Reviews

This Chinese bromance, highly rated on MDL and balancing on the border between a short and a feature film, did not leave me cold and I especially appreciated the two main actors (19 and 23 years old), but also the music, processing and set. A very good experience and I include this short among feature films. It's a real shame that in China, gay themes in filmmaking are now under wraps thanks to one single, infallible red party. When I imagine the variety from Taiwan and how much 1.4 billion China could bring us, because there are thousands of unawakened creators smoldering there, who would certainly deal with LGBT issues otherwise, I feel sad ...


Tato čínská bromance vysoce hodnocená na MDL a balancující na hranici krátkého a celovečerního filmu mě nenechala chladným a ocenil jsem především oba hlavní herce (19 a 23 let), ale též hudbu, zpracování a výpravu. Velmi dobrý zážitek a já si tento kraťas zařazuji k sobě mezi filmy celovečerní. Je opravdu velká škoda, že v Číně je nyní tematika gay ve filmové tvorbě pod poklicí zásluhou jedné jediné, neomylné rudé strany. Když si představím pestrost z Taiwanu a kolik by nám toho mohla přinést 1,4 miliardová Čína, protože tam doutnají tisíce neprobuzených tvůrců, kteří by se LGBT tematikou jinak určitě zabývali, je mi smutno ...

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Momadic Moon

“Nomadic Moon,” with its formidable 150-minute duration, might initially seem like a lengthy commitment. Yet, the film effortlessly envelops you in its world, making the time pass unnoticed. This is a testament to Lee Sang-il’s exceptional directorial prowess. His talent for crafting a story that’s deeply engaging without relying on flamboyance is remarkable.

The performances of Suzu Hirose and Toma Matsuzaka stand out, clearly a result of Lee’s deep commitment to the film. From my perspective, these roles could be considered the pinnacle of their acting careers thus far.

While “Nomadic Moon” has a delicacy that may not resonate with all audiences, its subtle interplay of themes like the moon and water leaves a lasting impact, prompting thoughtful discussions—an enriching experience especially for adult viewers.

Additionally, the performances by Ryusei Yokohama and Mikako Tabe are noteworthy and add depth to this beautifully crafted film.

It's fascinating to explore how societal norms and perceptions of mental health evolve, influencing our interpretation of characters and narratives in media.

The term "Lolita complex," known in Japanese as "rorikon," originates from Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita." It describes an adult's sexual attraction to young girls, typically those who are prepubescent or in early adolescence. In Japan, this term is prevalent in both clinical and popular cultural contexts, though its interpretations can vary widely.

In this film, a young man shelters an abused girl, which places him in a delicate social position. Society swiftly categorizes him under the stigmatized label of 'Lolita complex,' regardless of his true intentions. This scenario mirrors a larger societal trend of quick judgments and ostracization based on superficial assessments or misinterpretations, without fully considering the complexity of the circumstances.

The movie challenges its viewers to reassess their biases and the simplicity with which they might label someone with a 'Lolita complex.' It weaves a narrative that obscures the line between societal labels and personal actions, prompting the audience to reconsider their viewpoints. The film's deliberate ambiguity suggests that judgment is in the eyes of the beholder, reflecting their personal prejudices or sympathies.

This method of storytelling, where the audience's interpretation becomes a mirror of their personal thoughts and societal conditioning, is compelling. It not only narrates a story but also engages the viewers in profound introspection about societal norms, mental health stigmas, and the often unfair practice of marginalizing individuals based on misinterpreted actions or misconceptions.

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The film disappointed me quite a bit, I expected something more, even if it is Chinese, which explains a lot. I completely disagree with the claim that he is a typical representative of Asian BL production (which has been repeated here for about the umpteenth time), because Asia is not typical of censorship interventions and cutting out scenes, this only applies to China, where the red gang of the infallible party decided for 1.4 billion .of its inhabitants. Another atypical feature of Asian BL production in this film is the almost zero absence of an overt gay component. One should look for it with a magnifying glass and only guess, and if that is the case, it is practically zeroed out by the next scene. Not even the likeability of the two main actors could make it more than just average for me.


