Delicacy and subtlety to, from black humor, address taboo topics: transsexuality, violence and death

Just hearing the premise makes one curious. Action films abound, but there can't be too many like 'Man of High Heels,' a moody, moving and violent Korean cop-gangster film written and directed by Jang Jin.
Released in 2014, this South Korean noir film stars Cha Seung Won, who plays a homicide detective who hides a big secret.
Nicknamed Cyborg due to the metal plates on his arms and legs and his ability to make an arrest using only his formidable martial arts skills, even criminals are amazed by his toughness and physical prowess: gangster gang leader Heo -Bol (Song Young-Chang), was singing praises to Yoon Ji-Wook moments before the man appeared to beat him and his henchmen.
Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Yoon Ji Wook is a tough homicide detective known for his ability to catch violent criminals using his own harsh methods. Revered as a legend among police officers, he is simultaneously feared among the mafia for his brutality in cracking down on crime.
However, beneath that macho and unscrupulous hard man appearance lies a secret that no one can know since the society in which he lives would not view him favorably: apparently the epitome of masculinity, Yoon Ji Wook feels that She is a woman in a man's body.
As much as she tries to suppress this inner desire, she can't fight what she really is: Yoon identifies as transgender.
The film is an intricate film noir story, and woven into the mask of the crime plot is the story of Yoon's decision to live his true life.
Upon finally reaching the point where he resolves to be a woman and decides to take the step of undergoing a sex reassignment operation and thus be able to see his teenage dream come true, he requests discharge from the police force.
This is when the turning point in the film occurs. Before having the opportunity to enter the operating room, unexpected situations begin to happen that interfere with their plans. His numerous enemies think his career change is also a perfect opportunity to take revenge. When some of his close friends are murdered and Jang-mi (Esom), a girl whose brother Yoon loved at school, is kidnapped, he realizes that he can't stand by and follow his dream any longer. How much will revenge cost him?
The members of a gang who had to go through bad times due to the actions of our narrative hero will come for him. Recognizing that it would be difficult for them to take revenge directly, they decide to endanger not only their dream but the people they love.
It is striking that in the history of cinema there has never been a film that deals with the issue of transgenderism in the way that 'Man of High Heels' does. Jang argued that he was inspired to write the script by friends who had encountered prejudice due to their sexual identities, and one of them had been forced to leave the police institution for being gay.
Furthermore, its subversion of classic action movie tropes typifies the irreverent approach of its director, who has built his reputation satirizing Korean society and mischievously modifying cinematic traditions.
With great delicacy and subtlety, the director addresses a topic that is widely carried and brought up by many people who are still full of prejudices who are not careful when it comes to pointing the finger at everything they do not know or do not understand.
'Man of High Heels' manages, with great elegance and good taste, to reflect transsexuality on the screen, and not only in an illustrative way but with a message to all those who dare to judge people who suffer this desire in their flesh.
On the one hand, the protagonist nails his role like very few other actors could have done. Cha Seung Won exudes masculinity from every pore. That is why it surprises many to see him dressed as a woman.
Reading comments from MDL users, one can notice the large number of people who are surprised to learn the premise of the film, and there are those who attack it because "I don't like it" and "I don't understand" or they simply attack it because they consider the way in which transsexuality is approached is crude.
The film is not only about seeing one of Korea's most mature actors transvestite, but also that 'Man of High Heels' debunks the idea, especially in the West, that South Korean cinema goes to the saga of what is produced in the rest of the world. Due to its story, its originality, its staging and, above all, its ability to surprise the viewer, Jang's film speaks for itself about the quality of the cinema of that Asian nation.
This is a film that will keep the most demanding viewer of the action genre in suspense, but seeks other audiences by incorporating the LGBT+ component. This is a violent film with a brutal staging loaded with scenes that will remain fixed in our retinas as a warm memory for life.
This film not only succeeds in the genre but stands out. The opening fight scene is a classic, beautifully choreographed with wit and crazy fun.
'Man of High Heels' begins with a bang that sets the stage for what is to come and introduces the protagonist whose presence is equally explosive and heartbreaking.
The film challenges our perception and reveals discrimination, love and acceptance, as well as tears in our hearts.
If someone believes that everything has been said, add that it is a different film in its history but that manages to combine all the ingredients and resources of an authentic Korean gangster film, with action scenes from the first to the last scene.
This is one of Cha's best performances, one that you can't help but get emotionally invested in.
But there's even more: this is a drama that will make your heart pound and make you feel restless in your seat and you will even want to help the tough homicide detective eliminate the gangsters without suffering a scratch, save his loved ones and until it makes it easier for you to get to the operating room on time.
This is a layered, multidimensional film about a real person, with a real career and reputation, real friends and colleagues.
This is a film that invites the transgender community to be smarter about accepting serious attempts to tell a nuanced transgender story.
'Man of High Heels' manages to dismantle all the concepts regarding what masculinity is supposed to be from the first sequence, without separating the humor from the action – sometimes crazy, but always precise.
A film full of messages and symbolism in every shot under masterful direction, a noir film emerges in all its expressions, an exquisite and suggestive black humor to address taboo topics such as transsexuality, violence and death itself, in a humorous way.

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The struggle of LBGTQ+ people and the representation of stereotypes in Thai cinema (II)

'The Iron Ladies 2' ('Satree Lek 2') is the sequel to the surprising success of a gay volleyball team, having problems with their success and fame, and the way they reunite after breaking up, due to creative differences. .
Youngyooth Thongkonthun repeats as director, but in the script Sayombhu Mukdeeprom joins Jira Maligool, to take up the story while the members of the volleyball team made up of homosexuals, kathoey (transsexual people) and a cisgender, meet to participate in another tournament.
when the royal team competed and won the national championship in Thailand. The two main characters, Mon and Jung, play two gay transgender women, who are constantly overlooked by volleyball coaches because of their appearance.
However, when Bee takes the reins of a local team after changing coaches, the call is issued to try out for a new team. When Mon and Jung are selected, most of the former players quit, leaving the coach in a difficult situation.
Mon and Jung are then forced to enlist the help of other gay and transgender friends they used to play volleyball with in college. These new players include Wit, who has not told his fiancée that he is gay, Pia, a transgender dancer, and Nong, a gay army recruit. When the competition begins, all but one of the players on the team are gay or transgender.
Due to their appearance on the pitch, many of the match officials intend to exclude the team, soon dubbed "The Iron Ladies", from the tournament. However, seeing the popularity of the team among the crowd will soon change their minds.
In the film's closing credits, the real "The Iron Ladies" are shown as they were at the time of the film's making.
The cast includes Sujira Arunpipat, Kokkorn Benjathikoon, Anucha Chatkaew, Surapun Chawpaknam, Shiriohana Hongsopon, Hathairat Jaroenchaichana, Giorgio Maiocchi, Peter Maiocchi, Chaicharn Nimpulsawasdi, Jesdaporn Pholdee, Phomsit Sitthijamroenkhun, Sutthipong Sitthijamroenkhun, Sahaphap Tor , Aphichart Vongkavee.

Note: The review of the original film of 'The Iron Ladies' 2000 can be found, in MDL, on the page dedicated to this film on said platform.

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The struggle of LBGTQ+ people and the representation of stereotypes in Thai cinema (I)

'The Iron Ladies' ('Satree lek' - 2000) is a comedy-drama film written by Visuttchai Boonyakarnjawa and Jira Maligool.
Based on the true story of a Thai men's volleyball team competing in the 1996 national championship with a squad made up primarily of gays and kathoey (transgender people), the award-winning film explores the struggles that are still present in the Thai LGBTQ+ community through through comedy, despite Thailand's international image as a country open to gay and transgender people.
In the greatest of storytelling traditions, Youngyooth Thongkonthun's debut feature is a true fairy tale with a happy ending, and marked a milestone in LGBTQ+ representation in the media, resonating recognition from international film festivals like the Festival Toronto Film International and several others.
Set in 1996, two gay amateur volleyball players, Chai (Jesdaporn Pholdee) and Mon (Sahaphap Tor) seek to participate in a championship despite being discriminated against.
Mon, who becomes the leader of the team, was a very talented player who constantly failed to be selected for various teams because he was gay. Chai, Mon's best friend, also experienced the same treatment but was always optimistic about things.
Their chance comes when Coach Bee is selected to form a winning team and she announces that the team will be open for everyone to try out. But when he selects Chai and Mon to be part of the team, some of the homophobic players quit in protest.
Bee then asks Mon to find some of his friends to join the team. They select Nong, a gay army sergeant; Pia, the transsexual star of a cabaret show; and Wit, whose parents don't know that their only son is gay.
Written by Strand Releasing. 'The Iron Ladies stars Jesdaporn Pholdee, Sahaphap Tor, Ekachai Buranapanit, Giorgio Maiocchi, Chaicharn Nimpulsawasdi, Kokkorn Benjathikoon and Anucha Chatkaew.
Cinematography was handled by Jira Maligool and editing by Sunij Asavinikul.
Most of them are gay and kathoey, except for one cishet (cisgender and straight) man who struggles to be accepted into the team. All of them must find their inner strengths and come together to face these challenges and participate in the national championship.
Through humor, Thongkonthun touches on sensitive topics that would otherwise have been difficult to cover at the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. It was then the era of depicting homosexuals and transgenders in the media under the old-fashioned cliché of the comic friend or villain, which even today persists on Thai television, but The Iron Ladies reveals the depth of these generally superficial characters.
Based on stereotypical representations of homosexuals (very flamboyant, feminine, happy, fearless), the film uses clichés that were common in the 2000s and are still prevalent today, and takes the stereotypes, gives them depth and appropriates them.
The film stands out for reflecting the struggle of LBGTQ+ people: while the team faces various challenges, each member of the team represents, through their own story, a societal problem that the community faces.
The cast does not fail to make their characters relatable and real within their banal and limited representation, as they mimic the tropes surrounding the representation of LGBTQ+ people in the early 2000s.
Through silly or quick comments, the film's dialogue skillfully addresses the struggles and hurtful comments prevalent in society towards LGBTQ+ people. Through absurd but witty scenes, the characters reflect and talk about love interests, being loved as a transgender person, buying items at a market, making friends, participating in sports, and being discriminated against. All this wrapped in a background of comedy and extravagant shots with vibrant electro music.
'The Iron Ladies' manages to generate controversy and reflection among (inter)national audiences about the representation and behavior towards the LGBTQ+ community.
However, the film is a predictable and over-the-top cliché in every way. Is it worth our attention? Absolutely yes, as it is a piece of history and contextualizing it will give you another view of the stereotypical image of Thailand. However, be aware of the large amount of hyper-shouting.

