Formula 17 (2004)

good back-story, and good acting

Awesome Movie

Absolutely Fantastic

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie is now 12 years old and I have watched it probably at least once a year since I bought it. (this review contains spoilers) There are a lot of reviews here - so I will be brief on the basic story - country boy moves to the city for a summer job and also searches for his true love. Meets sophisticated playboy, troubles ensue.I don't know where the idea comes from this movie is simple or amateurish. I have watched many films and TV shows that are high brow or pretend to be and it is often a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense parading as complicated "art". This film was made at a time when Gay films without sad endings were rare. The only thing that was kind of silly was the part where two characters were lovesick and they were actually physically sick.This movie has it all - beautiful scenery of the city, the parks, Sha-lung beach. Handsome guys, lots of comedy and romance. I loved all the characters - Yu, CC, Richard, Jay, Ray, Tapei Plumber, Alan. I think as a supporting player, Jason Chang as Richard didn't get enough credit. There were a number of cultural things I didn't understand - Tien's friends spraying (what?) on Bai & Richard when they returned from the business trip. The tongue movement at the store in the ending credits. Fantastic music as well. This is a light hearted happy ending comedy that if you are Gay (or even if not) you will enjoy.

I have recently seen several "Asian gay dramas". Formula 17 is one of the best.An observation I have made is that several of the Asian gay dramas are full of guilt. This is nothing unique to the Asian gay dramas, just think of Brokeback Mountain. But I have seen a few too many films that end in death and general misery, where the conclusion seems to be that being gay is just pain, suffering and misery. Perhaps this is a realistic description in some of the more conservative Asian societies, but if suicide is the only way out for the protagonist of the film, then that is a bad film in my opinion.Formula 17 is a much more hopeful film. The protagonists have their struggles and problems to deal with. However, these problems are in good sense more everyday. The characters cover a wide and not too subtle spectrum of being gay, and the story is both fun and cute. Yes, it is a bit sugar coated, but why not? Also, the film offers some nice photo of Taiwan. After I saw this film, I wanted to go there.Highly recommended, especially if you want to see a good Asian gay drama with more fun and less depression.

It's a little bit hard to put your finger on this show, which is a mixture of comedy, romance and gay sex – there is a lot of emphasis on sex. Also, it's one of those films in which everyone is homosexual and loving it. There is no struggle with sexuality in any of the characters -- although that's really not the point of this movie. In all honesty, the fact that the cast is gay has no impact on the plot whatsoever. It could have been a straight story and I would have been none the wiser. Of course, I probably wouldn't have watched it either, had that been the case.There were a few things that really suckered me into enjoying this film, though. Firstly, the chemistry between the leading men; sparks fly between Tieh Nan and Tian Cai from the minute they see each other (oh, they really, really do!). For some reason, they worked very well together, going from adorable bashfulness to familiarity to blissful contentment with incredible feeling. Also, the buildup towards their sex scene with the hesitance and the fumbling hands? One of the best, most believably sexy moments I've ever watched on screen (another that came close was between Diego Luna and Romola Garai in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights; the transition from languid touches to frantic desperate need was so excellently done I can feel tingles down my spine just thinking about it).Another thing I liked about the movie is that they had exaggerated comic relief, a typical characteristic of most Chinese films, but that it somehow, for most of it, wasn't too outrageous. I actually enjoyed it. Wen Yu, CC & Alan are, aside from Tian Cai's protectors and sex gurus, the comic relief of the show, and they pull off their parts with justified aplomb.On top of that, I thoroughly relished the way the movie incorporated the difficulties of being in a relationship and dealing with the aftermath of a breakup. The barrier of language in Wen Yu and his Caucasian boyfriend's relationship was used very well, and the contrast in his and Tian Cai's behavior after their breakups (one wallowing while the other channeled all his pain into anger) was a delight to watch.Finally, Bai Tieh Nan, which is where I indulge myself in a little bit of (what some might consider) biased rambling. You see, although he's not the typical swoon-worthy boy, his acting is so wonderfully crafted that there are quite a few scenes I rewound and replayed over and over again just to stare in amazement at his incredibly spot-on expressions. Naturally, this doesn't hold up through the entire film. His visits to his psychiatrist are too exaggerated, his attempts at callousness in his flashbacks are pathetic, and they should never use the "slow-mo, wind blowing his hair as he walks into a room with absolutely no wind around" angle on him. He's not traditionally handsome enough to pull it off. But boy, does he have aura. I could go on and on, because he is that good, and he has several scenes in the movie that are ovary-bursting worthy. Near the close of the film, he prays for a sign, any sign, to show him where Tian Cai has gone, and says that if after he counts from one to ten his sign doesn't appear, he'll give up. It is possibly the most emotional countdown I've ever heard.Now, this movie is not without its downside. I could have done without the lengthy, somewhat pointless intro. There was absolutely no use in Tian Cai's dream about jumping into a pool at the start of the movie and then getting kissed by Tieh Nan while his voice-over went on and on about trigonometry. It bore no further significance, either, even at the end where it becomes apparent that Tian Cai has this recurring dream quite often, in which he asks several different questions that Tieh Nan now has the answers to. If that was supposed to show me that Tieh Nan was, quite literally, the man of Tian Cai's dreams, it was a pathetic attempt. The lucky condom that Wen Yu gave Tian Cai was another useless plot point. One of my pet peeves is when these little details are brought to attention only to be neglected at the end of the film.Formula 17 is a difficult movie to sit through, even with its occasional flashes of brilliance. It's only worth it when you realize the wonder that is Bai Tieh Nan. He almost single-handedly saves the show. Steals it, really, though with the acting that Tian Cai couldn't do, it isn't hard to see why.

