This indie film is a really powerful look at how a community can suffocate you and the hidden corners young people have to find just to be themselves in so many European towns, even with all the progress we've seen lately. The whole story plays out while the town is bracing for a massive, raging flood, and you just can't shake the feeling that some kind of intense reckoning or unavoidable doom is headed their way. To be honest, I didn't go in with super high expectations, but the way it’s put together makes it a seriously compelling watch. Plus, it’s not every day you get to see an LGBT-themed movie coming out of Croatia! The story follows Marko, a popular 18-year-old kid who seems to have it all—he’s got a girlfriend, he’s a competitive arm wrestler, and he’s well-liked at school. When he isn't in class, he’s usually hanging out with his brother, who has a disability, or helping his mom out in her greenhouse. Everything gets flipped upside down when a guy named Slaven ...
Red House is the gay district of Taipei and The Stone Bar is one of the famous gay bars. As expected, the gay life is very superficial and eventually what matters is what your body looks like and if you are hot. Lin, who runs a flower shop, recently lost his boyfriend. A new employee at Stone Bar Josh gives attention to Lin but he constantly keeps shying away. Lin, who wants to fully explore the gay world goes around literally sleeping with everyone and starts seeing Sean, a clothing store owner and gets into some threesome. Then we have the bar manager, who also tries to sleep around with older men to keep the money flowing. Eventually, in an accident a fire breaks out almost destroying Red House and Lin dies in it. And the film randomly ends, just like how it started.
The film is so confusing. You are introduced to character after character and are not sure whom to focus on. It is like going on a trip to the jungle without a road map, and even then, the potential to get lost is great. At first, it just feels like everyone is having sex with everyone and not much happens. A plot was just forcible inserted about the characters above in an otherwise just voyeuristic pleasures of Taipei gay district. Lacking both the maturity and the emotional depth, this film ends up dragging its own feet in a hopeless attempt to make some kind of point along its way. My only take-away from this movie is that gays do drugs, bad disco and sleep around with whomever and whatever is available and unless you are some guy with connections or money, you're pretty much hopeless. And we all know that is not the case. The film could have delved more into what’s really happening behind all those masks of party boys, too obsessively concerned with their own existence.
This was a waste of almost 2 hours of my life. There are too many loopholes. I would not recommend watching this, unless you just wanna be a viewer to random acts of drama, sex and drugs without making much overall sense out of anything. (3/10)
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