Note: The review of the sequel to 'The Iron Ladies' 2003 can be found, in MDL, on the page dedicated to this film on said platform.

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Great human story, powerful performances and thought-provoking messages.

A large lake in a provincial city. A derailed train car at the bottom of a tunnel where two children, Mugino Minato (Kurokawa Souya) and Hoshikawa Yori (Hiiragi Hinata), play while mentioning the existence of a monster whose brain has been changed into that of a pig. An 11-year-old elementary school student who cannot get over the recent death of his father. A single mother who runs a laundry and loves her son more than anything. A close mother-son relationship. A teacher, Mr. Hori Michitoshi (Nagayama Eita), worried about his students. Childhood innocence at its best. A scandal involving low-life women in which the professor seems to be entangled. Small and large fires here and there. A school principal erratic in her actions and decisions after (causing?) the death of her grandson in a car accident. Professor's colleagues who appear to be hiding something. The teacher's girlfriend who has begun to doubt him...
Although it seemed like a typical fight between children, the residents and the media are dragged into a drama that unfolds when the main parties involved make contradictory statements.
These are the main elements with which the famous filmmaker Koreeda Hirokazu weaves in '怪物' ('Kaibutsu'/Monster'), a virtuoso and labyrinthine drama with the soul of a puzzle, a brilliant film with a great human story, powerful performances and messages that They invite reflection.
When Minato begins to behave strangely, Saori (Ando Sakura), his parent, senses that something is wrong. Discovering that the person responsible for all this is a teacher, he bursts into the school demanding to know what is happening. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of the mother, the teacher and the boy, the truth slowly comes to light.
With the same fluidity, forcefulness and narrative naturalness that characterizes the filmmaker's work, the film is worthy of being enjoyed by the auteur cinema audience, but it could even appeal to a broader audience due to its genre features, its complicated structural dynamics and the shocking message that the story contains.
The film allows us to immediately connect with personal dilemmas, existential conflicts, thematic areas and secondary characters that dance coherently around the protagonists and the main story.
The sound design, the original music (which I will return to at another time), the editing and photography by Ryûto Kondô, round out the script's discourse, making use of very interesting shots and high-flying staging solutions.
The viewer must be attentive, because the film, precise as an atomic clock and, therefore, prodigious in its virtuosity and perfection, has a misleading timeline and the selective revelation of information prevents the audience from knowing where events are heading. , because she hides her true intentions until the end.
With a defined structure, well thought out from its writing, 'Monster' promptly opens the conflicts and develops them throughout the entire plot. If something was adjusted along the way, it was that the two young protagonists did not lose much in the face of such an ensemble film.
The director tries at all times to ensure that his stories, his conflicts, do not diminish their prominence before a cast made up of established actors and actresses. That was perhaps the biggest rectification of the original script, which is not so much, if we take into account that there is too much love, too much knowledge and passion on the part of the screenwriter about the story he wanted to tell from the beginning. And the audiovisual interpretation of said story at the hands of Koreeda Hirokazu is coherent enough not to get lost in complacency or self-censorship.
Ingeniously designed, subtle and flexible, the filmmaker proposes a stimulating game to the viewer: if the truth seems clear at first, we will discover it little by little, through the points of view of the mother, the teacher and Minato, in that order. , that nothing is ever what it seems.
Skillful as always in awakening the public's empathy, Koreeda, back in his native Japan, invites us to a film that lives up to the plot intensity proposed in the script by the talented Yuji Sakamoto ('Soredemo, Ikite Yuku '('Still, Life Goes On').
In this fascinating journey from darkness to light, as it is done through the cracks left in the different points of view, we find narrative traps distributed in a well-balanced way everywhere, throughout the film story, so that In the end, the viewer becomes aware of what has happened before their eyes.
From the mother's perspective, we enter an atmosphere of suspense, fear, doubt and despair that keeps the viewer in suspense, while the filmmaker tells us Saori's concern about the anomalous behavior of her son, a fifth grade student in a local primary school, with evasive responses and no addressing of their concerns.
At the same time, he hears neighborhood gossip from his clients that points to his son's teacher being involved in a sexual scandal.
Alarmed, she searches for the causes of this strange behavior of her son that has plunged her into confusion, distrust and frustration. Masterfully, Koreeda involves us in Minato's strange antics, but at the same time leads us to feel terrified by Saori's helplessness. No matter how much he investigates and demands a convincing explanation from the school directors and teachers of what is happening, the less he understands Minato's problems.
In this interesting way of touching reality, Koreeda addresses, with depth and lucidity, school bullying, to which more and more layers of complexity are added and to which an easy solution is avoided.
The film, rich in hidden feelings, hidden frustrations and current conflicts, such as abuse in schools and previous trials, is told with great detail and care, and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto's gentle score adds an overall air of reflection and empathy, helping with the nuances rather than reloading the inks.
With a well-cared for story, full of hidden twists that are revealed with time and patience, it changes from the teacher's point of view. Mr. Hori has another version of reality. Perhaps because he is worried about his students, perhaps because he is present in every act of Minato and the rest of the students, he sees the protagonist's situation with other eyes and other nuances that are very different from how Saori perceives it.
Although this narrative arc is, in my opinion, less attractive because it tends, at times, to dramatize and moments in which naturalness is lost, its approach adds complexity to the narrative with a story that continues to be intricately crafted and therefore the use of profound comments on the teacher's ethics, the dynamics of power and the influence of the media in the formation of opinion matrices that can manipulate public opinion. Using clever metaphors to convey ideas keeps the audience's interest afloat.
Although in this new narrative strategy permeated with ambiguity, Koreeda has left intentional gaps in the first two revelations, in the third all the pieces fall into place, with a very moving emotional force, which allows, finally, to narrate the truth behind the Minato's behavior, but this only comes to light from the eyes of children, in that natural innocence and friendly complicity, which as a spirit moves the skeleton of the story: once it is detached from all its layers, it shows its true nature. nature and, in the end, it is nothing more than a beautiful story of friendship and teenage love.
It is then that we realize the poetic puzzle about childhood and its secrets, recreated with an exquisite sensitivity that has allowed Koreeda to show how difficult it is to understand the world of adolescents from the perspective of adults. As perspectives converge and conflicts close, a story of disturbing tenderness begins to emerge, about the way friendship, love, shame and rejection often live within ourselves. The way in which the viewer is led towards a deeper understanding of the characters, once again demonstrates the staunch humanism of the director.
Without being a romantic drama, the strongly suggested childhood infatuation attracts the attention of members of the LGBTQ+ community, who have seen the film as a gay drama by showing a danshoku or love between men.
And they do not sin in assuming it this way, because 'Monster' reflects on the pressure of fitting into the world, especially in the family; the doubts and insecurities inherent to self-discovery and acceptance; the anguish of rejecting sexual identity, the mental tension of hiding a secret, typical of homosexuals, especially in societies where there is still discrimination against the people who make up this human group, such as Japan, as it does not have laws that recognize marriage. homosexual. Many homosexuals will see themselves reflected in the struggles, internal and external, that the two young men go through.
This is a suggestive drama of undeniable lucidity, which combines refined ability in the use of cinematographic language with narrative solidity and intelligence when developing emotions. Its director does not skimp on feelings to give us a profound drama focused on self-acceptance, captured lyrically, to astutely examine childhood and its secrets.
The film provides a new combination of social themes and childhood that, although it is not at the level of the filmmaker's masterpieces, such as 'Nobody Knows' or 'Still Walking', does not falter like 'The Truth' or 'Broker'.
Honest, profound and hopeful, 'Monster' is one of the filmmaker's most ambitious works. Its biggest problem is that, in its desire to document the suffering of its characters, it ends up trapping the viewer in a crossfire of shocks that can make the less experienced lose the narrative thread.

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A story of great visual and auditory beauty, with great emotional depth

