Eternal Summer

Eternal Summer (Chinese: 盛夏光年; pinyin: Shèngxià Guāng Nián) is a 2006 Taiwanese film starring Joseph Chang, Bryant Chang and Kate Yeung. It was directed by Leste Chen. In 2006 the film received four nominations at the 44th Golden Horse Awards, including Best Supporting Actor and Best New Performer for Joseph Chang, and Bryant Chang won Best New Performer.

Plot

Three high school students experience the perks and pitfalls of love in director Leste Chen's sensitive tale of friendship and yearning.

As a child living in a seaside town in southern Taiwan, studious Jonathan (Bryant Chang) was asked by his concerned teacher to look after rebellious classmate Shane (Joseph Chang). Ten years later, what was once a good-natured obligation has since blossomed into a warm friendship, with Jonathan still on the academic track and Shane now finding his calling on the basketball court.

Taiwan-born schoolgirl Carrie (Kate Yeung) arrives from Hong Kong to join her mother after a disagreement with her father and transfers to their school. She befriends Jonathan and convinces him to join her on a secret day-trip to Taipei and in the evening she seduces him in a sleazy hotel but Jonathan backs down clearly distraught. Eventually, her observations of his and Shane's friendship leads her to believe that he is gay and in love with his best friend.

Carrie then meets Shane through Jonathan after a school day where Shane develops an interest in Carrie. Despite her initial misgivings about the boorish Shane, she eventually gives in to the troublemaker's roguish charms. She accepts his offer to become his girlfriend on the condition that he manages to enter university.

Later, Shane pulls his act together and tests into University, but Jonathan, distracted by his burgeoning sexual identity crisis, does not. Shane does his best to keep his feelings for Carrie secret in order to protect the feelings of his lifelong friend. Despite all their best efforts to keep their personal feelings secret, the truth eventually emerges, forcing all three to view their relationships in an entirely new light.

Cast

• Joseph Chang as Shane (余守恒)
• Bryant Chang as Jonathan (康正行)
• Kate Yeung as Carrie (慧嘉)

There is an underlying poetic subtext based on the astrological significance in the character's Chinese names:

• Shane: (Chinese: 守恒; pinyin: shou heng) represents (Chinese: 恒星; pinyin: heng xing) star (the Sun).
• Jonathan: (Chinese: 正行; pinyin: zheng xing) represents (Chinese: 行星; pinyin: xing xing) planet (the Earth).
• Carrie: (Chinese: 慧嘉; pinyin: hui jia) represents (Chinese: 彗星; pinyin: hui xing) the Comet.

• The Sun always shines.
• The Earth follows its route surrounding the Sun, but cannot approach it.
• The Comet brings surprise to the solar system.
• The picture is incomplete without any one of them.

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

Eternal Summer won one awards out of four nominations at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards in 2006.

See also

• List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-related films by storyline

References

External links

• Eternal Summer at the Internet Movie Database
• Eternal Summer at AllRovi