This review may contain spoilers
A very classic romantic comedy type of movie
I totally adored this movie! First, we have a very clingy and loving type of bride who is abandoned on her wedding. She is so miserable and becomes viral while trying to find and talk to her groom. Her groom's father wants for his reasons to make her believe that the groom will come back and be together with her when the things calm down so he hires male lead to fool her. Male lead's job is to basically lie to her but while he does that he gets to know female lead and falls in love with her adorable character. Female lead teaches him a lifechanging lesson; how important honesty is.I don't want to say more. If you like classic, warm and cozy love stories then you should watch this movie!!! You won't regret it!
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Loved it!
I was in-between dramas and didn't know what to watch, so I decided to look into movies on iQiyi. I'm a fan of the Chinese fantasy genre so naturally, the name and synopsis of this movie caught my attention. I had no idea what to expect since I didn't know any of the actors, nor did I know this was part of a sequel to previous movies. With that being said, I really enjoyed this - it's one of those movies where you don't have to think too much about the plot and just enjoy the ride.I think everyone did a great job acting wise and I liked all the characters. While the CGI could have been better (I mean, what Chinese movie or drama had you seen where the CGI was actually good lol), it also wasn't the worst I've seen. At least it wasn't annoying or horrible, which was all I ask for. There were elements of surprise, sentimental parts, as well as funny and light-hearted scenes. This movie definitely exceeded my expectations when all I was asking for was a movie that didn't suck haha. Overall, very well done!
Also, I feel like this movie has the same vibe as the Ying Yang Master movies on Netflix. If you're a fan of those two movies, then I'd highly recommend this one to you!
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This review may contain spoilers
A fable about the pointlessness of conforming at all costs
WARNING: review is full of spoilers, and is basically an essay!TLDR: a fascinating exploration of 'fitting in' at the expense of one's authenticity.
Jung Hyun and Jun Seok like each other, but their romance is short-lived. Min Jae (Jung Hyun’s ‘friend’) senses there’s something going on between the pair, and so sets off rumours at their school, and then tells Jung Hyun about said rumours. In response, Jung Hyun distances himself from Jun Seok, and ultimately brings an end to their relationship.
What’s fascinating is that it’s not the homophobic society, nor Min Jae (who is trying to help his friend in a weirdly homophobic way), preventing the pair from being together. Rather, it's Jung Hyun’s need to conform that brings an end to their relationship. His need to conform is at odds with Jun Seok’s indifference to how others perceive him, and is conveyed subtly on multiple occasions. Perhaps most pertinently, given the title of this short film, the contrast between them is hinted at when Jun Seok asks Jung Hyun why he smokes, and he simply says ’Because…’ He has no real response, because he smokes purely to fit in with his classmates. In contrast, when Min Jae asks Jun Seok if he smokes, Jun Seok says, ‘Why, do I have to?’ He knows smoking is ‘cool’, but couldn't care less.
This all comes to a head as rumours are swirling and Min Jae has proffered his words of warning to Jung Hyun. Jung Hyun can’t stand the whispered judgment of his peers and so brings things to an end with Jun Seok, symbolically smoking with classmates we've never even seen before as he does so.
The film ends with the camera lingering on Jung Hyun standing alone miserably, gazing at his classmates as they happily chat away, completely oblivious to him. Melancholy music kicks in, and one can’t help but sense that Jung Hyun is starting to grasp that he has lost everything and gained nothing. He has ended things with Jun Seok at the expense of his authenticity and happiness, because he couldn’t stand being gossip fodder for his classmates. And yet as he looks around, it’s clear his peers never really cared about his personal life to begin with; it’s old news to them. However, the pain of ending things with Jun Seok will remain. But hey, at least maybe he’ll stop smoking…
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Part 3 of Director Ang Lee trilogy on "Father Knows Best"
Director Lee’s trilogy ("Father Knows Best") in bringing together family members to create tension and tender comedic moments shine in this trio of PUSHING HANDS (1991), THE WEDDING BANQUET (1993). and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).
I personally liked this more than the other two movies in Ang Lee's trilogy listed above! There are several more"twists" in this movie, which makes me like it better than the other two movies as well!
I also have to say that this movie made me SO HUNGRY watching it! In hindsight, I wonder if the director tried to use 'food' in this movie as a substitute for 'sex', since only one of the daughters was partaking of bedroom time as far as the audience is concerned at first.