Won-Gyu (Won Tae-Hee), a German airline pilot, returns to South Korea after a two-year absence, but only intends to stay a single night. Victim of a homophobic attack some time ago that forces him to live abroad, a decision also motivated by his search for a place where his homosexual condition is more permissive and tolerant, he faces the judgment that the homophobic and conservative South Korean society has on homosexuality. .
The protagonist tries to outwit his nightmare by living in constant transit. His home is anonymous and ever-changing hotel rooms, his connections with others temporary and rootless, of little significance to his life.
In one of those typical, completely evasive encounters, he meets Tae-Joon (Lee Yi-Kyung – (학교 2013/ Hakkyo 2013/ School 2013), a young gay delivery man on a motorcycle, whom he meets through chat websites. Despite Being a few years younger and having a less rewarding and paying job, Tae-Joon is much more comfortable with himself, including his sexual preferences.
On this basis, Korean director Leesong Hee-il writes and directs 'Baekya' ('지난여름, 갑자기'/'White Night'), a 75-minute film that has as its predecessor the short film 'One Night', with which he develops the trilogy known as 'One Night, Two Days' (백야), which includes the medium-length film 'Suddenly Last Summer' (지난 여름, 갑자기/'Jinanyeoreum, gapjagi'), and 'Namjjokeuro Ganda' ('Going South' /남쪽으로 간다), all from 2012, in which three unconnected stories are told that have gay themes in common.
Leesong Hee-il has an extensive filmography since his film debut in 2004 with the short film '동백꽃' ('Dongbaegkkoch'/ 'Camellia Project'), but is probably best known for his 2006 film '후회하지 않아' ('Huhoehaji Anha '/'No Regret'). In 2009, the director contributes to the overall project 황금시대 (Hwang-geumsidae/Short! Short! Short!), and also makes the feature film 탈주 (Talju/Break Away, 2009), before filming the short that begins the trilogy, in 2012.
As in the rest of the three pieces, 'White Night' tells a story of great visual and auditory beauty, but perhaps most important is the emotional depth. The raw honesty of the film's narrative – centered on the often deeply problematic feelings of its characters, all asking difficult but very real questions – is commendable.
Another characteristic of Leesong Hee-il's cinematography is the use of music that accompanies the images in a memorable way, with songs ranging from Western popular music to Korean ballads, being chosen with great care in the purpose. to instill a sense of peace, insane frenzy, sadness, uprooting, loss, abandonment, nostalgia or even melancholy, in contrast to the inner turmoil experienced by the characters.
With a high degree of concision, achieved within extreme brevity and economy of language, as well as by the semantic ambiguity and the interpretative potentials that the film offers, Leesong Hee-il reflects how Taee-Joon does not seek sex for the sake of it and, although not opposed per se to a one-night stand, he harshly rejects Won-Gyu. The director's goal is to expose how people relentlessly pursue a more meaningful and lasting relationship than a sexual romp, like the one Won-Gyu intends to have in a dark public bathroom frequented only by casual lovers.
However, as the night is still young, and these two almost strange individuals continue to gravitate towards each other, in this journey about the complexity of human relationships, accepting the other, emotional pain more than physical, and criticism To a society that still considers homosexuality a perversion, Tae-Joon learns, little by little, about the painful burden that Won-Gyu carries, while the latter, perhaps for the first time, sees an individual who simply accepts himself as such. as he is while accepting the other as he is.
Knowing that perfectionism can destroy creation, so he polishes his works seeking exquisiteness, Leesong Hee-il shows how Won-Gyu's internal conflict comes to the fore through the external conflict that arises when he meets again with a boy who knows about the past, before deciding to try to erase what happened in foreign lands. This climax comes surprisingly early, not to the benefit of the narrative, considering that the film begins as a short film and, perhaps, could have done even better to remain that way.
Furthermore, some of Tae-Joon's actions, in particular his decision to stay by the side of someone he barely knows and who displays quite erratic and then also violent behavior, are not entirely understandable. Be it sexual attraction, sympathy, pity, or whatever reason pushes Tae-Joon to stay with Won-Gyu, her presence is what offers the latter the opportunity to heal his past wounds and realize that a different reality may be possible.
In other words, thanks to Tae-Joon, Won-Guy comes to understand that there may be hope, which is why it's worth returning to South Korea more than once every few years, for more than a single night... and even remain in the country indefinitely.
There is an incredible beauty in the suffocating, depressing, dark, and even demented atmosphere due to the ghosts of the past that haunt one of the two characters and the intertwining of the lives of these young people. Who will not be trapped with the souls that inhabit the film? Who will remain impassive in the face of characters embodied in beings that we have once known or could be ourselves?
The entire trilogy reveals to us a filmmaker with a sure pulse to capture the audience through the use of the right phrase and image, the clarity of the speech. No wonder he is considered "one of the most interesting contemporary gay Asian directors." And in this effort to create stories, reality opens up in a multicolored fan with overlapping layers and blurred borders.
The essence of the film, which had its European premiere at the 2013 Berlinale, followed by screenings in Vancouver, Hong Kong and Jeonju and at the 27th London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival that same year, also lies in the fact that Tae -Joon could very well be precisely the type of person that Won-Gyu needs in his life, like Kyung-Hoon himself needs Sang-Woo in 'Suddenly Last Summer'.
Open-ended like all parts of Leesong Hee-ill's trilogy, 'White Night' feels less gloomy than 'Suddenly Last Summer' and 'Going South', leaving the viewer with the possibility of a long journey towards happiness. still ahead for both characters.
We are facing a stinging film, which digs into the skin and the bones not only because of what it describes, but because we are certain that beings like the main characters are not so few in a world dominated by homophobia in a conservative society that makes It makes homosexuals feel ashamed, which often leads them to blame themselves for not being able to meet the imposed criteria of normality.

Note: The reviews of the remaining pieces of the trilogy, in MDL, can be found on the page dedicated by the virtual platform to each of them.

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Taboo and controversial topics in a piece of goldsmithing that every lover of good cinema should see

The Korean director Leesong Hee-il writes and directs 'Suddenly Last Summer' ('Jinanyeoreum, gapjagi'), from 2012, a 37-minute medium-length film, second part of the trilogy known as '' One Night and Two Days' (백야) that include the feature film 'Baekya' ('White Night') and the short film 'Namjjokeuro Ganda' ('Going South'), three unconnected stories that began as shorts but later expanded, in the case of the first, to a 75-minute film.
His vast work, like a piece of goldsmithing, armed with the finest craftsmanship, shows a filmmaker always attentive to the details, to the subtle articulations of the adventures, with which he won the applause of critics and spectators who, even after more than one decade since its release, they still look for in it the keys to unusual, totally original cinematography, which make Leesong Hee-il one of the most distinguished exponents of Korean auteur cinema in general, and gay-themed cinema in particular. both from his country and, I would dare to say, from all of Asia and much of the world.
Without forcing anything, the director of 'Suddenly Last Summer' plays with reality, stretches it as moldable material, and we end up accepting, without questioning, his invitation to accompany the protagonists on a journey about their sexuality, their relationship and their place. in society. The viewer must be attentive, since the medium-length film begins right in the middle of the story, so the beginning may seem confusing to some.
In that art of telling small things, small memories, small pleasures, small sensations..., which are not so much because, ultimately, together rejoicing, they give meaning to life itself, Leesong Hee-il, considered "one of the most interesting contemporary gay Asian directors", is a skilled filmmaker capable of captivating the most diverse audiences with the power of words and images, involving the audience, in a charming way, in his films, which are all about his favorite subject , gay stories in one form or another.
Leesong Hee-il once again touches on taboo and controversial topics in any modern society, such as homosexuality, the complexity of human relationships, the problematic situation of one lover who is a minor and the other an adult, or the teacher-student role. , and the feelings between people, which on many occasions can be inappropriate, immoral or even prohibited. However, in its subconscious development, it is not something for which individuals can be directly condemned, but those feelings must be acted upon when they are negative.
Another of the values ​​of 'Suddenly Last Summer' and the other two films that make up the trilogy is that its director places the protagonists at some intermediate point in the story, that is, their characters have begun to realize what what they feel, and now they must decide how to act. In the most difficult moment for those involved, when some will triumph while others will falter, it is the ideal moment for Leesong Hee-il to put on the camera lens and begin to tell the story, achieving, through his raw honesty, commendable and unforgettable stories. .
In the medium-length film, its director once again exposes a constant dichotomy in the relationships of his protagonists: one of his characters hides or completely denies his homosexuality, and the other is not afraid to recognize it and even enjoys shouting to the world about his gay status.
In just 37 minutes, the medium-length film raises several controversial points. It is not only the sexuality of the characters that focuses the attention of the audiovisual. Kyung-hoon hides his sexuality from everyone around him, especially the managers and teachers and students at the school where he works. Keeping his homosexuality a secret, his sexual preferences are discovered by Sang-woo, a student of his, when they both meet in a gay bar some time ago.
In a kind of obsession with his teacher, Sang-woo threatens him to reveal everything if he does not agree to his demands, and shows him some photographs captured clandestinely during the meeting held by the two at the gay club.
Fearing that he will lose his job, Kyung-Hoo agrees to spend the day with him. However, the tension between the characters doesn't seem to be related only to Sang-woo's blackmail tactics. While it is evident that Sang-woo is not motivated by a sexual impulse, since he loves his teacher, the entire film suggests that the teacher has feelings for his student.
Sincere about his sexual orientation and love for his teacher, he will claim that he had revealed to his mother that he liked boys, as well as his love for an older man, but Kyung-Hoo's reactions are ambiguous and not transparent.
There is an uncomfortable polarity within the two characters. Due to his youth, Sang-woo is innocent and love and the freedom to be happy lead him to lose himself in a delirious frenzy that drives him to shout, excited, at the fish from the boat, or to act spontaneously and make Kyung-woo listen. Hoon his favorite music after placing the headphones over his ears. He feels transported to another world in which there is no control from society or discriminatory laws and family censorship and disapproval of their children's homosexuality.
The student believes he is invulnerable to what people will say, precisely in a country as conservative as Korea, with strong patriarchal and heteronormative traditions, where homosexuals have difficulty fitting into society and even in the 21st century, sexual diversity continues to be seen as a perversion and considered taboo. But despite his plenitude, Sang-woo is also immature and seemingly unaware of the implications of what he asks of his master.
This one, for his part, is wiser thanks to his age and experience. Kyuung-Hoon is caught between desire and responsibility, between longing and ethics, between good and evil. He is aware that a relationship of this type is not an option, but the hopelessness and unhappiness that surrounds him is evident. His face reveals deep loneliness. Drinking until you get drunk shows that you have found an escape from your sadness in alcohol. He understands that a romance like the one Sang-woo asks for, and he would like to reciprocate, would not have a good result for him. That's why you make the decision to not just deny your feelings to the person you like. She must hurt him again and again with the intention of taking him away from her forever. But the boy persists in his desire to maintain a loving relationship, not just a sexual one, with the teacher. This dilemma that Hyung-Hoon is struggling with causes him great anguish and regret. Sang-woo will not be able to understand why this man who is not afraid to give him furtive glances with a clear sexual connotation in the middle of the class, surrounded by other students, rejects him. He doesn't understand why that person with whom he spent pleasant moments in a gay club and who, like him, doesn't have a boyfriend that prevents him from formalizing a relationship, seems elusive to him.
The essence of 'Suddenly Last Summer' also lies in the fact that Sang-woo could be precisely the kind of person that Kyung-hoon needs in his life, just as Won-gyu himself needs Tae-jun in 'White Night'.
Although the fact that one is a minor and the other an adult, as well as the teacher/student relationship are socially and ethically problematic, the first problem would be irrelevant (at least if the parties involved considered it so) and would have a solution in a short term, taking into account that Sang-woo has less than twelve months left to reach 19 years of age, and with this, the legal age of sexual consent in South Korea. Leesong Hee-il voluntarily introduces this problem to play subtly and skillfully with the viewer by addressing such a complex issue, while pointing out that it can be overcome. No matter how difficult or incomprehensible their reality may be for others, the terrain where the two protagonists move is not perpetual: within a short time the young man would reach the age of adulthood and with this the hope for what each of them currently wants, but they can't specify.
Regarding his roles as a teacher-student, this problem also has an immediate solution, as we know that, through a phone call to a friend, Kyung-Hoon is desperately trying to find a job at another school.
Within the trilogy, 'Suddenly Last Summer' is the most successful film among the three. Its value also lies in the deeply uncomfortable and highly problematic questions it raises about homosexual relationships and society.
But its reach goes much further. Unlike another 'No Regret' (2006), another film by Leesong Hee-il, the focus of the medium-length film, as well as the other segments of 'One Night and Two Days', focuses exclusively on the characters' feelings, using simple narratives and many fewer twists than Leesong Hee-il's first feature film.

