Okay. So all you have to know about being gay in Asia is that 1) your life will end miserably and you will die too young and 2) you will become smitten with a straight guy, but that’s not really an obstacle to your imminent demise. Horror, sci-fi, rom-com and kitchen sink dramas have tropes and conventions that define them as such, and in that light, Asia’s queer cinema scene is making a case for itself as a genre. That makes the perception of how the films should be viewed tricky: Should they be applauded simply for existing in a tough and frequently intolerant social environment, or should they be slammed (when applicable) for being crappy films that are doing little to affect the image of gay men in the collective consciousness? I myself come from Canada; I write for a US trade daily and for this Australian website. It’s pretty clear the obstacles that exist in Asia are much greater than the ones my gay friends and me are most familiar with and so expectations are relative. Lost your job in Australia/Canada/USA because you’re gay? Sue their asses off. Same thing happened to you in Asia? Sorry, still waiting on comprehensive anti-discrimination laws. Deal.
So it’s with considerably mixed feelings I approach Scud’s latest, Amphetamine. The out and proud, prolific filmmaker has returned with more of the same material he covered in City Without Baseball (2008) and Permanent Resident (2009). That material is largely convoluted romances that border on campy soft-core porn and serve mostly as live action versions of Dolce and Gabbana ads. If nothing else, we’ve learned that Scud knows how to shoot the male nude.
This time around the difference comes in the added dilemma of drug addiction. Out gay banker/fashion model Daniel (a wooden Thomas Price) and lifeguard/hustler/junkie Kafka (an hysterical Byron Pang) meet at a café and later a Buddhist temple, where Daniel decides to make a move. Initially Kafka claims he’s straight, and is in fact possessed of a girlfriend (Linda So) in whom he has little interest. Slowly but surely though Kafka (seriously, Kafka. Does it get more existentially angsty?) grows emotionally dependent on Daniel, and as was the case in Scud’s earlier films, Amphetamine allows itself to fixate on the saviour complex Daniel develops for his pathologically screwed up love interest. A visit from Daniel’s BFF Linda (Winnie Leung) only intensifies Kafka’s problems.
Scud surrounds his characters in all the physical niceties of modernity — luxury flats, smokin’ cars, swanky threads — but mires them in either fetishistic misery or unfair cosmic justice. No good can come of any of this. Not convinced? Well, Amphetamine follows the same downward trajectory as A Summer’s Tail, End of Love, Eternal Summer, Road Movie, Bangkok Love Story … Do I need to go on? The film’s only clear messages that come from all this ripe, chest-heaving action is that gay men will hit on the heteros—and make them gay too—being gay will only cause suffering but if you’re lucky it will only cause you to swan around like a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Also? Showers are totally sexy but not necessarily for hygiene.
This is Scud’s most technically accomplished film to date, and he makes clever use of a partially completed bridge both narratively and visually, but he also tends toward the Grand Guignol in his storytelling. Kafka’s not only an addict he’s a rape survivor (!). And we see the defining moment in full-on MTV glory. Amphetamine has a saturated colour palette and its sensual images are seamlessly connected. There’s no disputing that there are gay men tweaking out there. And one of the gay community’s greatest in-jokes revolves around chasing straight guys. Most importantly, it’s also not news that Asia lags behind other part of the world vis à vis gay rights. If you’re a believer in the idea that art can affect culture, then you’ll agree this turgid soap opera isn’t going to open any eyes. Ultimately, gay or straight, Amphetamine simply sucks.