Mr. Chu (Lung Sihung, the main lead for all three of Ang Lee's trilogy) is in this movie a widower who raises his three daughters all by himself, with a little assistance from the faithful food tester in the same restaurant he used to work, Old Wen (the late Wang Jui https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910954/ , also see photo page for this movie on MDL).
Although he thinks that his daughters enjoy their Sunday dinner he religiously prepares for them, his daughters all dread this Sunday ritual/feast that Mr. Chu labors on every Sunday; partially from his taste buds going bad and the rest from his inability to talk/communicate with them. I personally know some fathers who have problems talking to their daughters, as they (like Mr. Chu) spends long hours working to care for them. The loss of his wife is definitely a strain on Mr. Chu's relationship with his daughters here.
I personally see Mr Chu missing his wife to the point of his daughters 'reminding' him of her; that would explain his being a father at a distance. I feel that he wants the best for them, but cannot always communicate this; hence, he does the only thing that he knows how to - cook for them!
His oldest daughter became a science teacher and his youngest daughter is just starting a first job at a Taipei fast-food place and his middle daughter works for an airline.
I am not going to cover anymore of the details of the movie, but talk about the interactions of the family members. There are several "twists" in this movie but I am only going to hit the major ones.
One of the first twists in this movie is the youngest daughter Jia-Ning (Yu-wen Wang https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911096/) and her best friend's boyfriend; I saw this coming and see the absence of an actual mother figure in the Chu family as possibly causing this! her only male role model is loving but distant to her and her sisters.
She has a standoff-ish relationship with her immediate family as talked about above; her sisters could have helped her navigate this situation she finds herself in better had there been better communication in the family, especially since her future was drastically changed by what happened to her.
Mr Chu's oldest daughter Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang) is a rather interesting member of the family. After supposedly being spurned by a college sweetheart, she neither dates men or has much to do with the rest of her family, yet she plans to take care of her father after the other girls leave home. I personally see this happening after her mother dies, and this untimely death also alienates her from her sisters as well.
As in other typical Ang Lee movie, one of the several "twists" in this movie involves the oldest daughter meeting a love interest and changing her future plans tremendously!
Mr. Chu's business associate Old Wen taught Chu's middle daughter Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu) how to cook while waiting for her father to finish his shift at the restaurant where he worked, but Mr Chu refuses to let his daughter cook for the family, forcing his daughter to choose a career the airline industry instead.
I see Mr Chu's reluctance to allow his daughters to cook for the family both as a way of still being a parent to them, but I also see it as a unwillingness to let them 'go', spread their wings, sort of. I don't think he is doing this out of spite; I believe that with his wife still alive, he would have allowed them more leeway in their personal lives.
I know most young girls take over occasional meals with their families; this gives them experience receiving criticism from people who can criticize their culinary skills in a loving way before they leave their home.
I think maybe her looking so much like her mother may have something to do with Mr. Chu's reluctance to his middle daughter taking on the role of the family chef. In my opinion, this is cause for some of the consternation between the two of them.
She also finds out about the truth of her oldest sister's reason for not dating for several years, but this 'discovery' is never brought up again in this movie ; sadly, this is one of the dangling items left unanswered by Ang Lee in this movie!
The middle daughter has a sudden, nasty change in her plans of being the first one to move out; personally I think that Mr Chu is more than happy with what happens to her plans.
In one of the last "twists" in this movie, Mr. Chu, after befriending the grand-daughter of a older woman he knows (who own mother recently returns from the States) and the grandmother of the little girl; he surprises all his daughters and their new families with a major announcement at one of his Sunday dinners; which affects the plans of his middle daughter tremendously, who by now has decided to forgo her ambitions in the airline industry and remain to take care of her father for the rest of his life at her parental home!
Finally at the last scene of the movie, Mr. Chu and his middle daughter discover a miracle of sorts that lets everyone know that
entire family will live happily ever after! I can see the psycho-somatic implications of this by Ang Lee; he must have researched this very well before using it!
Even though this is a great movie, i would have liked to have seen a drama series, where the backgrounds of the different family members could have been more developed so that we could feel more empathy for them! It would have also answered some of the unanswered question that Ang Lee never took care of!
The music was sublime and the cinematography, being a Ang Lee movie, was just perfect for the what was said and done, with the sets of the movie other than Mr. Chu's house, the primary location the entire time, being appropriate and sufficient for making the movie seem real.
