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...
Finally I get to see a decent film after a series of trashy gay films. At least this film had a message, a theme, a meaning and emotions behind it. It was not just mish mash of hot men having random sex and trying to bring out some erratic story to big screen. This film tells us the real life story of Pedro, a young AIDs activist who lost his life to the disease at the age of 22.
Pedro, a young Latin guy is diagnosed with HIV at the age of 17. Instead of sulking, he makes a courageous decision to dedicate ret of his life speaking at various events, college etc about HIV and try to create awareness among people. In such a time, MTV asked him to feature in their reality show "The Real World", so that people can know the real Pedro. It i during this phase that he meets the love of his life whom he ends up marrying. Slowly Pedro's health start deteriorating and even before the show could go on air, he is hospitalized. WHile in hospital, he gets so popular for his work he is been doing that he actually gets a call from then President Clinton appreciating all the work he has done. The movie just then focuses on his family, his lover and how they all cope up with his declining health and his ultimate death on the same day as the last episode of the show was aired.
The acting by the lead characters was very good but the narration of the film became a little confusing at some point. They tried to realistically portray how reality TV is show but that actually was just adding to all the confusion. I think the film would have been more affective had they made it a documentary style with real life interviews of eople associated with Pedro's life. More ficus should also have given to all the work that he had done for the community rathr than just talking about it and showing merely his personal life. Acting wise I think there was good chemistry between all lead characters. My favorites were Pedro and his sister.
Watch it because it will make you aware of what not to do in life. (6.5/10)
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