
Long is handsome, gawky, bright and goofy like a teenager, his demeanor the complete foil to Fei’s gentle and measured poise. On the way, he runs into Long (Bai Yu Fan 白宇帆), who from the get-go cannot hide his long-harbored crush on Fei. News of an ailing grandfather coupled with a traumatizing brush with the cops leaves Fei shaken, and he makes the journey back to his native fishing village. His home has an icy elegance reminiscent of the decor of the big house in Parasite, with items better off looked at than touched (perhaps like Fei himself). We meet Fei five years later, where he now lives a far more luxurious life, still as a hustler, in the bustling mega-metropolis of Shenzhen.
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