All the main and support cast did an excellent job of portraying their individual roles and adding to the realism of this Ang Lee movie!
Special kudos to Madame Liang (Gui Ya Lei) who added a special comical relief where placed by Ang Lee; I especially loved her reaction to Mr. Chu's special announcement at the last meal attended by all of the daughters and their families in the movie!
This and the other movies in this trilogy are available online for free; and each movie may be viewed as an individual movie without watching the entire three-movie set.
The three-volumes set is also available to watch together in one location if you look hard enough online.
This is a full box of Kleenex movie: half for your tears at the sad parts and the other half to stuff in your mouth during the other scenes, like during the last meal announcement with all the family present; you may disturb your neighbors if you don't by laughing too loud!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely, especially if you are an optimist on life!
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The Master was a failure on multiple fronts. The acting both from the Asian cast and the American cast was atrocious. Yuen's performance was at least interesting. Jet Li's try at comedy fell flat and I'll never understand why they kept that Timmy Turner baseball hat glued to his head during his fights. The American cast was at a high school play level at best.
The production values were bottom of the barrel. You could even see the mats in one shot where they were supposed to fall. Tsui Hark, the director, probably wishes he could take this one back.
The side characters were a mixed bag. There was a possible romance with a banker, Crystal Kwok, but she seemed way more into Jet Li's character than he was into hers. Three Latino gangsters became his unwanted disciples. And Yuen Wah had a blonde gymnast as one of his few remaining students. Most of these characters were around for comic relief and I use that term lightly.
The fights were okay, but not terribly inspired. Jet Li injured his wrist in filming which meant they had to work around it for the final fight scenes. Jerry Trimble and Jet Li made good sparring partners and at least there was some effort near the end to make the fights more exciting even if the sets were basic. Yuen Wah had some fun moments near the climax as well.
I hate to write disparaging comments about this movie because I had looked forward to watching Jet li and Yuen Wah in a movie together. With a heavy heart I have to write that it was painful to get through with only a few brief, entertaining moments. There is a reason this 1989 movie set on the shelf until 1992 after the release and success of Jet Li's and Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China. If you are a fan of Jet Li it might be worth watching this earlier, pre-fame movie where the wirework was minimal. Just keep your expectations low.
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This review may contain spoilers
Part 2 of Director Ang Lee trilogy on "Father Knows Best"
Director Lee’s trilogy ("Father Knows Best") in bringing together family members to create tension and tender comedic moments shine in this trio of PUSHING HANDS (1991), THE WEDDING BANQUET (1993). and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).
I knew that this movie was going to be at least 'good' movie when i saw the part where Wai Tung Gao (Winston Chao) and Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0509033/ ), his gay lover made up the "requirements " for his future wife that was sent to Tung Gao's mother Mrs. Gao (Gui Ya Lei) and I knew it was going to be a"great" movie when his mother comes back in the next scene finding a female that met the two lovers' "outrageous" requirements of a potential wife!
As i said in the review of "Pushing Hands" review, Ang Lee has a tendency of throwing you a "twist" near his movie's end when you think you have the movie figured out already. However, this movie has TWO "twists" in it, but I am not telling you what they are!
Trust me, both of the remaining part of this trilogy (including this one) are no exception as far as plot twists!
The main characters are great at making you believe that they are actually living the life of their characters in this movie; and the support cast is also very good and believable, including Mrs. Gao and her husband Mr. Gao (Lung Sihung from "Pushing Hands"). I especially like Mr. Gao's playing 'dumb' in this movie; believe me, he isn't!
The parents actually find out what is actually taking place; as most parents usually do!
The rest of the support cast are also believable in their roles, lending their support for making the main cast seem more legitimate.
The music is not overbearing and helps set the mood at various places in the movie. The cinematography is also very good in this movie.
I like the two male leads in their attempt to fool Tung Gao's parents, and I just LOVE the parents actually showing that they were not born yesterday!
Wei Wei (Kao Chin Su-mei /Chin Su-mei/May Chin/Ciwas) put on a great performance as the love-struck renter and bride of Tung Gao; too bad she retired from acting and became a politician. She is part of the "twists" of Ang Lee's direction in this movie as well!
This movie may be watched as a separate movie or as a part of Ang Lee's trilogy; either way, it is a great movie that should make Ang Lee proud for decades to come!
It is available for free online.
RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely!