Note: The reviews of the remaining pieces of the trilogy, in MDL, can be found on the page dedicated by the virtual platform to each of them.

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The opportunity to correct the mistakes we have made in our lives

Without a doubt, 'Soon of Macho Dancer', 2021, (Original title 'Anak Ng Macho Dancer'), can be considered the legitimate heir to the film series started by 'Macho Dancer' (1988), in which rentboys confront to the sordid realities of poverty in the Philippines. In fact, its director, multi-award-winning filmmaker Joel C. Lamangan, stated that his film was the first authentic sequel to Lino Brocka's greatest global success.
This last film was followed by other films with high-voltage homosexual themes such as 'Midnight Dancers' (1994), 'Burlesk King' (1999), 'Twilight Dancers' (2006), all directed by the late Mel Chionglo, interested in continue exploring the world of dancers who pose in scanty clothing for the homosexual clientele of Filipino venues.
Let us not forget that Brocka first attempted to depict the underworld of male prostitution through a largely improvised sequence in 'Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag' (1975), most of which was removed after the author of the original novel opposed the invention.
Considering the defiance and frustration that Brocka expressed just before his unexpected sudden death, 'Soon of Macho Dancer' could very well be the film he would have made had he survived to the present and the current discontents in the Filipino population, not very different from those of his time. No greater award can be given to a Filipino filmmaker who claims to have made a work worthy of the highest aspirations of the director of 'Macho Dancer', and Lamangan's film turns out to be one of those rare cases.
Most of the characters in these films have in common that they are overwhelmed, defeated by the sad political and socioeconomic reality of the Philippines, which is why they will be forced to practice prostitution as a means of escape from misery, in addition to being driven to claim freedom. lost dignity, without ignoring the insularity of the situation of sex workers.
'Macho Dancer' paved the way to investigate the degeneration induced in the Filipino population in general, and the male population in particular, by the presence of US military bases that curtail national sovereignty while exercising a not-so-hidden political and economic power. but they abandoned those concerns once the main character leaves for Manila or another major city in the country.
Lamangan, who played the role of a rebellious queer lady in 'Macho Dancer', 33 years after its controversial premiere, gives 'Soon of Macho Dancer' the same perspective of a hellish underworld. In this film, the director continues the story through Pol's son, the protagonist of that film, also forced to enter the sordid world of prostitution, when the coronavirus begins to reveal itself as a pandemic.
This pessimistic vision of today, which, however, is not as dark, sordid and sensual as the original, revolves around the coming of age of Inno, a 19-year-old boy who, together with Karla (Elora Españo), his girlfriend, sells clothes online offering sensual dances in front of her mobile camera with the aim of motivating the client, she has to help her father Pol (Allan Paule), a retired stripper addicted to drugs. His dancing skill will be shown later in another gloomy and dark setting.
To get out of debt and pay bail for his father, who is frequently imprisoned for public scandals associated with drugs, Tere (Rosanna Roces), Inno's mother, forces him to work in a male strip club. Like any merchandise, he sells it to Mama Jimmy (Jim Pebanco), the owner of the establishment and retired macho dancer: "He dances well and has a good penis." Faced with Inno's resistance, he assures him: "Your penis will be very successful here." In another scene he instructs him: “Use your head. If you are offered the opportunity to choose between being supported by a gay pimp or a woman, be sure to choose the richer one.”
But just when Inno starts working, Tere, who had turned to prostitution to support the family after Pol's car accident, abandons her son and her husband. At the same time, the club's premises close due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Circumstances put pressure on Inno's life, and he finds himself in need of money like never before. The family dynamic has changed drastically, as the father demands cash to pay for the drugs. Faced with this reality, he breaks up with Karla, whom he considers a hindrance, and delves into the exercise of selling his body in order to survive.
In Club Mankind, Inno will meet Bambi (Jaclyn Jose), a former prostitute who organizes private parties to sexually satisfy the rich. Inno, as "fresh meat" placed on the sales platform, is invited by Bambi to join those parties, but at the first opportunity he fails to be chosen by Kyle (Ricky Guimera), the attractive 19-year-old boy in charge of choose the young man with whom you will have sex.
Although initially nauseated by the abject nature of his new sex work (as opposed to the dancing for the audience, male or female, or escorting that he used to do at Mankind), Inno manages to find some professional equanimity in selling his body, motivated by his father's deteriorating health, increasing financial pressures, and buoyed by the camaraderie of his fellow dancers.
"This place is a pit stop for you. But it's a happy stopover for those kids looking for a better life. I know it's what you want. But don't let your heart guide you. Reject anger. Use your head. That's it the only thing that will help you." With the advice of Mama Jimmy who transmits her experiences as a veteran macho dancer, very similar to those of Tere, Inno turns out to be more skillful than expected. He understands that it was not Kyle, who he would have to conquer in his quest for a better life, but Jun Mallari, the wealthy gay businessman hidden in the next room, who masturbates while watching his favorite sex toy on the cameras with the boy on duty.
In this way, the main character of this film that combines drama, thriller, prostitution and homosexuality, seduces Jun, attracted by the life full of comforts that it offers him, becoming his new sexual puppet and abandoning his father, without to know what awaits him in that world that has opened its terrifying doors to him. Feeling like owner and lord of the mansion he shares with Jun, he will soon want to escape from it and get away from hell.
It turns out that the additional challenges that await the narrative hero increase from this point, quickly and terrifyingly, without giving us time to catch our breath. The turning point occurs in a chain of events that begins with Pol's arrival at Jun's house to look for his son, and the plunge that the protagonist suffers into an underworld of drugs, violence, crimes and parties to which his Millionaire lover invites prostitute boys.
From the get-go, Kyle warns Inno to stay away from Jun before it's too late. But Inno, mistakenly believing that he is acting out of jealousy, turns a deaf ear and ends up entering a world even more violent than the one he was escaping from.
Throughout these dramatic changes, Lamangan ensures that we are aware of Inno's plight by maintaining unconditional empathy with the character he seeks to save at all costs.
The film shows a sordid and violent world, in which the main character will see his self-esteem gradually diminish, especially when a client asks a male dancer to do something he doesn't like. It is natural. The loss of dignity and virility due to the money he needs to survive marks his path. "My father was a whore. My mother was a prostitute on the streets. And I, another whore. We are a family of whores!", Inno confesses to Bambi, who has recognized in Pol the macho dancer with whom he interacted in last.
The film aims to open the viewer's eyes to the unbearable facts and circumstances of life. The protagonist himself makes it clear in an interview: "Not all of us are lucky enough to have the opportunities that are presented to us, so we do not have the right to fire or judge someone for their choices (…) I am not saying that these macho dancers They may be saints but they all fight for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. They all have a story that we must understand and respect. When you hear their stories, if people take the time to really listen to them, it will impact you a lot. Others have already arrived to the conclusion that your choice is easy."
"Soon the Macho Dancer" fully fulfills its purpose of making the public reflect and inviting them to controversy.
'Anak ng Macho Dancer' leaves me with some life lessons. Among these, the way in which Inno overcomes the consequences of his actions and choices that lead him to live a true hell stands out. He's not just fighting for his life. What Inno believes is right for the people he loves, he does it head-on. He knew that his choices are not good, and in the face of the consequences of the choice, there is a lesson to be learned. Mistakes and struggles, also triumphs, are an integral part of human life.
The viewer should keep in mind the film's message, summarized in Pol's words to Bamby: "We still have the opportunity to correct the mistakes we have made in our lives."
Even with less than ideal material, Lamangan is able to guarantee stellar performances. The filmmaker resorts to exposing, very accurately, a decidedly negative queer image seen before in his other films, such as Lockdown, in which the higher the position of the gay character rich in money, the more malevolent he turns out to be. However, this disturbing state of affairs should be seen as post-queer, rather than homophobic.
The rich characters possess what the citizens who live in poverty need, which allows the macho dancers to carry out pecuniary transactions with wealthy clients that they could never find outside this world of prostitution and lust.
The greatness of Inno's character lies in his status as a redeeming hero who, by saving himself, saves.

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A double switch to brighten our lives

This 2013 Filipino screwball satirical comedy film, starring Zanjoe Marudo and Cristine Reyes, tells the story of twins Brando and Brandy. Despite the physical similarity, both are very different from each other. While the first is heterosexual and has no ambitions in life, the other is a friendly gay who has a career plan.
Brandon is attracted to Erika, Brandy's best friend, but she breaks up with him after realizing that Brandon has no plans for the future.
The homophobic Brando cannot accept that his brother is gay, so he decides to distance himself from him and make his own life independently. To do this, he will plan to start a car repair business and become a mechanic. Brandy, for her part, sets out on her own path to try to make her dream come true.
Eight years later we see Brandy become a successful interior designer, while Brandon still struggles to make ends meet.
Based on real events, the plot delves into each person's journey along their respective paths. Everything seems to indicate that they will never unite again, until one day, their mother begs them to put aside their differences and reconcile. Moved by her mother's plea, Brandy goes out to find her brother to make peace, but suffers an unfortunate accident that leaves him in a coma.
While Brandy remains in the hospital, Brando learns that just before the accident occurred, his brother was putting the finishing touches on negotiating a multimillion-dollar design deal with a client.
Fearing that Brandy will lose the multimillion-dollar business, Brandy's two close friends convince Brando to pull a double switch and pose as his gay brother. Then he will make the second most important decision of his life: So Brando, the straight, homophobic, tough and sexist, becomes the gay Brandy!
This is where the fun begins with Brando juggling Brando and Brandy.
By usurping his gay brother's identity he will not only allow Brando to solve all of his financial problems. It comes with another surprise: It will also give him the chance to patch things up with Erika (Cristine Reyes), Brandy's good friend, who he's always been in love with!
But it doesn't all end here: pretending to be the gay twin will mean that while he tries to prevent a multimillion-dollar business from failing and, in the process, get the love of a girl, he will look at the person he has always hated with different eyes, and acquire a new appreciation for him. by living your life.
In this world gone crazy, with Brando taking on Brandy's cheerful personality, what real chance is there of life returning to normal for the twins? Will Brandy wake up in time, discover the switch her twin flipped, and save the situation?
With a script by Olivia M. Lamasan, Joel Mercado, Enrico C. Santos, Danno Kristoper Mariquit, Kriz G. Gazmen, Kathy Despa and Ays De Guzman, and direction by Wenn V. Deramas, the film features the now Filipino star Kokoy DeSantos will play the twins as teenagers, while Maliksi Morales will play the young Brando and Brandy, and finally Zanjoe Marudo will play the twins as adults.
Filled with comedic moments, 'Bromance: My Brother's Romance' is Skylight Films' first foray into the comedy genre. Even in serious situations, they look for hilarious and over-the-top reactions, which makes it fun to watch.
Zanjoe Marudo achieves a brilliant and natural performance by playing, interchangeably, Brando and Brandy in three different roles: gay man, straight man and straight man who pretends to be gay.

