Suk Suk

Two men in Hong Kong meet at a cruising park and form a relationship. They are of retirement age, but both are closeted and living with family - one with his wife, the other with his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. So their chances at physical intimacy usually rests in places like bathhouses.

A substantial sub-plot is the attempt by young lobbyists, who are trying to create a gay seniors' home, to find members of a gay seniors' group to testify. Generally closeted, it is hard for them to step into the limelight.

This is a decent portrait about gay life in Hong Kong for the elderly. It is fairly calm and understated, leaving me to wish for a bit more drama.

This story is really touching. It speaks to my heart. The characters are very real, and their experiences are pretty authentic. They make you care about them. They make you realise that they, like everyone else, deserve happiness too. Great production as well. I really enjoyed it.

One of the best movies I've watched in 2021. Wonderful acting and such an important discussion regarding the elderly gay community. Even though the story is told in Hong Kong, this is a discussion that must be faced everywhere. Definitely a must see.

Summary

A delicate, tender (although not without audacity) portrait with that special oriental sensibility of a gay love story between two mature men in today's Hong Kong.

Review Pak (Po Tai) works as a taxi driver in Hong Kong; He is 70 years old, married with two children and a granddaughter, and meets Hoy (Ben Yuen), a 65-year-old divorced retiree. Both will build a loving bond.

Almost from the beginning, we note where Pak channels (and restrains) the homosexual side of him. But it is Hoy, more self-assured, who begins to propose a different path that the first accepts. In what areas will these two men build their refuges for intimacy? How will they reconcile this romance with their well-established family lives?

Director Ray Yeung shows us the tenderness that these two mature men are capable of, with beautiful scenes of sexual intimacy between them. The secret romance and its drifts flow and make their way, alternating with the family vicissitudes of both and connecting with past losses.

The film develops a subplot that refers to young gay activists who seek to create an asylum for homosexual older men (since many of them do not have families to take care of them when they can no longer fend for themselves), the meetings with them and the difficult issue of visibility.

With all these elements, Yeung builds a delicate, entertaining and adult story, not without audacity and fortunately very far from the geriatric romances of American cinema, and with the discreet and tender hallmark of Eastern cinema when it comes to portraying the bonds. Pak and Hoy (both protagonists are remarkable) are two mature men, desiring (it is remarkable how they "rejuvenate" when they are together) and responsible, willing to try a love bond.

Undoubtedly, a sensitive and great love story.

"Pak, a taxi driver already passes the age of retirement, a habitué of a local tearoom, chances upon Hoi, a divorcé and Catholic convert, both have adult children and grandchildren. After consummating their carnal knowledge, they gradually develop feelings for each other, but as a married man, Pak is the one who has a tougher decision to make, whereas for Hoi, audience is explicitly intimated that his son Wan (Lo) has been knowing his secret all the time. While both meditating on a possible future living together as a same-sex couple, that giant leap takes much more than a steely determination and their unalloyed, mutual affection."

read the full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks