So, about a decade ago, there were these five movies that made up the whole Takumi-kun series. Now, the creators have come back with a six-episode show, with each part running about 25 minutes. I'm guessing they wanted to introduce a newer generation of BL fans to this world, but honestly, it backfired. The whole thing feels incredibly dated, like it’s completely out of touch with how modern BL shows are made today. Between a cast that’s way too crowded and a mountain of different couples to keep track of, the storytelling is just a total train wreck that doesn't make a lick of sense. The whole thing takes place at an all-boys boarding school. You’ve got Gii, who just moved back from the States and is the son of a super wealthy CEO, and he's roommates with Takumi. Right from the very first episode, Gii is basically obsessed, taking every chance he gets to shout his feelings from the rooftops. Takumi is really shy and has no clue how to handle all that heat, so he just doe...
In 1931, Eisenstein, famous Russian director, drove from California to Guadajuato, after two years of unsuccessfully trying to get a production started in Hollywood. Eisenstein in a clownish and an eccentric man who gets very fascinated by the country and finds too much similarities and differences between his motherland and Mexico. Canedo, is a handsome academician who has been assigned to the director to show him around and be his companion. The director who came to shoot his dream ‘Que viva Mexico’ ends up shooting almost 250 miles of the film , never to get to edit it, but in the process gets too diverted by exploring his own sexuality, his love that he will soon find out for Canedo. The primary focus of this film is to show the intensity and chemistry between the two leads, how Eisenstien comes to terms with losing his virginity and embrace who he is himself and possibly explore love.
The film is grand and is filmed in a very theatrical, over the top large frameworks, with large monologues but actually thats the kind of setting that is needed for such a film. Setting the facts outright, I may not have liked the film but I can totally feel the passion of the makers behind this film. This film, if for nothing, will definitely be remembered for shelling elaborate scene where Eisenstien loses his virginity to Canedo. A very graphic yet poetic scene, this forms the crux of the relationship evolving between the two men. Apparently it was this sexual encounter in Mexico that defined the kinds of films that Eisenstein used to make and will end of making after returning back from Mexico. My interest in the film failed very early on, because I just couldn’t connect with anything significant happening. The two men would walk around various parts of the city, or sit naked in the hotel room talking about all kinds of things, which for some may add to the story but for me it did not. Other characters would just come and go without adding anything significant. Performance wise, I think the actor playing the lead role does a very very good job.
I can see the film doing rounds of gay festival circuits with such in your face nudity and sex-scene and getting popular but I highly doubt that will this film ever find any appreciation outside this circle. (3/10)
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