FORMULA 17 (17 Sui De Tian Kong) Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalEvents conspire to frustrate the budding romance between a naive country boy (Tony Yang) searching for love in Taipei, and a local stud (Duncan Chow) notorious for his sexual conquests.A smash hit in its native Taiwan, this breezy romantic comedy was the inaugural production of Three Dots Entertainment, an independent studio committed to the production of commercial genre movies, and was directed by first-timer Chen Yin-jung (aka DJ Chen), a 23 year old graduate of Yuan Ze University. To her credit, Chen tackles the film's subject matter head-on and refuses to cut away when the two guys at the center of Rady Fu's old-fashioned screenplay finally - inevitably - get it on. Yang and Chow maintain a respectful distance from one another at first, each afraid to make that crucial leap of faith, until Yang finally turns up on Chow's doorstep and sighs: "Let's stop pretending, it's tiring", leading to the film's central sex scene, a tasteful affair with lots of kissing and fumbling and raunchy good intentions. Much of the running time, however, is given over to various comic interludes involving Yang's newfound friends (Jin Qin, Dada Ji and Jimmy Yang), a trio of outrageous queens who insist on making a melodrama out of the tiniest crisis. Unfortunately, the comedy is forced and unfunny and a little too excessive at times, but the central love story yields its fair share of tender rewards.As a vehicle for its ultra-sexy leading men, FORMULA 17 is hard to beat: Yang and Chow (the latter billed simply as 'Duncan') achieved teen idol status in popular Taiwanese TV dramas, where they both played wholly conventional roles. Here, Yang is a childlike innocent searching for True Love, and Chow is a beautiful playboy whose reputation belies his own desperate search for emotional fulfilment. Standout scenes include a comic episode in which Jin and co. set up Yang with a hunky prostitute (Yang Zhi-long) who turns up at Our Hero's apartment posing as a plumber, in a scenario lifted wholesale from countless porn videos; and an early sequence in which Yang and Chow bump into one another while standing at a busy crossroads, where their hesitant overtures are kindled by an elderly gent standing alongside them, who despairs of their reluctance to acknowledge a mutual attraction (this scene has a *very* gay conclusion!). Chen allows the pace to slacken during dialogue exchanges (the bulk of the movie!), which takes some of the fizz out of proceedings, but the film has a virtuous heart and builds to a joyous conclusion which - along with the cute guys and up-front sexuality - probably bolstered its commercial fortunes at the Taiwanese box-office. Production-wise, Chen makes the most of her limited resources, and she's well-served by Chen Huei-sheng's imaginative cinematography, and Zack Gu's designer-label art direction/costume design (leading to the movie's biggest laugh, when Yang pronounces 'Gucci' as 'juicy'!).NB. Amusingly (or not, depending on your point of view), FORMULA 17 was banned in Singapore by the Films Appeals Committee for creating "an illusion of a homosexual utopia, where everyone, including passersby, is homosexual and no ills or problems are reflected... It conveys the message that homosexuality is normal, and a natural progression in society"! That same year, Singaporean authorities finally allowed the broadcast of popular TV dramedy "Sex and the City", gave the go-ahead for a small number of bars to open 24 hours a day, and partially legalized the sale and consumption of chewing gum...(Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue)