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Hot Boy Noi Loan (Vietnamese) [Lost In Paradise]

My first Vietnamese gay film and I must say it wasn't bad at all. I will have to look into my collection to see if there are more of gay films from this country. It had very interesting 2 semi-parallel stories which shows how individuals can get lost in the par aside of a big city. A relative persuasive story line and a believable ending makes this film worth a watch.

Khoi, a 20 year old guy moves to the big city with dreams in his eyes. Dong, an attractive young man befriends him to share his apartment with him when he sees Khoi looking for a place. Khoi meets Lam when he goes to check out the place. Dong and Lam turn out to be boyfriends, prostates and crooks, who won and steal all of Khoi's money and clothes. Not too later, Dong also dumps Lam. Lam starts working as a prostitute again on the streets till he once again sees Khoi and brings him home with him. The two become very close and eventually becomes lovers. Khoi constantly wants Lam to leave his job because it scares him but destiny has something else in store for these 2 men. Also in parallel we have the story of  mute, slightly mental middle aged guy. he is lonely and somehow attracted to a female aging prostitute. We also see how he ultimately gets fascinated by a duckling, who eventually becomes his only friend. Finally the duck brings the guy and the prostate together.

Although the movie was emotional and I was able to connect to the movie, I really failed to understand the need for 2 parallel tracks. It would have made sense if somehow the two tracks were connected, but they were not. Also, the editing was a little off. Sometimes, one track would go on for a long time, that you would completely forget about the first story which IMO was very confusing. I don't mean that either of the tracks were bad but overall either the screenplay or the editing definitely needed some modification. Actors did a good job in their respective roles. As a young Lam, who has completely given himself to destiny, we see and feel his pain. We also feel the emptiness and harsh life that the youngsters had and still have to go through sometimes. I wished the ending was happier but then I think the way Lam's character was built, something bad had to eventually happen to him.

I will now be looking for a few more Asian gay movies. Time pass. (5.5/10)

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