Film mě vcelku zklamal, čekal jsem poněkud něco víc, i když je čínský, což leccos vysvětluje. S tvrzením, že je to typický zástupce asijské BL produkce (což se zde opakuje už asi podvacáté) naprosto nesouhlasím, neboť Asie není typická cenzorskými zásahy a vystřihováním scén, to platí jen pro Čínu, kde rudá banda neomylné strany rozhodla za 1,4 mld. svých obyvatel. Další netypickou vlastností asijské BL produkce v tomto filmu je téměř nulová absence zjevné gay složky. Člověk aby ji hledal lupou a jen tušil, a když už, tak je další scénou prakticky vynulována. Ani sympatičnost obou hlavních představitelů to proto u mě nemohla dotáhnout v hodnocení dál než jen průměr.

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The story is based on the manga, so the girls' landscape hairstyles on the young men and the strange Japanese-manga style, where the actors sometimes look like jerks, affected machines programmed for complete playback, were to be expected. I prayed that the film would not be much of a comedy, but rather a drama, because the bigger the Asian, here Japanese mango comedy, the bigger the farce for the European viewer. Unfortunately, she was. The prankster is sometimes even cute, how she was brought to the top. Sena and Ichijo, the two main characters with whom I eventually got along, at least got a little serious at the end, but otherwise an average Japanese film for me (I evaluate from the point of view of Japanese films based on manga)



Příběh vychází z mangy, takže se zase daly čekat ty dívčí pejzové účesy u mladých mužů a zvláštní japonsko-mangový styl, kdy herci někdy vypadají jako panáci, afektované stroje naprogramované na naprosté přehrávání. Modlil jsem se, aby film nebyl moc komedie, ale spíše drama, protože čím větší asijská, tady japonská mangokomedie, tím pro evropského diváka vetšinou ještě větší fraška. Bohužel, byla. Fraškovist někdy až roztomilá, jak byla dovedena až na vrchol. Sena a Ichijo, dvě hlavní postavy, s kterými jsem se nakonec sžil, alespoň na konci trošku zvážněly, ale jinak pro mě průměrný japonský snímek (hodnotím úhlem pohledu na japonské filmy, kde předlohou je manga)

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The fact that the boys played it this way was the spice of the entire film. Young Koreans with long East Asian faces, slightly acting awkward, naively cute, they gave it the right Korean edge, the music is solid, and the budding feeling between two young men in puberty is always an added bonus.


To, že to takto kluci zahráli, bylo právě tím kořením celého snímku. Mladí Korejci s dlouhými východoasijskými pejzy, mírně herecky neohrabaní, naivně roztomilí, tomu dali ten správný korejský říz, hudba solidní a začínající cit mezi dvěma dopívajícími mladými muži je pro vždy bonus navíc.

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Another film based on the manga belongs to that group of Japanese films where you have to search hard for the gay component and imagine it. It's really surprising that the Japanese are able to balance from one mango extreme (eg the great film The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, where a gay blackmails a straight man with sex) to this film (or Love Stage), where the viewer has to sweat at least a little bromance alone. That's why I'm deducting points for the story, the greater romanticism "among the pieces of dismembered bodies" was missing there. But the movie is not bad if we judge everything according to the manga. If it weren't for the manga, my point of view would seriously lean toward a worse rating. The acting is very solid and the processing is spot on. And finally, a trifle. I've never seen a man's fingers longer than Osada Masaki's, which may impress some ...


Další film podle mangy patří do té množiny japonských snímků, kde gay složku musíte usilovně hledat a domýšlet si ji. Je opravdu s podivem, že Japonsci jsou schopni balancovat do jednoho mangovského extrému (např. skvělý snímek The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, kde gay vydírá heteráka sexem) až po tento film (nebo Love Stage), kde si divák musí alespoň malou bromanci vypotit sám. Proto ubírám body za příběh, ta větší romantičnost "mezi kusy rozčtvrcených těl" mi tam chyběla. Film to ale není špatný, když vše posuzujeme dle mangy. Kdyby to nebyla manga, tak by se můj úhel pohledu povážlivě naklonil k horšímu hodnocení. Herectví velmi solidní a zpracování jakbysmet. A ještě na závěr drobnost. Delší mužské prsty, než má Osada Masaki a které mohou některým imponovat, jsem ještě neviděl ...

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This was not good! I really wanted to like this. I'm glad I didn't pay to see this at the theater earlier this year. I have not seen the anime or read the manga so I didn't know the story before hand but this plot was a mess and incoherent. It also felt incomplete, which may have been b/c they planned for sequels!