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The harsh reality of Thailand without makeup

This audiovisual product represents the harsh social, economic and political reality experienced by the Thai population. It talks about its problems and contexts, generally adverse, and becomes a reflection of that Asian country.
The film shows topics such as illegal immigration for political, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation reasons; political, administrative and police corruption; police violence and crime, physical elimination of activists and members of the LGBT+ community, border militarization, dysfunctional families, bisexuality, racism, racial discrimination, politically motivated murders, homosexuality, economic problems, prostitution, political activism, stripper , violation of Human Rights, phenomena all reflections of Thai society. I highly doubt that for one reason or another any member of Thai society escapes seeing themselves reflected on the screen.
And facing all these problems there is Sorn (Ud Awat Ratanapintha), a Burmese refugee who, with the hope of a better life, seeks refuge and forges a new identity as a sex worker in Thailand. The protagonist will end up involved in a client's risky plan that endangers his life and that of other people. The diversity of conflicts he faces, his psychological complexity and emotional evolution, add layers to the narrative and weave an intriguing web that keeps the viewer in suspense during its hour and 36 minutes of duration.
The artistic maturity of its main performer protects a remarkable wisdom forged through the experiences lived on the film set. His ability to convey emotions, in a genuine way, cements his position as a leading actor in the Thai film and television scene. Far from seeking grandiloquence, you immerse yourself in your characters with the simplicity that characterizes those who understand that true art lies in authenticity.
From her first appearance on the big screen with the feature film 'Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy' (2013) or as a girl with dramas such as 'Hormones 1' (2013) and 'Hormones 2', in 2014, to her participation in television productions such as 'Cat Radio TV Season 1 and 2', '#HATETAG' (2021), 'Bad Genius' (2022), 'Quarantine Stories' (2020), of which in addition to being an actor he is the director and screenwriter; or in the 2022 documentary JMJ: Lesson 25, in which you participate as an actor and director, you have shown how versatile and capable you are of connecting with the public.
With 'Doi Boy' it is not the first time that he has faced the challenge of playing a leading character. Also in the drama ThirTEEN Terrors (2014), and the special Project S Let's Say Goodbye, from 2018, he had already been placed in front of the responsibility of leading plots. However, taking on the lead role in a film like this involved new challenges, and for the actor, it was a crucial step in his career.
Pae Arak Amornsupasiri as Ji, and Aelm Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, who plays Wuth, are the other two main characters.
The way in which social criticism, border problems and issues related to sexual orientation and male prostitution are represented in the film is not coincidental. In his first work, the documentary 'Boundary' (2013), its director, Nontawat Numbenchapol, already addressed the reality of the local population on the border between Thailand and Cambodia never before recognized in Thai cinematography.
Interested in social issues, in his second documentary, 'By The River', he visualized the situation of the villagers of Klity affected by lead water contamination. With this documentary, for the first time a film of that nationality won the Special Mention at the Locarno International Film Festival.
'Doi Boy' is not the first film with which the filmmaker analyzes issues related to sexual or gender identity. With the hybrid docu-fiction #BKKY, from 2016, this renowned documentary filmmaker and cinematographer visualizes stories of 100 teenagers interviewed in Bangkok about their loves, their dreams, and their coming of age just after graduating from high school. With it, he won the Jury Prize for best feature film at Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg, Germany.
Despite a solid premise and good performances and general direction, the film does not reach perfection because it is based on an underdeveloped script, with aspects that deserved further exploration.
Beyond its positive aspects, Doi Boy can be perfected, like any artistic creation. The absence of unique characters like Sorn, Ji and Wuth and the practically non-existent presence of stories like this in Thai and Asian cinematography in general could work in its favor. However, these same positive qualities cause the film to be undervalued by followers of the BL genre, but as a thriller and drama it works well.
'Doi Boy' is a forceful justification to talk about Thailand far beyond the false and illusory representation, both in cinema, television and other national media, of a country as a sexual paradise and freedoms for members of the LGBT+ community and the rest of its population, equally discriminated against for political, ethnic and racial reasons. The film is a reflection of what hurts millions of human beings both in that nation and in the world. That is why I am grateful that it does not have a made-up ending and shows reality as it is until its ultimate consequences: those gray areas of the existence of the Thais shown in 'Doi Boy' are not really reflected in the BL dramas from that region of the planet.

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Whirlwind of love and revenge on a tourist island

He works for a dolphin and sea lion show at Fantastic Ocean. He works at a karaoke bar on a beach on the Chinese island of Hainan, where they both live. He is a talented trainer of aquatic mammals. He succeeds in his traveling business, in part because he bears a striking resemblance to the late Chinese actor and singer Leslie Cheung. He waits for him with dinner ready and both of their underwear clean. He is a daring and handsome boy who also has sexual relations with women and walks around the beach, the streets and the house half-naked. He, in silence, awaits your return. He, drunk, comes home late after playing with other men. Both help in an illicit business, while committing petty robberies and other mischief, such as recovering their assets seized by the police.
Li Qi (Shen Shiyu) and Ren Yu (Zhao Bingrui) are two young men who live a wonderfully simple life as a couple. Happy, between the two of them they have built their own earthly paradise.
However, things change when an attractive young woman, Bai Ling (Yue Yue), comes into their lives and drastically shakes their reality. When the daughter of the illegal beach food vendor joins the two men, a three-way relationship seems possible. Li Qi shines around him. She shines around Ren Yu ('Marriage Proposal Say Yes!', 2013 and 'Love in Late Autumn, 2016'). In this classic love triangle, does the girl know about Qi and Ren Yu? Does he know they are a couple? The truth is that the three of them intend to test the limitations of their own sexuality.
The lovers now face difficult decisions because they want to explore their sexuality further and include Bai Ling ('A Woman', 2022; 'Mother in the Mist', 2021), in their relationship. At times, the loving trio disappears to become a secret couple again, but now between Bai Ling and Ren Yu. But the latter will not accept his proposal to be her boyfriend and live in a distant city. Could love for Li Qi be the reason for his rejection? Don't you want to enter an uncertain, but promising future? Why then does he kiss her and while they are living their idyll, the tragedy occurs that will shake the three of them to the depths of their being?
The film, which begins at the end, initially tells us how one of the main characters commits a heinous crime motivated by revenge and then goes to the roots of the conflict to expose the reasons that motivated the revenge.
Also skillful is the location of the plot in one of the tropical and paradisiacal beach areas of Hainan (in Chinese, 海南; pinyin, Hǎinán; literally, 'South Sea'), the smallest and southern province of the People's Republic of China. The site surprises by becoming another protagonist, the fourth, of the film. Its streets and shops show the wounds of the passage of successive typhoons that hit what is now the largest Special Economic Zone of the Asian giant.
Like an island from which you can only leave by air or sea, our protagonists will also find themselves unable to escape their own destiny. This is marked from the very title of the film. The main reason to chew Asian betel nut or areca nut is for its stimulating and slightly euphoric effects. The person who consumes it obtains a greater feeling of alertness, a sensation of heat throughout the body.
Subtle and masterful use of metaphor to mark the destruction of the paradise in which Li Qi and Ren Yu have lived with the interweaving of the Chinese tradition of consuming betel nuts with the risks to human health associated with the prolonged use of these seeds. , since this practice has led thousands of people to an early death.
Released in April 2017, the film, by Chinese director and screenwriter Hu Jia, won the China Stard Best Film Award 2018. It was also presented at the Berlin International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival and Hong Kong International Film Festival, in its 2017 editions.
The yaoi genre romantic drama 'The Taste of Betel Nut' (槟榔血) depicts a story of revenge and young love, a story about the growing desire for intimacy between two men and a woman.
Very cleverly, Hu Jia makes unique decisions in writing the script and developing the plot of the film. The choice to include few dialogues does not discourage the viewer. On the contrary, it awakens in us an interest in discovering where the film story will take us. This way, the audience will be able to appreciate the images and focus more on the characters' actions.
The writer and director creates a fractured storyboard that unfolds like a puzzle: fundamental pieces are missing to finish the work. Together, he and the viewer, we will have the task of, as the footage rolls, compare the fragments we have with those intentionally omitted, in order to advance through the incomplete scenes that have kept us in the dark until we reach the light. and with this the understanding of the narrated events.
The ending is open. The viewer, once again behind the cameras, has several pieces of the puzzle in their hands. According to his wishes, only one of them may be the right one to complete the puzzle: on the terrace of his house, between sheets swinging in the air, Ren Yu, with obvious scars on his shaved head and with a slow, hesitant step, has been able come out of the coma and now turns his face and smiles at someone who approaches. Is it Li Qi who has been able to escape the fury of the bullies? Has Ren Yu waited for him during his years in prison for the crime committed? Is it just Ren Yu's imagination? Like Ren Yu, Li Qi has also died at the hands of the gang and they both meet again in another paradise, but this time heavenly?

