New movie seeks to become most 'sexual' ever in China

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Han's portrayal of Qiu Shui also won him praise from the novel's author Feng.

Qiu's youthful days are depicted in the novel as rough and similar in experiences to other Chinese men born in the 1980s. Although that generation had begun to see China modernize, there was a lot of sexual frustration among youngsters as society opened up to new lifestyles.

"The novel is written for the mothers who might have never known what their sons had to go through," wrote Feng, 44, in the preface to the novel.

"Qiu's three romances represent the past, present and future that a young man may face while growing up," Feng said in a recent interview with Chinese media. "Most teen boys learn about the world from an older beauty, like a goddess, in their lives."

Feng, who has more than 8.7 million fans on Sina Weibo, is among few well-known Chinese novelists who apparently have no qualms about revealing a keen interest in erotic literature, or the so-called little yellow books.

His depictions of Qiu's affairs in the novel have been translated into sex scenes in the movie.

"The movie is unlike most popular puberty-themed productions, replete with basketball, abortion and cheating in exams," said a review on Douban.com, one of China's most popular movie review websites.

"It reflects the real psychology of many young men during their campus lives."