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Great film with weaknesses
This movie has everything I love – Zombies and tragedy.Sadly, it didn't meet my expectations for a good Zombie film, it relies heavily on the watcher's wishes and emotional needs instead of trying to be as true to the genre as possible.
Effects, make-up, direction and acting are splendid, there are some very emotional moments that might bring tears to one's eyes, but it gets dragged down by bad characterisation and conveniences.
Most of the cast behaves extremely irrational, the mistakes they make are unrealistic and too many of them play the hero to save complete strangers, the characters that do survive, are those that would have been one of the first to die if the movie had put some effort into being realistic, not idealistic.
On top of that, it's inconsistent with its own rules, they change whenever it fits the narrative, characters forget them to drive the story forward and create drama, then remember them just to do something heroic or give someone a happy end.
If you don't mind all of this, then the film is definitely up there with some of the best Zombie movies.
It has what is needed to make a compelling watch; decent action scenes, fast Zombies, tragedy, and first-class direction, with actors that are both convincing as the characters they play and more than enough talent to lift the movie out of the mediocre mess we got over the past 10 years.
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This review may contain spoilers
Part 1 of Director Ang Lee trilogy on "Father Knows Best"
Director Lee’s trilogy ("Father Knows Best") in bringing together family members to create tension and tender comedic moments shine in this trio of Pushing Hands (1991), The Wedding Banquet (1993). and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).The movie begins with senior Mr Chu (Lung Sihung, who is in all three of this trilogy) trying to pass his day without getting in the way of his daughter-in-law Martha Chu (Deb Snyder, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0811438/), who is suffering physical and psychiatric problems after her father-in-law has lived with her and her husband/his son Alex Chu (Wang Bo Zhao) for only a month.
Neither senior Mr. Chu or Mrs. Chu are really trying to do anymore than "tolerate" each other. Mrs. Chu doesn't eat right and she cannot tolerate his Chinese traditional movies, and senior Mr. Chu spends his time "Pushing Hands" Tai Chi and watching traditional Chinese movies without headphones and getting on his daughter-in-law's nerves, causing her writer's bloc on her second book.
Junior Mr. Chu is stuck in the middle, trying to see both of his loved one's viewpoint but doesn't have the time to do any more than 'referee' his Significant Others' relationship with each other; he has worked hard in college and also now in his job to provide for his family and to bring his father (senior Chu) to America after years of his father's working hard to get him, his son, through college. He believes in his filial piety of caring for his father in his father's old age.
Caught in the middle of the adults' love-hate triangle is senior Mr. Chu's grandson, Jeremy Chu (Haan Lee) who only sees glimpses of the three adults interacting in the afternoon after school and on weekends. He misunderstands his grandfather's diagnosing people with his ancient Chinese techniques, thinking he is hurting them instead.
A couple of unrelated incidents causes Mr. Chen to try to set his father up with another older Chinese lady, who escaped to Taiwan with her former husband after the Communist takeover of the mainland.
Mr. Chu, realizing his effect on his son's household, takes off for NYC and gets a job and small apt here. I will let you find out what happens next when you watch the movie.
I love this movie since Ang Lee likes to place "twists" near the end of his movies, changing everything around; you know nothing about what is going to happen until director Ang Lee pulls his switch-a-roo on you!\
The main characters are believable in their roles, especially junior Mr. Chu, who becomes more troubled as his wife and father continue to butt heads together every day.
Support characters also pass themselves off as competent, adding depth to the developing main characters as they interact with them in this movie. Special mention should be made of the main female support actress, Wang Lai, who appears as Mrs. Chen a widowed cooking instructor at the Chinese neighbor center and 'wiggles' her cooking class into sharing the gym where senior Mr. Chu's Tai Chi classes are being held!
I had already seen the last two parts of this 3-part series and both of them have plot twists near the end: Ang Lee did not fail me here,, as this movie also has a plot twist that changes everything you thought you knew about what might happen next!
The music is really good, being used as a segway in some places; also, the cinematography is great as well: you find yourself in a world by and for Chinese expats where young professional Chinese are able to live the American way but still hold on to many of the traditional Chinese values that they want their children to obtain and imparted by their older relative expats.
My only complaint is that it would had been a '10' movie had Mr. Lee had invested in more time (ie, longer movie) telling us about the main characters, letting us see why certain things happened the way they did.
All in all, I recommend all three of these movies if you ever have time, love family movies or love plot twists near the end!
