Happy Together
Release year: 1997
Country: Hong Kong

A sensitive portrayal of the ups and downs in the loving relationship of a gay couple.  Pure screen poetry from Wong Kar-Wai. Here, every element is under complete control, serving a simple story, moving the viewer. It's as if all the spectacularly, gorgeously innovative techniques on display in Wong's  previous films were finally distilled, poured into one sweep of emotion, one flare of visual beauty.  Wong inspires best-of-career performances from Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung. They grab you right from the film's stunning opening sequence, and don't let go until its breathtaking, colour-smeared finale. A range from giant-scale epically mounted shots (of Iguazu Falls) to the smallest, most delicate moments of remembered intimacy (Tony and Leslie's yellow-fogged solitary tango). See Happy Together and you might just celebrate an exciting new plateau for Wong Kar-Wai and for Hong Kong Cinema.

 

 
He and She
Release year: 1994
Country: Hong Kong

A Hong Kong woman gets twin surprises:  She's pregnant, and her boyfriend is married.  To save her from the stigma of single motherhood, her gay friend weds her, and the two begin a life of friendship and shared responsibility.  But when the father returns, the husband realizes he's jealous—and, strangely, in love with the woman he married.

 
He's A Woman, She's A Man
Release year: 1994
Country: Hong Kong

What's a guy/girl to do? Pert,  boyfriendless Lam Lee Wing is a big fan of HK pop-idols Rose, who sings, and her lover Sam Koo, who writes the songs. Keen on showing that pop-stars are like anybody else, Koo sends out a cattle call to make a star  out of "the average guy"; Lam, who's light in the breast department, tries out as a guy and wins the contest! She moves into the couple's evenly split apartment, and it's not long before Rose falls in love with her; and no sooner does that get straightened out then Koo falls for her, too  (all the while wondering whether he's become gay or not). The situation proves to be a little preposterous, but no more so than the Elizabethan  role-reversal comedies of yore. A funny script with first-rate acting. Opens with the trail-blazing use of the cockroach.

 
Hold You Tight
Release year: 1998
Country: Hong Kong

Stanley Kwan explores themes of human sexuality and relationships, and manages to bring out the most endearing and honest performances from all his actors. Taiwanese immigrant Jie  represses his (as yet  unknown) desire for Fung Wai, who's experiencing marital difficulties with his wife of one year, Ah Moon. Unwittingly getting closer to Fung Wai, Jie enters into a steamy affair with his wife, until she disappears. With her death unknown to him, Jie closely follows a grief-stricken Fung Wai, who has gained a close friend and confidant in an openly gay real estate agent. Jie eventually hears of Ah Moon's  fate and, confused and distraught, flies back to Taiwan. There he meets Rosa (Yau), who reminds him of Ah Moon. With her help, Jie finally comprehends/acknowledges his true feelings towards Fung Wai.  Apparently, Stanley Kwan's budget wasn't high enough for big names, and  the film's much better off for it. Chan Pak Hung is extremely natural on screen, as is Chingmy Yau who's very believable as your average young wife. Eric Tsang's character is certainly the best depiction of a homosexual I've seen in years, without any of the usual stereotypes.

 

 
Hong Kong Night Club
Release year: 1998
Country:  Hong Kong

Two Japanese journalists are assigned to investigate the Hong Kong triads at the eve of the colony's Hanover to China transfer in this wacky comedy.  Realizing that they are now the Triad's next target, Shibata disguises himself, and both end up performing at the Lost City Night Club. A love triangle develops when Shibata falls for the nightclub's singer Kola (Anita Yuen). But she has set her eyes on Tachikami, who turns out to be gay and is actually in love with Shibata!

 

 

Hush
Release year: 2001
Country: Japan

Asako (Reiko Kataoka) is a lonely professional single woman who is tired of her affairs with loser men. What she really wants is to have a child, but there are no decent suitors in sight. One depressingly dismal and rainy day, she finds herself eating alone in a noodle restaurant sitting near two discreetly gay men trying to meet for a nice lunch away from work. When they all leave the restaurant, sweet-natured engineer Katsuhiro (Kazuya Takahashi) notices the distressed woman and loans her his umbrella. Thus begins a beautiful friendship....

Well, actually, it's not so simple. When Asako tracks the kind man down to return his umbrella, she abruptly asks him to father a child for her. Sure she knows he's gay, and that he has his boyfriend Nayoya (Seiichi Tanabe), but she expects nothing from them in return, other than, well, the initial "deposit". This is indeed a baffling request from a stranger, but Katsuhiro is such a kind-hearted man, that he kind of feels sorry for Asako, and finds himself considering the proposition, much to the shock of Nayoya.