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...
I dunno why but I had some kind of expectations form this film. Maybe because gay films from Spanish have historically been good. This film started off well and promising but after a while it was nothing short of wasting time to even finish this film. None of the character sketch was built properly and it just moved from one incident to the other, from one person to another, it was just odd.Jorge, a wannabe writer is flatmate with Marta who doesn't like labels. She just has sex with men or women or whoever she likes. Jorge is also struggling that is he a bisexual. He fears that suddenly he will have feelings for men and wants to do something about it. He meets his ex-girlfriend Eva who is now running a book store. Marta introduces him to Alberto, his gay colleague. Jorge and Alberto hit it off well. Alberto offers to help Jorge in his struggle but Jorge is not sure. They do end up sleeping with each other but just literally because Jorge is not good with his drinks. Then there is Ines, a religious healer who gets liking for Jorge and wants to get him in her bed. Marta meets Mario in one of the clubs and they instantly fall in love. All these people randomly keep meeting in various bars, clubs or parties for no rhyme or reason. When Marta moves in with Mario, she realizes that he is too much of a drug addict and an abuser and she can't take it anymore. Also Alberto is suddenly now diagnosed with AIDS and he has few days to live. Film ends with everyone celebrating his birthday.
This film leaves viewers with so many questions. Why were Jorge and Marta never a couple when they liked each other so much. It a little weird to see both of them walking around naked in the house. It is different if Jorge was gay, which brings me to another question. Why does eevrytone think Jorge is gay and what is this weird obsession with 'I might turn gay'. It just doesn't make any sense. Ines and Eva's character were so useless (and so were others). Film could have been so much better with good focus on Marta, Jorge and Alberto rather than making a hocus-pocus out of various characters. And when an AIDS subplot made an appearance in the plot line I pretty much lost interest in this film.
This is not a film that I envision ever wanting to view a second time. (3/10)
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