I have already watched other films by Ang Lee, including the last two of this trilogy an others; I just wasn't aware of his being their director or how talented his directing was!
This movie may be watched as a separate movie or as a part of Ang Lee's trilogy; either way, it is a great movie that should make Ang Lee proud for decades to come!
It is available for free online.
Re-WATCH VALUE: Definitely!
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A Fun Romantic Movie with a Questionable Premise
This is a great movie, in almost every sense, except for one: It's a little bit... not okay? It's really hard to form an opinion about it, because the show itself is sweet and lighthearted, but the premise is glorifying borderline pedophilia. And, so, in order to rectify these two vastly different ways to judge the show, I'll split my review into two separate sections, and you can make up your mind for yourself what you deem more important. We'll start with a typical critique of the show.Which is, by itself, truly outstanding. A unique plot structure, fantastic writing, and frankly some of the best chemistry between leads I've ever seen in acting make the show a blast to watch. And, while the conflict does arise directly from the actions of the protagonist (which is usually not the most fun to watch), this plot device is believable (she is, after all, a teenager), and doesn't press so much on the story or the character that it makes you dislike her. And, somewhat most unbelievably, the show steers clear nearly entirely of the typical romance misunderstandings that drive most romcom plots at some point or another. Likely thanks to its shorter (movie) format, they've been able to cut off the fat and filler of an already good show and make it that much better. Also- and this is not something I've ever noticed before- the audio quality was great! The male lead shouted in one scene and I jumped because I could've sworn he was in the room with me. The only downside I saw production wise was a little bit of rushing between plot points to fit the entire story in, but I didn't mind all that much and it kept us moving quickly.
Alright, so with that out of the way, let's break down this whole "she's only fifteen" issue. Um... well, I mean, that's pretty much the main issue. I didn't catch them saying explicitly in the film what the male lead's age was, and I'm no expert on Korean law, but from my research Koreans start college and are allowed to drink from age 20 (international age 19). However, the male lead also is starting an internship as a teacher, which you'd expect to happen in the later years of college, so we can assume he's around 22 or older. So let's assume, for arguments sake, that he's around 22 and she's confirmed to be 15. Yikes. That's not quite okay. It's on the border of legality in many places, and on the border of morality in some of those, but generally I'd call that a yikes.
So... what? Is a product of its time? Is it cultural difference? Are the writers pedophiles? I seriously (yet optimistically) doubt the last one, but I think it's safe to say that it's problematic now. Nevertheless, as you can probably tell, I've rated the show mostly based on production quality and enjoyment, which in the end was quite good. After all, it's no fault of the actors and production staff what the writers, directors, and producers of the show get up to. However, I still think it's probably not a good idea to make anything like this in the future, especially if it has a chance of attracting an audience and making people think it's okay.
So, should you watch it? Well, regardless of the uncomfortable age gap, there's never really any sexual tension (thank god) and the flirting comes across more like banter between friends, so I don't think you'll be super uncomfortable (unless you're sensitive to this topic), and the movie itself is well made. So... I guess I would recommend this movie... but I'm not happy about it. And you should watch it, enjoy, and not be happy about it as well.
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"In the end, all you have is family."
Red Family, a film about a "family" of North Korean assassins living in South Korea feels dated in some ways, but timely in the never-ending question about what makes up a family.The Assassin Family lived next door to the South Korean Sitcom Family. The Assassins blended in seamlessly in public but in private were stiff and formal, with the "Mom" who was their team leader constantly barking orders and threatening them. The Sitcomers were wasteful, always ended up in comic situations, and were constantly yelling at each other. Yet somehow, this comically imperfect family forever tainted The Assassins, causing them to question themselves and their mission.
The Assassins also had families back home, families who could be jailed or executed if The Assassins failed in their missions. Little by little, The Assassins began to develop into a real family who cared about each other which was a threat to their mission according to their superiors.
Also discussed was the split family of Korea divided into North and South, and the forces that kept the family apart.
The highlight of this film for me were the teenagers, the Assassin daughter and the Sitcom son. They were cute as they began to bond and form a friendship. I also enjoyed Assassin Grandpa and Sitcom Grandma having a few light moments.
The low points were the moms. Sitcom Mom was always screaming and berating her husband for not making enough money. If all South Koreans were this loud and obnoxious, I'd have headed north myself to get away from them. And even though The Assassins could hear much of what was said next door yet Assassin Mom's voice was always set on screech. The people down the block had to have known that they were North Korean assassins.
