Man Man Woman Woman

Xiao Bo is a young man who arrives in Beijing searching for a job. He gets hired immediately in Quing Jie's clothes shop and she also lets him move in to the apartment where she lives with her husband. Quing Jie takes fancy to Xiao Bo and tries to match him together with a very pretty friend. When he doesn't show any kind of interest they begin to wonder about his sexual nature. Driven by this, Quing Jie's husband tries to rape Xiao Bo, who escapes to a homosexual friend. With this, a thorough change in the relationships of all those involved takes place.The broadcaster Gui Gui, host for the odd programme ''Public Lavatory Time'' wishes his listeners a happy new 1999. In another place Chong Chong publishes the paper ''Shining Public Lavatory'', whose contents are collected from the public lavatories in Beijing. These two subcultures are meeting points for homosexuals. Liu Bingjian thinks that in the subcultures, people live outside the rules of society, giving them a greater freedom with relationships and sexual roles. The characters in the film have no clearly defined sexuality, it alters instead of being constant. Liu Bingjian portrays the characters' development via small details, without trying to analyse their behaviour. He treats this theme realistically and unobtrusively as an antithesis to more spectacular films with the same theme. Man Man Woman Woman is restrained and feels almost like a documentary. Liu Bingjian gives in his own pace an image of China where Coca-Cola, McDonald's, mobile-phones and computers have become a part of an everyday life where identities dissolve in the same rapid rhythm as social changes.

Medverkande
Yang Qing, YO Bo: Producent
Li Jin Liag, Liu BingJian: Manus
Cui Zi En, Liu Bing Jian: Talat språk
Chinese