The Time of Huan Nan (Taiwanese)

Do you have control over your own destiny, are you controlled by your fate, or are you a mere puppet in the hands of the gods? This is a question that this queer time-traveling film implicitly asks through its heartfelt melodrama. Whether it succeeds completely in passing on the emotions is a separate thing but with its gorgeous cinematography and some brilliant performances by the 4 leads, it does manage to keep you captivated an interested in the proceedings.

Chen Yao Hua, a young man works in the Huan Nan Market at the butcher stall run by his family. His father Bao Ding, has seemingly gone mad with despair for mysterious reasons.  Accidentally traveling through time back to 1991, he joins the younger version of his father and his two friends, soon forming with them a happy gang of close, intimate friends. The gang mistakes him for a missing high schooler and he now finds himself being friends with younger version of his father, a close friend Anjian and the only female member. HE finds out how Bao Ding and Anjian are deeply in love with each other while the female yearns for them. Chen Yao Hua starts to fall for her. Its 1991 and times and families are not asa accepting of gay love. So when the parents find out, it doesn't go too well and the bunch of four have to run away for their safety. They eventually get torn apart. They seek refuge in their female friend's house but Chen Yao finds himself back in present. What he doesn't know is how and where did Anjian go and why did his father go mad. He eventually finds the truth on how Anjian died while saving someone from drowning. The female friend, now older, reconnects with  Bao Ding and the son. IN present times, now that the son understand the pain that his father endured all these years, tries to connect with him more by doing things that Anjian would do.

This film explores the relationship between a gay father and son as adults, whereas other contemporary films mostly confined this to between a child and adult father. It is here that the time travel narrative makes the movie unique among other contemporary Taiwanese LGBTQ films. The story is at heart a beautiful call for tolerance and acceptance of difference and one’s true self, using drama, teen romance and humor to tackle its ambitious themes. At the same time, the film grapples with issues of self-determination, as these young people must confront the age-old decision of what to do with their lives. Stylish shot, the narrative of the film is bit clunky but its the acting of the four protagonists that largely carries the movie, with all of them oozing charisma, and having excellent chemistry with each other. From the way the protagonist travels through time, to his relationship to his aged father or the ease and rapidity with which he is adopted by his new friends, there is little even remotely believable or logical in the plot. But more than focusing in the story, if you focus on the style and visual beauty, this film could appeal even more to you. Some scenes have been shot beautifully. Bao Ding has been shown a God's man, so the scene when Bao Ding passionately intercedes with the gods in slow motion during a ceremony and his lover, Anjian, holds his waist from behind, and the scene remarkably manages to convey both a symbolic sexual intercourse and reverence for the gods, tradition and family. Overall, a nice beautifully shot different film which has its own gaps, but still a worthwhile watch. (6.5/10)