This dark gritty Japanese BL is something I was not expecting. The story focuses on a Yakuza bodyguard assigned to kill his young boss. The premise sounds interesting but the execution was just weird. There were lot of problems with the show like violence, abuse, coercion and even forcing themselves sexually. Eventually it somewhere becomes. BL with some nonsense stuff. Thankfully the series was only 6 episodes of about 26-30 minutes each. Kataoka is a respected yakuza leader. His boss has grown old and frail, unable to manage the organization anymore. Leadership now falls to the boss's son, Keito. He assigns Odajima as Kataoka's new handler to keep him in check. Kataoka is impulsive and treats Odajima aslmost as a servant even forcing sex on him. But beneath the rough exterior, Kataoka occasionally reveals a gentler side. Odajima, on the other hand, is stoic and distant, keeping his emotions under tight control. What Kataoka doesn't know is that Odajima has a hidden agen...
Ok, this film i snot an easy film to watch. It can make you feel uncomfortable but that is because it feels so real. SO get so close to the characters that you feel their agony and pain. It is slow paced, really slow paced and that is what tested my patience. I think this movie is a classic case of I wish I had known what the film is about because I would have seen it with a different mindset and would probably have appreciated it more. Griffith longs to leave the red dirt farm he shares with his aunt because he is fed up of her aunt and her penchant for fits of nerves and listening to opera music. Even the sexual relationship he is carrying on with his female cousin no longer fills his void. Shortly after the young man posts a "For Rent" sign for a adjoining guest house on the property, a drifter Lee comes along and moves in. Having no male figures in his life, Griffith quickly forms a friendship with Lee. Lee is a free-spirited man who has uprooted his own life in order to find the very things that Griffith yearns for. This commonality allows the two men to become best friends. Soon, the two men talk about leaving the farm to explore the "world beyond the farm" together. His aunt is somewhat dismayed that her nephew would form such a close bond with the stranger so quickly, but she does not wish to hold him back. His cousin, on the other hand, is first to suspect that the young man's attraction toward the stranger goes beyond that of "best friends." When she brings this to his attention, he is just as shocked and dismayed and unable to accept that he could be in love with another man. Griffith cannot find the courage to leave his aunt alone and does not join Lee who leaves the farm angry believing that Griffith has no guts. Griffith gets back to his routine boring normal life with his aunt when one fine day Lee comes back to apologize and confess his love. Griffith reciprocates but still cannot go with Lee because his responsibility towards his aunt is more stronger than his love.
This film, like I said is not for everyone. It is not really a gay film because there are no stereotypes in this. The characters are remarkably empathetic, and you somehow feel Griffith's pain. The line is blurred, however, between the "male bonding friendship" between the two men and homosexual love, a distinction the movie would have done well to explore. Performances from lead actors are all good. You totally get immersed with Griffith and his pain. Now that I think of the movie while writing this review, I actually understand better and maybe appreciate the film a little more. And the southern accent was also not the easiest to understand.
The movie is good, but not unless you're willing to invest some thought and even some heart. I unfortunately could not. (4/10)
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