Love’s Lone Flower

I’m a little thrown here. After watching and drafting a review for Love’s Lone Flower, I learned something new about the film. Love’s Lone Flower didn’t start life as a film. The version I saw is a cinematic recut of a 16-part miniseries. I thought I’d seen the sum total of this story. It turns out I’ve seen approximately 1/8th. Shout-out to the editor who cut it into a movie. I didn’t have the slightest clue the movie was a cut down version until I found the entire series on Youtube.

The truncated film version of Love’s Lone Flower focuses on Yuenfang’s life and relationships in two different time periods. In 1959, Yuenfang works as a hostess at a gentleman’s club. She begins to question her role when she grows close to young singer, Juan Juan. Juan Juan doesn’t enjoy her work or life and medicates with alcohol. Through flashbacks, we see Yuenfang’s life ten years earlier in Shanghai. in 1948, Yuenfang developed a very close relationship with Wubao. Wubao was also a singer at a gentleman’s club. In the present, Wubao is dead and Yuenfang hasn’t moved past this. Juanjuan represents a chance to get stuck in the past or move on to a new love. But Juan Juan is spiralling. She gets into harder substances and begins a relationship with a dangerous gangster named Ko.

I must again express my awe in how well Love’s Lone Flower was cut from miniseries to film. As a film it had a solid arc, good focus and felt largely complete as a story. The miniseries appears to utilize a linear story structure. The film uses a structure of a “present” and non-linear flashbacks. It works really well. The only noticeable dropped plot line is Wubao’s relationship with a San Lang, a male singer. The film chooses to focus on Yuenfang’s affection for Wubao. So, it’s a bit confusing when Wubao’s last wish is to reunite with a guy we’ve hardly heard of. I’m not even mad about this, though. I’m honestly all for getting rid of a multi-episode heterosexual love story to focus on the gay stuff.

Though when I say “gay stuff” I mean gay as in homosexual, not gay as in happy. Love’s Lone Flower is very much a tragedy. Yuenfang’s first love Wubao not only died but loved a man more than her. Her relationship with Juan Juan is no picnic either. Their first “date” as a couple is Yuenfang weaning Juan Juan off hard drugs. The real tragedy is this love triangle that spans beyond death. Juan Juan realizes that Yuenfang’s affection for her is based in love for someone else. So, Yuenfang returns to gangster Ko. It doesn’t end well. Love’s Lone Flower ends with a flash forward to 1961. Yuenfang’s not exactly happy in this time period either.

There are a lot of people who rightfully won’t want to see a WLW film tragic as this. But on the scale of bury your gays films, Love’s Lone Flower is pretty good. For all the tragedy the three leads experience, it usually portrays homosexuality as a happier alternative. Wubao chooses Yuenfang over leaving Shanghai with a man. And at least for a time, they’re happy. And Yuenfang is definitely the better alternative for Juan Juan than Ko. I can’t say the tragedy is entirely divorced from these women’s queerness. But there is enough character and story work that it feels like the tragedy stems from them as characters rather than from their sexuality. Yuenfang and Juan Juan at least had a chance for a happy ending. It just couldn’t be reached because of bad communication and Yuenfang’s yearning for the past.

It also helps that Love’s Lone Flower is a beautiful tragedy. There’s a sad poetry to the story. But more so, this is a beautiful film to look at. There’s great attention to detail in the art direction. There’s generally a level of luxury and nostalgia that tinges even the saddest of scenes. Love’s Lone Flower also has seriously stand-out costume design. The women aren’t sexualized in the film, but they are beautifully styled. Every woman in this film has a closet full of beautiful dresses. Love’s Lone Flower comes second only to In the Mood for Love in its use of the cheongsam. The clothing is not only beautiful to look at, but once again shows attention to historical detail.

Overall, Love’s Long Flower is a tragic but beautiful movie. It feels complete enough as a story that I don’t feel the need to watch the original miniseries. The film apparently focused in on the queerness compared to the larger, ensemble-focused series. I applaud the director, editor and distributors for making this extremely correct decision.

Overall rating: 6.7/10

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