At the start of the movie, the Red Family seemed mostly one dimensional. Layer by layer, the rigid exteriors were peeled away to show more of what made each Assassin unique and the fears they had for their families back home. It would have been nice if the film had delved into the internal conflicts they might have had over having so much food available and being in a place where people could speak their minds without fear.
The premise was also a little shaky. The Assassin Family had taken out dozens of defectors to the south, and with all the other spy teams at work, it seems someone would have noticed if hundreds of defectors had been murdered over the last few decades.
Overall, I found the movie entertaining, if predictable. The juxtaposition of the two families with conflicting realities, the Assassins' stress of having to be ever vigilant for fear of being caught by the authorities or condemned by those monitoring them, and their evolution into something more than they were trained to be made for a flawed but compelling story.
26 January 2022
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Holy smokes, this turned out to be so much darker than I expected, especially the friends' past. But I loved that the message - if you can call it that - here was that nobody was irredeemable, that everyone could find their way back to the light and be forgiven. And this group? They came out of it so much stronger because after all the betrayals and lies, not one of them was innocent and so no one dared to judge. And that made their bonds and trust so much deeper and real.I loved that the movie focused mainly on Yuichi and Tenji, on how they repaired their friendship and trust. That was simply amazing. But also, Yuichi was really, really, REALLY scary. The lengths he was willing to go win the game - when he broke his own fingers, I was honestly left gaping! - but at the same time, I was touched by how deeply he cared for Tenji, how worried he was about him when he realized that Tenji really was worthy of his trust and that it might actually kill him. And then the other way around, when Tenji found out the truth about Yuichi, that Yuichi was sold to child traffickers and abused as a kid, that he murdered 3 people in a cold blood and also let his stepmother die, and yet, Tenji did not abandon him, no, just the opposite, he stood up for Yuichi and defended him... GAH!
So many twists and turns! And so unexpected! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, the movie laughed in my face! Gosh.
One thing that bothered me a bit was that they did not manage to take down the Friendship Game, after all. But I guess, they had to choose between the data and friendship and they chose friendship. And since it was left open-ended...
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Good Enough
Chinese Mini Movie "Wuliang" is a short fantasy film that manages to squize in just half an hour a new fantasy storyline, present the characters and give them a journey quest together.The drama has a pretty interesting fantasy element which would have been better presented in a longer movie or even a series. Still, the CGI were good, the costumes perfect and the setting just right for the story.
The performances were pretty intense as well, and well handled. The main leads did a great job with their characters and displayed a plethora of emotions.
However, the ending was a bit just meh compared to the rest of the movie and kind of cringey. However, the rest of the movie was spot on.
So, overall, 7 out of 10.
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Korean high school life...
For me, the BL aspect is not what's the most important in this film, even if it's in the center of the action.What I appreciated is the realistic depiction of the highschool life. In an all boys school, the violence is omnipresent between students but also from the teachers. Bulling is simply ignored so one has to do with it or find something to divert the attention to something else.
Actors are not polished at all, at times the environment / ambiance is shady, almost sordid.
This is not your fluffy BL drama but rather a slice of real life (almost like a slap for me) and it basically shows what a gay person may have to endure in the Korean society. This was filmed in 2014 so I jus hope society evolved since then.
But - it's rather well executed, the young actors played wl and were credible. I would probably have appreciated a glimpse of their future. The ending imo doesn't give real closure to the story.
If you hesitate and are not afraid of some violence, go for it.
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Cautious reflections from Thai filmmakers // Diplomatic prequel to Call It What You Want
The documentary offers 20 minutes of intelligent, cautious reflections from several Thai filmmakers, who work with BL projects, apart from directing "normal" series, films, ads. The biggest input is from the director of this documentary, who appears genuinly thinking out loud, without delving into what the BL community would like or expect or hate to hear. Is it intended for the BL fan community at all? Not necessarily. An introduction to the BL genre for everyone else? Not sure. The filmmakers' cautious public reflection on BL series from a subtle, ambivalent, yet somewhat sympathetic viewpoint on the genre, which - it's not stated directly, but palpable - is treated as inferior within the Thai filming industry? Most likely.If you, like me, prefer to just watch BL, without following the social media backstage of the BL industry with its dramas and gossips, this documentary is not too hot, not too cold: politely and superficially it covers many topics, without uncovering anything disturbing too deeply (occasional BL tendency to romanticize and normalize sexual assault is disturbing even being mentioned briefly).