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We are faced with a filmic gem:
Song Young Jun, 30 (Song Jae Ha) and Seo Joon Suk, 23 (Jo Hye Hoon) are a very happy gay couple despite living their love in secret. Both actors, who play their roles perfectly, are not afraid to show their naked torsos during the 65 minutes of the film and have explicit sex scenes, all achieved in an artistic way.
The young people decide to create a memory they never had in celebrating their 5th anniversary. They rent a room in a motel in Jongno (Seoul's popular gay neighborhood) to record their precious memory on a video camera.
Between a celebration cake, confidences, naked baths, sex and complicities, all in front of the camera in which they record themselves, the room is filled with the memories that unite them, like the day on the beach to which they promise. go back. Likewise, they vow to never change their love for each other.
However, there is a feeling in the air that today is going to be their last day.
On the one hand, the excellent performances, the control of the body and voice of the two actors to interpret the emotions, the direction, script and other technical elements of the film and, on the other, the viewer's refusal to accept the obvious, but All the signs of what will happen are cleverly shown: Joon Suk is reluctant to allow himself to be filmed from the first scene, the bathroom scene. He claims to be nervous, then worries that the video could be taken as pornography. Only your boyfriend's insistence will lead him to agree to participate in everything that will happen inside the room.
As Young Jun prepares to leave, Joon Suk is awake, but he pretends to sleep and doesn't want to say goodbye. It is evident that he knew in advance that the relationship would end, and of the existence of a prior agreement between the two that it would end in this way.
Young Jun will also ask “When did you hate me the most?”, to which Joon Suk will respond: “When you tell me 'we don't have a future', 'we should marry women' or 'the gay community in Korea hasn't changed'.” Young Jun will also confess that “there is a fantastic recording ready for you,” referring to the recorded video that he leaves for her to watch after he leaves.
In my opinion, not knowing how to appreciate the true emotions and feelings that the characters convey is the reason for the negative reviews and low ratings. The characters themselves, very subtly, are responsible for answering the reason why the film does not have an ending like the one we would like. The film makes a very intelligent, very subtle criticism of the discrimination that exists in South Korea against members of the LGBT+ community.
South Korea is a conservative country, with strong patriarchal and heteronormative traditions, where homosexuals have difficulty fitting into society. Coming out is still not welcomed in most conservative Korean families, who consider their children's homosexuality as something close to a crime.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Korea face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT+ South Koreans. Same-sex sexual activity is legal, but Gay Marriage, Equal Marriage or Same-sex Marriage or other forms of legal partnership are not available to same-sex couples.
It's true: we would like a happy ending for the two young people, but reality prevailed. Young Jun leaves an envelope on the nightstand containing an invitation to his wedding to a woman. His destiny is decided by his family. Your destiny is determined by society. He doesn't have the strength to fight this and accepts not being happy and also making his boyfriend unhappy.
An ending, which would only be syrupy, melodramatic and unrealistic, perhaps bordering on the worst film productions, would have been for Young Jun to have rebelled against his family and society and not have abandoned his boyfriend. For a moment, before the end credits, I thought that they were not a couple, that Joon Suk was a prostitute (because of the envelope on the table I even speculated that it could be money) and they both pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend for some reason. A happy ending, in this case, could be that the connection created between the two turns them into a couple. Young Jun would return to the room to confess to loving him and Joon Suk would claim that he also developed feelings for him during the hours they shared in the motel room.

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Being a virgin at 30 has rewards: the fairy tale with magical gay romance that will steal your heart

Since Jean Cocteau put on the screen the load of imagination, surrealism and magic, bringing romance even to the gothicism of horror films with the premiere of 'Beauty and the Beast' (La belle et la bête), based on the 1757 story de Beaumont, the film productions in which fantasy and love come together continue to amaze.
If in that 1946 film a portrait of the Beast was achieved as a terrifying, erotic and sensitive creature, capable of making Beauty fall in love, since then the cinematographic narrative has diversified, making fantasy, magic and romance go hand in hand. hand.
On that path we have films like 'Somewhere in Time', from 1980; 'Starman' (1984), by John Carpenter; 'Ladyhawke,1985; 'The Purple Rose of the Cairo', 1985), by Woody Allen; 'The Princess Bride', 1987; 'Edward Scissorhands', 1990, by Tim Burton; 'Ghost,' (1990; 'Groundhog Day', 1993; 'Ghostbusters', 1984; 'Mortal Zombie' (Return of the living dead 3, 1993; 'What Dreams May Come', 1998.
Spells to attract love, spells to captivate the perfect lover, witches on their broom throwing magic dust into the air, frogs transforming themselves into princes, mysteries, rituals, spells and magic potions capable of transforming love lives have been used in audiovisual productions whose thread Common among all of them is the imagination in their plot, unaware of limits, an exploration of the impossible that helps - and a lot - to entertain.
BL series also show stories where magical powers are mixed with interdimensional love, musical crystal balls, candies with special powers, travel through time, zombies and ghosts, mutant beings, cats and dogs that become humans and vice versa. In this way, magical visions of love have managed to cross the boundaries of genre to talk about the only thing that truly matters.
'Be My Favorite', 'My Lucky Cat', 'Absolute Zero', '30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii', 'First Love for the Third Time'; 'I Feel You Linger In The Air', 'Tinted With You', 'Love between fairy and devil', 'Cang lan jue', 'Sound candy', 'See you in my 19th life', 'Revenant', and Heartbeat are some of them.
Based on a 2020 Japanese drama, in turn adapted from a 2018 manga series written by Yuu Toyota, 'Cherry Magic' is a tender and fun Thai BL that tells an office romance with a quirky fantasy touch, starring New Thitipoom Techa-apaikhun, as Achi and Tay Tawan Vihokratana, as Karam. The actors bring a natural warmth and authentic ease to their performances. With a relentlessly positive tone, the series achieves the perfect fusion of sensitive humor and touching sentimentality.
It has numerous truly funny moments. Contrary to the opinion of detractors of the genre, there is nothing wrong with a romantic comedy with a hit of solid and sincere fantasy, which is exactly what this series is.
Its director, X Nuttapong Mongkolsawas (who has dramas such as Our Skyy 2, Viceversa and Theory of Love, among many others), achieves one of the best series of the genre. Featuring a charismatic couple, you'll smile every episode as their fairytale romance unfolds. This fun BL drama has a lot of charm, humor, positivity and imagination within it.
This romantic comedy with a creative story, a cute couple and a joyful love relationship dynamic, tells how Achi, a shy and modest man with an office job, acquires a special power that makes him know love.
The protagonist has never had sex. In fact, he is not looking to establish a romantic relationship because he is afraid of love. He, who lived an ordinary existence and on the eve of turning 30, never thought that his life would become magical, nor that an unexpected love would be closer than he imagined.
Our hero admires Karam (Tay Tawan Vihokratana), the handsome, cool and talented office colleague at the Toyokawa company, the epitome of a being who exudes kindness and beauty at every step. In his eyes, Karam is a demigod while he is an inferior being next to him. Considered the company's best salesperson for 7 consecutive years, Karam exudes the image of being popular among women and a successful man both at work and in his personal life due to his immaculate perfection in dressing and his gentleness.
While surfing the Internet with Rock (Sing Harit Cheewagaroon), his new office colleague, he reads that there is a belief that arriving a virgin in his thirties can obtain "magical power." He doesn't think this is possible... but if it's true, how would this kind of magic choose him?
Achi will discover to her amazement that she has suddenly developed a magical power that allows her to read other people's minds every time they touch each other. This new skill completely changes your life and will bring you fun and exciting surprises. Although at first he refuses to have that ability, everything becomes complicated when she reveals to him that Karam is in love with him!
In world cinematography, possessing the ability to read minds is pursued by evil forces to take over and cause evil. Achi, who rarely exploits his powers, only uses them to help others when they have a work problem and they don't know what is happening or how to act in that case, especially Karam, and to read the thoughts of his friends. co-workers and the man she loves. Most of the time you will know what others think accidentally. He is easily afraid of having these powers.
His powers will also bring him misunderstandings, such as initially believing that Pai (Jan Ployshompoo Supasap), his co-worker, is in love with him, only to later discover that she has actually realized the secret and budding love bond between Achi and Karam and supports that relationship.
As in a fairy tale, you develop a magical ability that helps you read the minds of others, only to discover that the most attractive young man in the company, whom you always secretly admired, also has a secret that concerns you: he is crazy in love with you.
The demigod who always seemed unattainable to you because he was light years away from you, is a prince charming who dreams of spending his life by your side. It is you who are truly the prince charming of her dreams. In reality, it is you who have been unattainable for him, since he has wanted to confess his love to you for years and has not dared, and if you know it, it is all thanks to the newly acquired skills. This is the definition of a self-gratifying fantasy like perhaps none other before it.
The fairy tale is not over yet. Imagine that you are a person who undervalues ​​yourself and is full of insecurities and fears in all aspects of life, including love, but by knowing you are loved you will begin an empowering journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Imagine that you will help your loved one to let down his guard, to calm him down without the constant need to be perfect. This is what Achi will experience. On this journey, Karam takes him by the hand and they travel together.
And from the point of view of the person you love, he is willing to be for you the perfect lover, gentle and chivalrous, faithful companion, friend for life. He has silently wanted it since he met you at the company when they started working on the same day, 7 years ago. He will see in you how good you are, even when you don't trust yourself.
In every fairy tale there is a perfect couple. This is because they are kind, empathetic, sensitive and positive with each other. The two complement each other, motivate, encourage and support each other. They are the example of a happy and healthy BL couple.
As a viewer, Achi and Karam immerse me in their pure and tender romance. Perfectly, I visualize how their relationship develops from co-workers to boyfriends.
Although at first glance Karam seems superficial and distant, thanks to the power of Achi we will soon learn that he is in love with his co-worker and has the noblest feelings towards him.
Manow Waneepan Ounphoklang, PingPong Suwanun Pohgudsai and Mook Jarinee Thanomyat are in charge of writing a drama that every BL fan must see, representing characters who are not afraid to express their feelings and for moments full of innocent romantic interactions. On the other hand, it has an extremely fun secondary couple and something that is not seen much in series of this theme: there is no toxicity.
Achi confides in Jinta, her friend from college, that she has magical powers. Jinta, a romance writer with an eccentric personality, doesn't believe Achi at first, but ends up developing the same ability when he reaches his thirties, weeks later. In this way, she will be able to read the mind of Min, a young courier who makes deliveries to her apartment, and begins to fall in love with him.
For complete understanding, I like to divide the series into two parts. The first half focuses on Achi discovering his magical powers, learning with surprise that he is loved, and the rapprochement between him and Karam as she develops feelings for him. Achi will find the self-confidence to open himself to love.
The second half follows Achi and Karam as a couple, how they get along and are happy with each other. Only towards the end will some tension arise that will test the love of the two, when Achi's magical powers become a burden on their relationship and may end it.
You can appreciate his unlimited imagination in 'Cherry Magic'. The original, unique premise allows many fun scenarios to develop. Every time the two protagonists touch each other, Achi can hear Karam's thoughts about his secret crush. These scenes are handled delicately, making them fun rather than invasive.
You will run the risk of ending up liking Karam more because his inner thoughts are so pure and innocent.
In the original Japanese series, the main couple never kisses on the lips. Will they kiss in the Thai version? Will the couple's physical intimacy be left to the imagination? Like in the country of the Rising Sun, in this drama we will only have kisses on the forehead? I confess something: kisses like the ones given by Karam to Achi on the forehead will have a new meaning in our lives after watching this drama. We will long for them. We will dream of them. We will want to receive a kiss with that passion from our loved one. What's more, kisses on the lips will not be necessary as a sign of pure and true love.
Since I read the premise of 'Cherry Magic', several questions arise: Will the shy Achi be able to demonstrate his love to Karam confidently and openly? Will they be able to resolve the conflict that is already occurring in the final moments? Will they be able to reconcile their differences and have a happy ending? Will Achi know how to say goodbye to his magical powers after losing his virginity or will he cling to them so they don't abandon him? Is possessing magical power or love more important? Even though she no longer has the magical ability, will she still love Karam? Will she be able to know what her boyfriend is thinking, even without the magic power?