The CGI is terrible too. Lately, I feel like new CGI is worse than old CGI. IMO old CGI was more seamless now it just looks cartoonish. This is very visible in the fight between Saiya and Nero. Mackenyu is really the only reason I watched and he can't save this stupid plot or make it interesting enough to stick around for a sequel!

11/19/23

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must say left feeling flat - the acting was good, but the plot wasn't my cup of tea (& not talking about the same sex attraction issue) i don't come from a devote back ground, so seeing someone this addicted to religion is foreign to me.
& yet get that as Yoo Han was all alone / an orphaned, he turned to god for comfort, as he turned to the church & the community it gave him, to be a substituent for the family he didn't have.

Joo Won to me was the embodiment of the serpent in the garden of Eden, u never got who he was or what his ulterior motive was - u just got that there indeed was one (not to mention he was shady as f*ck IMHO). he was quick to pick-up on how he effected Yoo Han. he kept getting close to him without actually crossing any boundaries, cause he suspected Yoo Han would run for the hills the sec he did.
but he kept finding ways to be in his vicinity (tempting him), kissing that girl - maybe she was another soul he needed to corrupt - one that took a bite of the apple. same as Yoo Han eventually did. also the reason he disappeared afterwards without a word - his job was done

also the reason i thought of this was cause of the girl in the prayer meet & her weird / scary dream of a serpent swallowing Yoo Han whole - considering what happened it indeed did....

the reason am left "flat" after watching, is cause this was depressing to me, Yoo Han's brainwashed attitude with religion - his lack of life & being open & vulnerable to bad people leaves me feeling depressed. so well acted but a one off

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What did the college student end up choosing? I dare to say that the path, which is a dead end and at the same time, is most in line with the proclamation of the Chinese infallible party. It's a pity, but such a "solution" exists, even if it usually only brings misfortune and suffering. But otherwise, the movie was very nice, engaging, I watched in one breath...


Co si nakonec vybral student vysoké školy? Troufám si tvrdit, že tu cestu, která je slepou uličkou a zároveň je ale nejvíce v souladu s hlásáním čínské neomylné strany. Škoda, ale takovéto "řešení" existuje, i když většinou přinese jen neštěstí a trápení. Ale jinak to byl film velmi hezký, poutavý, sledoval jsem jedním dechem ...

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Although this film seems simple, it carries a very beautiful message of life itself. I'll use a quote from MDL: "It's a shame to say when you're an old gray-haired person that the one you loved from your youth still lies beside you". They are played by two nice, even beautiful young Chinese people, and it's a shame that LGBTQ+ topics are not allowed to be more promoted in this country, what would it be like with 1.4 billion people ... if only a "mini China" with this topic waves and makes the whole LGBTQ+ world happy (Taiwan, 26 million inhabitants). Communicated very nicely, gently and with insight. What meets only a few couples, like a pair of swans, is a beauty, a gift ...



Ač se zdá být tento film jednoduchý, tak nese moc krásné poselství života samého. Použiji citát uvedený na MDL: "Je stěstí říci, když jsi už starý šedovlasý člověk, že ten, koho miluješ od mládí, stále leží vedle tebe". Hrají dva sympatičtí, ba přímo krásní mladí Číňané, a škoda jen, že LGBTQ+ tématika nesmí být v této zemi více propagována, co by to s 1,4 miliardy lidí muselo být za studnici ... když jen "mini Čína" s touto tématikou mává a obšťastňuje celý LGBTQ+ svět (Taiwan, 26mil obyvatel). Sděleno moc hezky, jemně a s nadhledem. To, co potká jen nemnohé páry, jako párek labutí, je nádhera, dar ...

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Awarded many times at smaller and local festivals, the film is about Filipino-Chinese student Ken (played by Rowi Du), who discovers his true identity and confesses his love for his friend and childhood friend Mike (Raphael Cruz). A pleasant, deep, too long head shave for me, but I understand that this is how the author wanted to convey it and that it is the true essence of the film.



Na menších a lokálních festivalech mnohkrát oceněný film o filipínsko-čínském studentovi Kenovi (hraje Rowi Du), který objevuje svou pravou identitu a vyznává lásku svému kamarádovi a příteli z dětsví Mikovi (Raphael Cruz). Příjemné, hluboké, na mě až moc dlouhé holení hlavy, ale chápu, že to takto autor chtěl sdělit a že je to tou pravou podstatou filmu.

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