Dong gong xi gong (Mandarin) [East Palace, West Palace]

Now This one is hard to classify as a genre. I will put it as an artsy film and maybe exploration of one self done in a very artistic way. Its definitely not a conventional movie.

A Lan is a gay man, rounded up in a park near the Forbidden City by Xiao Shi, a police officer. The plot involves A Lan's night-long interrogation, involving flashbacks of his hard life. A Lan clearly loves the police officer and I think the officer also through him wants to explore himself and identify his true feelings. Through a series of questions, A Lan talks about his childhood, his encounters with various men at the same time trying to tell Xiao Shi how much he loves him. The police officer shouts at him but is also very amused by whatever he was telling. After a while he lets him go but A Lan refuses to go. The officer then asks him to wear women's clothes. But that also does nothing. Xiao Shi is struggling a lot with himself, whether o 'cur' the gay man or to just give in for the love A Lan prophecies for him. They have a passionate kiss but the officer is still confused and he just walks out thinking. A Lan is happy that at least he was kissed by the man he loves very much.

This movie moves slowly and is only really interesting if you buy into this psychological premise. The title refers to the 2 parks which are famous for gay activities. The performances were ok but there were lot of questions as to why did A Lan tel all those stories about men beating him and having sex, whether that was for sympathy, love or excitement. Plus the film was also very slow at times. The pace could have been faster but I guess the intent was to keep it slow and let the viewers digest n every aspect.

Very different movie. Not for everyone. (3.5/10)

Comments

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

One Summer Night (Korean)

I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...

Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Search This Blog