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Boy meets robot

Boy meets robot
Technology has entered the world of cinema and television for many years now with the presence of artificial intelligence (AI), defined as the ability of a machine or a computer program to think, learn and act like a human being. Although she has sometimes played villainous roles and sometimes played heroine roles, there is no doubt that she has always, or almost always, played a leading role.
Examples of the above are: 'Her' (2014), 'Ex Machina' (2015), '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1970), 'Ghost in the Shell' (1996), 'Minority Report' (2002) , 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'War Games' (1983), 'The Perfect Man' (2021), The Ultimate Boyfriend (2008), The Bicentennial Man (1999), among other films.
The human being and the machines... the machines and the human being. From the moment I read the synopsis I asked myself questions that I had already asked myself before and to which I have no answers: Will machines replace us one day? Will we end up 'humanizing' artificial intelligence? Will we have to live in fear of being subjugated in the future? Will humans be vulnerable in a context of total dependence on technology? Do robots have wants, dreams and needs?
The premise of the man-robot relationship is the impetus for directors and scriptwriters of BL series to take advantage of the opportunity to give their followers, for the first time, a drama that portrays a romance between a human being and an android.
From the Taiwanese production company Vidol, Anti Reset will not present us with AI on this occasion as villainous and alien robots determined to control and destroy humanity, as T-800 from 'Terminator' (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tried to achieve. Nor will it bring us wonderful C3PO and R2D2 or the endearing WALL-E to delight us.
It will show us a total antithesis of the "robots are coming to destroy us" thinking, as it will move away from the basic concept of AI to bring us closer to a more conventional narrative associated with another genre, romance. This interesting story portrays one of the many perspectives that exist on the relationship between a human and an android.
The creators of BL series have decided to up the ante. Only in this way is the production of a drama that will not be the classic 'boy meets boy' romance but 'boy meets robot' explainable.
One of the protagonists is a substitute for the human being. The robot and the person it cares for and with whom it will fall in love, will take us into a multitude of moral arguments that surround the series, while we see a futuristic narrative arc that, without a doubt, will end up conquering us.
The drama tells the story of Chu Yi Ping (Wu Ping Chen), a man without emotions and few social skills who, after dislocating his hand in an accident at school, accepts his uncle's proposal to be taken care of by Ever 9 (Huang Li Feng). While the experimental intelligent robot is being secretly evaluated to decide whether or not it is suitable for coexistence with humans for the purpose of curing the emotionally disabled, it keeps company with a reluctant Yi Ping, who will soon discover that Ever 9 complements its deficiencies.
At first, Yi Ping has a hard time interacting with the robot. Although at times he is almost convinced of his humanity, he always ends up remembering that he is nothing more than a programmed machine. Interacting with Ever 9 will allow you to break your prejudices about robots and at the same time better understand human needs.
While the robot's capabilities are being evaluated, the relationship between the two young people goes beyond “normal” and Ever 9's apparent humanity begins to attract Yi Ping. Thus, he will look for a way to help the android go out into the real world with him, to live a life together.
To pass the time, Yi Ping asks Ever 9 to make a wish and complete the wish list together, but before completing it, Ever 9 breaks down. The repair only takes a week. But when he returns, his attitude towards Yi-Ping has completely changed. After the reboot, Ever 9 rushes to complete the wishlist and pretends to be bored with Yi Ping and actively asks for a return. Yi Ping doesn't know what's wrong with Ever 9, because he has learned from him how to be human and experience love. Can't you learn to be together all your life? Is the promise to never separate void?
'Anti Reset' is a romantic perspective on the love between robots and humans, it is an incredible reflection on the scope of the growing robot and artificial intelligence industry. While man wonders what the dangers that technological advances represent, this BL arrives to make us think about the emotions and the relationship that robots will have with humans in the future beyond their practical usefulness.
This series is set in a world that could easily be our future reality. So, we must open our minds, since together with the two protagonists we will delve into what love really is and what it means, through an atypical relationship.
The script, while not perfect, benefits from the performances of Huang Li Feng (Stay by My Side, The Ambiguous Focus, Kinematics Theory, The End of Our Youth (2016) and Wu Ping Chen (Stay by My Side, One Afternoon, Komorebi), giving a subtle and different twist to the characters of a plot that, otherwise, would seem too familiar or trite.
The two main characters will go through the different phases of a relationship that, although it is not a typical romance, covers universal themes, but the biggest dilemma that Yi Ping will have to face is whether we are prepared to fulfill our most intimate desires. and fantasies or if, on the contrary, we prefer that a love that was born platonic remains that way.
I remember an Asian film close to this one for the introduction of artificial intelligence, 'Customized companion' (订制男友, Dingzhi nanyou), the Chinese BL and science fiction romantic drama directed by Kuo-Liang Fu in 2017, in which he talks about love between two boys, who use a phone app and summon a personalized virtual companion in the hopes of finding what they have lost in each other.
'My Heartless Boy', one of four stories in the 2023 Thai BL 'Moments of Love', starring Fort Thitipong Sangngey, as Fort, and Pie Saranvut Nittayasuthi, as Pie, addresses a love relationship between a human and a machine which must also be discontinued.
'Anti Reset' is undoubtedly a proposal that brings originality and freshness to the futuristic analysis of the relationships between human beings and artificial intelligence.

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A deep connection that transcends the social differences and prejudices of an era

