Eternal Summer 2006

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 finding his calling on the basketball court. When Taiwanese-born schoolgirl Carrie (Kate Yeung) transfers to their school from Hong Kong and convinces Jonathan to join her on a secret day trip to Taipei, her botched effort to seduce him in a sleazy love hotel, combined with her observations of his and Shane’s friendship, soon leads her to believe that the object of her affections is a homosexual in love with his best friend. Despite her initial misgivings about the boorish Shane, Carrie soon begins to give in to the troublemaker’s roguish charm when he convinces her to become his girlfriend if he is accepted into a university. Later, as Shane pulls his act together and Jonathan begins to experience a sexual-identity crisis, the former does his best to keep his feelings for Carrie secret in order to protect the feelings of his lifelong friend. Despite Jonathan’s, Shane’s, and Carrie’s best efforts to keep their personal feelings secret, the truth eventually emerges, forcing all three to view their relationships in an entirely new light. —Celestine