He's Out There Somewhere (2016)

Amnesiac looking for a lost love

STORY: An accident caused Mu Ran to forget Su Chen, so he goes on a journey of self-discovery and to search for Su Chen, piecing together fragments of memories from old photos on his phone, meeting people who knew Su Chen, and each stop along the way, learning more about who he was and is, as well as about Su Chen.

The story is quite uneven. Much of it is told in random flashbacks through the fog of Mu Ran's memory. Through some acts of sheer and unbelievable luck, he meets these random people who just happened to know Su Chen. While the Country says China, bet it was actually Taiwanese as it was filmed in Taiwan, along with the many Pride references in the movie props, and gay and lesbian couples shown along the way.

ACTING/CAST: Well, they did a fine job though nothing really stood out.

MUSIC: Untranslated but seemed OK.

REWATCH VALUE: There's not enough here to want me to see it again. They showed the relationship, by bits and pieces along the way, but the presentation was just lacking. And once you know the ending, there is nothing left of the mystery.

OVERALL: An uneven story where the writer/director was not afraid to show many other happy gay and lesbian people and couples as side characters, but when it came to the main couple, it could have been so much more. The views of Taiwan were very nice. IF you want to know if it had a happy or sad ending, read my spoiler in the comments section.

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Wisdom of the gays

I finished this movie last night, and like always, I either forget what I have watched right away or it becomes something I need to analyze deeply. This movie is one worth analyzing. It is NOT masterpiece, visual effects are just too much and lame, but there is something more to that. I will try to keep it short!

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE:
• Visual effects
• Acting is average
• Lack of intimacy (and I do not mean bed scenes)
• Lack of chemistry (not entirely, just not enough)

THINGS I LOVED:
• Story, whole story
• Encounter with every character was a story of it's own and had a deep profound meaning, I just needed to look below the surface:
* Old gay couple with a 23 years long relationship and everything that the life brings is perfect metaphor for in sickness and in health,
*"Hungry" lesbian is a symbol of a struggle of being unaccepted by her family but willing to risk and do absolutely everything just to be with the person she loves,
*Lesbian in a hotel is a symbol of making a decision work vs love etc
• End, wonderful sad ending. Even though slightly unexplained I was into it. It has some space for personal interpretation.

OVERALL:
This movie is a rough diamond. As I am visual type of person, I can not get over the visual effects, but I can appreciate the tiny details like scents, and photography that is not bad at all. So if someone has time and money this movie screams for a remake, just make it less obvious and give more time for character development, include more LGBTQ+ characters and I guarantee you an awesome movie that can be worldly famous!

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Although this is a Chinese film, so no promotion of physical contact between men, on the other hand, half of the film is shot in Taiwan with beautiful shots of nature and cities, and there are also other gay and lesbian couples in the film. What I appreciate most about the film is the processing. What to add. You could definitely get more out of the subject, it was so lukewarm, as if under the cover of the Chinese censor comrades.


Jedná se sice o čínský film, takže žádná propagace fyzického kontaktu mezi muži, na druhé straně je ale polovina filmu natočena na Taiwanu s krásnými záběry přírody a měst a k tomu ve fimu vystupují i další homosexuální a lesbické páry. Nejvýše si na filmu cením zpracování. Co dodat. Určite by se dalo z námětu vytěžit více, bylo to takové vlažné, jakoby pod poklicí čínských cenzorských soudruhů.

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