'Suunjapbang', whose official title is 'KBS Drama Special 2023: TV Cinema: Suunjapbang / Joseon Chefs (KBS 드라마 스페셜 2023 - TV시네마 - 수운잡방 | KBS Deurama Seupesyeol 2023 - TV Sinema - Suunjapbang)' tells the story of the noble Kim Yoo (Yoon San Ha), a scholar belonging to the nobility who during the Joseon Dynasty writes the ancient manuscript of traditional recipes "Suunjapbang", a text passed down as a family heirloom by the noble and exalted family of the Andong Gwangsan Kim clan, which contains culinary secrets ranging from exquisite liquors to gastronomic delights.
Known for directing 'Drama Special Season 12: Between' and 'Drama Special Season 12: Oddinary Goods', as well as the series 'Into the Ring' and 'Bad Prosecutor', filmmaker Choi Yeon Soo brings us a story that recreates how it comes about. This legendary recipe book, which with 121 types of foods and drinks is not only a culinary gem, but also a Korean national treasure that has stood the test of centuries.
To bring the story to life in images, the South Korean director has a script written by Jo Soo Yeong ('Drama Special Season 3: My Wife Natree's First Love') and Kim Ik Hyun in his debut as a screenwriter.
In this way, we will follow in the footsteps of the noble Kim Yoo, whose only ambition is to keep alive the family tradition of passing the national civil service examination. However, his path takes an unexpected turn when he crosses paths with those of Gye Am (Kim Kang Min), a passionate chef who calls himself the best cook in all of Joseon. This charismatic and energetic character will challenge the deepest convictions of Kim Yoo, who at the risk of his own life will not be afraid to confront his brother or the emperor himself when he has to protect his Master in the kitchen.
Initially surprised to learn that the cook at the memorial service at Amchungsa Temple where he arrives to concentrate on his studies is none other than Gye Am, soon Kim Yoo begins to search for the life he truly wants as he immerses himself in the world of gastronomy.
'Suunjapbang' (by its romanized name) explores how the passion for culinary art can transform lives and awaken forgotten dreams. The bond that develops between the noble family's second son and the wandering food enthusiast in charge of the Buddhist temple kitchen unfolds amid the culinary intrigue and challenges of a traditional society.
As the two young people immerse themselves in the search for exquisite flavors and innovative dishes, they also discover a deep connection that transcends social differences and the prejudices of an era.
Set in the majestic Joseon dynasty, this historical drama transports audiences to a world where gastronomy and love are surprisingly intertwined.
'Suunjapbang', which adds ingenious imagination to historical events, wins the Best Film award at the 13th Gyeongsangbuk-do Video Content Scenario Competition. The film is also intended to mark the grand finale of KBS' film project 'Drama Special 2023-TV Cinema'.
Kim Kang Min, who I absolutely admire after meeting him in both seasons of the LGBT+-themed romantic drama 'To My Star' and their respective films, adds dramatic fun to the film as a lower-class person with a passion for cooking.
For his part, thanks to the special appearance as Kim Yeon, Kim Yoo's older brother, actor Baek Sung Hyun, with a soft but strong charisma, brings depth to the team of actors while unleashing a series of events that will test the family ties.
I like how the film hints at a possible romantic relationship between Kim Yoo and Gye Am. From the very beginning of the film, the viewer is able to understand that the character played by San Ha is different from the others. Since childhood, Kim Yoo prefers to enter the kitchen of her parents' home before engaging in age-appropriate games.
Likewise, the discussions with his father and, above all, with his older brother, give the audience room to perceive how homosexuality in the young man can be very real. Kim Yoo has always been seen as "the weak link", the "fragile child" who had to "accept your defects", reproducing many of the stereotypes and prejudices wrongly assigned to homosexuals throughout the history of Humanity.
On the other hand, the relationship between the two protagonists, their meetings in the temple kitchen late at night, their night walks near the river, their tender and suspicious interactions, give rise to comments among the other young people residing in the temple. buddhist. For everyone else, Kim Yoo "is in love with a man."
I understand the alarm and concern among the other characters, if we take into account that the Goryeo Dynasty, of Buddhist tradition, focused more on the glorification of the individual, and there are many records that recognize that members of Buddhist orders, nobility and even royalty expressed their attraction to people of the same sex.
An example of the above can be found in King Mokjong (980-1009) and King Gongmin (1325-1374), who had male lovers called chajewhi at their service. The latter, after the death of his wife, created a state body dedicated to recruiting young boys from all over the country to serve in his court.
However, with the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, the situation of homosexuality changes. This dynasty adopted Neo-Confucianism, a much more conservative tradition, which exalted the importance of family and community, so homosexuality, as today, was considered taboo, especially among the nobility. In the historical aspect, it is worth highlighting the fundamental ideological points of Confucianism in terms of gender, which still has an important weight in Korean society. These are gender hierarchy, marked sexual roles and sex segregation.
It would be healthy to point out that during the Joseon era in rural areas homosexuality existed. This is recognized by historical documents that record, for example, how popular music and show companies, known by the word namsadang, were made up exclusively of young men, even minors, who toured the towns, markets and special festivals to put on shows. full of acrobatics, juggling, tightrope walking, masked dance theater, music and other circus games.
Because artists such as singers or actors were often looked down upon at that time, namsadang troupes recruited their members from orphans, children of poor farmers, and sometimes even through kidnapping. Since they were not well paid and were often offered only food and lodging, and a small amount of money, these boys and young men, on many occasions, had to earn a living through male prostitution.
In short, the troupe of young actors, musicians and puppeteers could have functioned as a homosexual community, with each member taking the role of Sutdongmo, "tomboy", or Yodongmo, "queen", as Stephen O. Murray recognizes in "Homosexualities" , published in 2000 by the University of Chicago Press.
Although with other objectives, 'The King and the Clown', by Lee Joon Ik and filmed in 2005, portrays the relationship between two popular street clowns: the boisterous and manly Jang Seng (Kam Woo-sung) and the calm and feminine Gong Gil (Lee Joon-gi), and how jealousy and anger well up in the king's mistress, the palace ministers, and Jang Seng himself when the famously hedonistic emperor of the Joseon dynasty turns his full attention to Gong Gil.

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The profound loneliness that homosexuals experience in heteronormative societies

'Sad Temptation' (슬픈 유혹 / Seulpeun Yuhok) reflects on the deep loneliness that homosexuals experience in conservative and heteronormative societies, through the extreme disconnection with another society, the homosexual one, and seeks to find a way to communicate beyond that disconnection. Likewise, it explores the breakdown of communication.
Its plot takes us to South Korea in 1999 and follows a middle-aged man named Jung Moon Gi (Kim Gab Soo), who has distanced himself from Suh Jung Hye (Kim Mi Sook), his wife, and meets a young man. homosexual employee, Shin Joon Young (Joo Jin Mo), with whom he falls in love. Both are victims of the lack of understanding of their families and the violent and discriminatory society that excludes homosexuals. Although the two men try to take refuge in their own world, They inevitably end up falling in love with each other.
Aware that film and television content reproduces the socially and culturally idealized sexual and gender approach and that these are aimed at the consumption of the heterosexual community, Pyo Min Soo, the director, seeks with 'Sad Temptation' to make a society in need reflect. to advance against heteropatriarchal logic.
To film the first South Korean public television drama that profoundly depicted love between men, the filmmaker relied on the script by Noh Hee Kyung, a television scriptwriter and essayist, who has earned a solid reputation for his realistic, visceral portraits. and profound insights into the lives and relationships of ordinary people, captured in many family dramas and urban melodramas that have received critical acclaim and won many awards for Best Screenplay and Best Drama Writer, such as the Baeksang Arts Awards, Korean Drama Awards, MBC and KBS Drama Awards.
From the KBS network, and the third time in which the director and screenwriter work together, the audiovisual breaks with the patriarchal approach of society that still today permeates the scripts of the majority of films, series and television programs, aimed at the consumption of the heterosexual community and, in which LGBT+ people remain in the background, and are generally stigmatized and stereotyped.
Its protagonists are three people who live in solitude. The loneliness of Jung Moon Gi, a precarious man in his 40s who worked to achieve success all his life but has now been expelled from the company's management, comes from the fact that he will never be able to tell his family that he is homosexual and has to carry this burden alone.
Shin Joon Young, a man in his 20s who seems confident and ambitious in the eyes of everyone, feels the loneliness that comes with living as a homosexual in a society dominated by heterosexuals and suffering from the lack of understanding from everyone, even his family. Joon Young was hurt by all the men he loved, but they didn't love him just because he was a man.
His loneliness is contained in these heartbreaking words, addressed to Jung Moon Gi: "Coward! Men like you have no right to love or be comforted! Do you know what love is? If you feel alone, say that you are alone , and if you are going through a difficult time, say that you are having a hard time! Love is trusting and hugging each other! Like you, like my brother, suffering alone, not talking, separating from everything is not love. I wanted to touch you! I didn't ask you to have sex! I just wanted to love you! To comfort each other when we feel alone! I wanted to comfort you. If I could, I wanted to help you. live in this difficult world?"
For her part, Suh Jung Hye is the wife who, despite being a professional and with a university degree, which would give her economic independence, has been forced to spend 20 years of her life in a failed marriage watching her husband's back. . That is why he will ask you: "We are one as a couple. Isn't it true that we are separated as husband and wife?"
Why is the connection established between the man who little by little is losing his place in the world after a business failure and estrangement from his wife, and the young man who dances and drinks in bars, and in the street shouts without paying attention? pay attention to the glances of passers-by? What are the reasons for the connection between the somewhat elderly manager whom Jung Yong calls frustrated, and the free-spirited worker?
Moon Gi can see himself in his youth while looking at Jung Young, and Jung Young discovers in Moon Gi the lonely support of his older brother who, like Moon Gi, is selfish and only thinks of himself, even in the moment. of his death, or of Moon Gi's dismissal after his failure at work, which in this case would be the same, since he does not tell his wife what happened.
Jun Yuong, who enters Moon Gi's empty, routine and disconnected life with an irresistible attraction, and whether out of love or pity, falls in love with him. Moon Gi also has feelings that he cannot admit to himself, but one day he discovers himself when he sees Jun Yuong's naked torso, drunk, on his bed, and reacts by fleeing from his presence. But he is surprised when, without stopping thinking about the young man, he finds himself, the next day, wandering in front of his house.
And how does Jeong Hye come into this equation? She is curious about the worker who frequently, in her presence, names her husband, who is not interested in anything but the company. When Jun Yuong visits the couple's house and drinks tea with her, in the absence of Moon Gi, the wife discovers in the handsome young man an image of her husband of two decades.
The simple writing, but with a strong and direct tone, and the delicate and calm direction, are a perfect combination to tell the internal struggle that the two men are experiencing and the relationship between them.
In the one-act play, Moon Gi asks Jun Young, "Why did you become homosexual?" and Jun Young responds, "Why did you become heterosexual?" He then explains, "It's a question I can't answer, any more than you can answer it."
In a society that at the end of the 20th century was as homophobic and intolerant as it continues to be today, the phrase that contains the essence of the film is: "Did you marry your wife because she was a woman? It's not that I loved a man. It's just that the person I loved was a man."
With a photograph marked with dark tones that tries to demonstrate the state of mind of young homosexual love in times of so many conflicts and denials, a pertinent use of the camera and movements that accompany its intensity, make this drama a must-see for story lovers. deep and heartbreaking.
For years before, the idea of ​​filming 'Sad Temptation' had been in the minds of Noh Hee-kyung and Pyo Min-soo. After finishing 'Lies', putting the project into action gained momentum, but they encountered numerous obstacles in translating the text on such a transgressive and unconventional topic into images. From homophobic attacks with hate speech in digital chats and messaging groups, mostly directed at the two male protagonists; Calls for censorship and non-commercialization of the audiovisual product by conservative elements of the South Korean Catholic Church, refusals by cultural institutions to grant monetary funds for the process of writing, filming, post-production and exhibition, marked the work from its beginning.
It was even difficult for the casting, as it was not easy for the actors to accept the emotions of the script, which includes a kiss between Moon Gi and Jun Young.
Pyo Min-soo later acknowledged that in particular, "the entire staff had to take a short break before filming the kiss scene. However, the actors, who were worried before filming, thinking: "Can't the kiss be given a little on the forehead or cheeks?", when the signal was given, they were caught up in the emotion and acted naturally. . Furthermore, the effort put into preparing in a short period of time is evident throughout the work.
The pressures and obstacles could not prevent the viewer from enjoying one of the most tormented passions between two men, nor could they prevent the yellow ginkgo leaves from decorating the path of the Seosamneung stud farm, where Moon Gi and Jun Young, while they walk hand in hand, they give us, at the end of the film, one of the most beautiful romantic breakups in the history of film and television.
In addition to the bittersweet taste, 'Sad Temptation' leaves us with hope, as the creators emphasize throughout the entire film that instead of suffering alone, human beings must work together to overcome loneliness, sweeping away everything that promotes it, thus denouncing to heteronormative, patriarchal and conservative societies. Not turning our backs and fleeing by withdrawing into ourselves, but defending the right to live in accordance with our dreams and passions, the sexual and loving among them, as long as they do not harm others.

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