Some observations from the documentary which were of interest for me as an international (non-Asian) viewer:
1) In the Thai soaps industry, BL series are apparently referred to as yaoi series. I'm not an expert in both yaoi and BL, but I thought they are different. What gives BL a much broader appeal, is a happy end becoming the norm. BL is expected to be a feel good story. It wasn't the case with a gloomy, sad yaoi. Thus, even though Thailand is internationally regarded as the kingdom of BL, the local filming industry apparently prefers to see it as a foreign, yaoi-inspired phenomenon?
2) Some of Thai filming crew could openly express their aversion while filming a kissing scene between male actors in BL. A glimpse into a bitter reality behind an idealized acceptance attitude in the average BL.
3) Thai BL productions experienced a rise in demand after the pandemic. Seems understandable. The director noted BL is all about a highly idealized unrealistic romance between men, often adopted from stories written by women, for women. People must be eager to escape to a perfect fantasy world at the time of the unprecedented pandemic restrictions. Also, Thai BL series reportedly attract many advertisers. Good to know for the international audience, it means the genre is viable and thriving, more BLs to come. For me, it's amazing that BL stories are perceived more or less similar all over the world, while the advertisements they feature seem to be much more representative of the local culture.
4) The documentary's featuring a Thai LGBT group probably makes a case for BL being an ally or representation of the real people with a real cause. But, I wonder, being mostly a straight women's fantasy, aimed for female audience, how could BL be representative of real men's experiences? If I got it right, two of the featured directors actually think it could be eventually possible, either because it doesn't matter what label is applied to the relationship between two people in love (Call It What You Want) or by gradually challenging and changing the unrealistic or dated patriarchal BL tropes and clichés from within (Bad Buddy).
5) The fans who contributed to the documentary created an impression of a more mature, level-headed audience than the vibe from the average BL social media discussion in English.
As for actors, the director expresses his concern for the restrictions these fan-shipped BL actors face in real life. Surely, it puts tonns of extra pressure, but it seems like every social media personality nowadays walks on thin ice when it comes to what they say, post, endorse; or what their fans do. Some of the restrictions, specific for fan-shipped BL actors are mentioned in detail in the director's 2021 series, Call It What You Want. It seems like in the fictional settings Thai BL series and films tend to be more openly reflective, ironical and sarcastic about different questionable aspects of the BL subculture than in a documentary framework.
6) If same-sex marriages were legal in Thailand, BL wouldn't be so popular? I couldn't know, but not sure about this opinion from the documentary. If BL is driven by straight women shipping straight or undisclosed male characters in fiction and in reality, it could be not related to the legal status of same-sex relationships in reality. Is BL not popular in Taiwan or in the West?
At the end of the day, one should be able to sleep well after having watched the documentary (if they are not into reading between the lines). And maybe the filmmaker feels towards the BL genre a little bit more sympathetic than the title implies, and probably out of this good intention the documentary prefers the topic to fly safely under the public scrutiny radar. Or maybe not. The documentary has an open ending, viewers are invited to think on their own.
My takeaway from the documentary and the subsequent series, CIWYW, is that I liked this attempt to look at the BL genre from a wider perspective, as they say in English, to think outside the box. Not being engaged in this (vicious?) circle of passionate shipping fans, blurring lines between fiction and reality; the industry management, tapping into the fans' expectations and flirting with them in order to monetize their addiction; this artificial BL genre, which originally doesn't reflect real men's experience, but mostly catered for straight women fantasy of an ideal romance between mostly straight men who happen to fall in love with each other, out of any realistic proportion, - and this is thought to represent the LGBT people for some reason; clichéd BL plots, depicting innocent romantic nonsense, stereotypical roles, derived from patriarchal experience of the past or sometimes disturbing sexual violence; all acted out by young actors, trying to make it in the industry, whatever it takes.
With all this mess in mind, known even without this documentary or the subsequent series, I like the simple reminder that there's a life besides BL. And will probably stay divided on BL as before watching it. Deep down, I would like to believe that BL is a feel good idealistic story, giving voice and public support to the universal idea of a more inclusive society, but this genre brings in its own inherent restrictions and divisions, capable of exploitation and misrepresentation of real people. All in all, I second one the previous reviewers, respect to the documentary for starting a public discussion on this subject, which many people all over the world are passionate about.
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