I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Entirely set among London's gay community in the mid-1980s against the background of the mounting AIDS crisis, My Night with Reg follows the ups and downs of a circle of homosexual friends over a period of several years. One of the group, the Reg mentioned in the title, is not a character in the play but the whole plot revolves around his apparent promiscuity and the chain reaction of deception and betrayal set off by it. The group, most of them in their thirties, meet at irregular intervals, often at Guy's place. Guy himself is a lonely man who has always had crush on John but never dared to tell him. He lives a solitary life, which he only spices up with phone sex. 18 year-old Eric, is helping him decorate his new flat. During the course of conversation we find that on one holiday he met a gay man who eventually forces himself on Guy and has unprotected sex with him. At his flatwarming party, he has just come back from his holiday. John comes to meet him and they talk. The most popular of the gay circle is Reg who has had a long-term relationship with Daniel, but Daniel himself suspects Reg of occasionally being unfaithful to him. The scene soon shifts to Act 2 where I believe Reg has died of AIDS and Guy is hosting the friends. In the course of the play, John, Benny and even his faithful companion Bernie confide in Guy of having had secret sex with Reg. It hurts Guy most to hear that John — whom he himself fancies — is having an affair with Reg, thus betraying their mutual friend Daniel. When the night ends, he asks Eric to stay back and give him company. The movie shifts to Act 3 where now John is living in Guy's apartment with Eric because ironically, the next one to die is Guy, who has not had sex with Reg. It is John who, somewhere in the flat, finds all kinds of memorabilia dating back to their student days and where Eric tells John how much Guy loved him. John has still not told Daniel about his year long affair with Reg even after his asking because he just could not bring himself to do that.
This was a beautifully written story which I can totally see myself enjoying on theatre. The concept and acting can do wonders for it. Everyone in this film was also pretty good. Thankfully even though it was pretty evident that the story was theatrical, the direction and acting was very cinema like which was good because when you watch a movie, you don't want to think of it as a play. Characters of Guy and Eric for me were most interesting. John was ok. Daniel was fun.
I would recommend this movie. Its an artsy kind but if you appreciate good cinema, you should like it. Just be patient with the accent and the slow pce of the film. It is game of words. (6/10)
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