Beautiful sensitive movie. See my review of Fri-Sun. The whole thing had me almost in tears by the happy ending. Brilliantly acted, you really felt for these boys. Probably the best BL movie I've seen to date. Plus they are both so good-looking, Hirose Tomoki especially in the movie (is it the same person in the biog? it doesn't do him justice).
Weird but interesting story - brings together several genres such as the closed room whodunnit of crime fiction, hard edged rebarbative sci-fi/horror and - through its school student setting - dystopian works of children's atavistic reversion to savagery when plucked from normal "civilised" life, such as Golding's Lord of the Flies, Oe's Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids and in cinema Battle Royale. I feel the plot becomes too clever for its own good, the contortions become hard to follow and there's a fair amount of sleight of hand by the time it gets to the end. Still, it makes you think - whether as a dramatic comment on human society or a dramatic projection of human psychological motivations. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it!! Some nice eye candy here anyway, in particular with the sultry good looks of Ota Motahiro (whose photo on the biog page completely fails imho to do him justice compared to the movie!) (Was there any music? I don't see how we can give a required score).
Beautiful sensitive movie, definitely the best BL movie I have seen to date. Great characterization, original premise for the storyline and plot development - the progression of the movie's plot is perfectly attuned to how the contrasting characters of Seryou and Yuzuru come together. They really make it live, like there is real chemistry there. Very realistic too. There are two lead roles here, not one. Oh I am getting very emotional. I would love to see more like this. Plus I love 弓道kyudo.
Really great feel-good movie, just what you need to raise your spirits on a gloomy winter day. For me this movie was made by the gorgeous, sultry Tokuyama Hidenori (Ootani) playing the moody, jealous partner of flighty, upbeat, "everybody's favourite friend", Tachibana (Saito Yasuka). Tokuyama's spoilt brat reactions when MIsuzawa (Matsuoka Rinako) puts in an appearance are priceless. The more serious turn into which this leads the relationship and the way the sensitivities of all three protagonists are resolved is nicely done and gives a bit more depth to the movie without detracting from the happy feel of the movie. For me, almost a perfect score for a movie of its type.
Brilliant dark gay-themed thriller with solid characterization, tight plot and good production values. The settings show film noir influence. Don't let the initial wedding scenes put you off, this really takes off after this is out of the way and the relationship between photgrapher Bae (Kim MIn Joon) and his friend (the groom) operating a photographic/modelling studio is established as a basis for the plot development. Ryu, working in an organized prostitution racket, becomes the centre-piece of the plot and is an entirely believable character, well acted by Ishida Hoshi (a name to watch). The ending is very skilfully done and certainly has you thinking to work out what happened. A solid gay-themed production, well worth a watch if you go for thriller-type movies. Not for those looking for sensitive romance.
Unbelievable storyline. Poor characterization and character development. The lead up to the shock ending frankly lacked credibility. The shock came from nowhere because it was a complete non sequitur. Music? what music?
Stunning historical drama brilliantly acted and with outstanding production values and direction. Not an easy watch, harrowing and gut-wrenching as the drama reaches its culmination (sensitive viewers be warned) but it was understandable in context as reflecting the passions of the characters involved. Violence just a scintilla too far at some points otherwise for me albeit understandable in the context of the whole film. As. Re-watch value 10 as its importance as a movie justifies this, but you will need to be in the mood to take it if you are actually to re-watch!
