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...
What i liked best about this film that it was not your regular run-of-mill coming of age story. It was a film with maturity and a very authentic feel to it in which many of the scenes and the characters were handled. Till now it is very hard for me to say whether our lead character was bi, gay or even just straight. There are moments when you just fall in love with a person. There is no reason behind it, sometimes sex of the person doesn't even matter. You just feel a connection and this film tries to give us a portrayal of that.Jarle is a regular teenager, who is a part of a band with 2 of his good friends. He also has a girlfriend with whom he is very much in love with. Enter Yngve, a new student in the class and for some strange reason, Jarle gets instantly attracted to him. He wants to do everything that Yngve does, so much so that he starts missing his rock band practices and even starts avoiding his girlfriend. Till this point, Yngve has not given any hint that his either gay or interested in Jarle. Things take such a turn that Jarle has to now choose between Yngve and his friends. In a strange twist of events, Jarle bashes up Yngve yelling that he is gay. This happens right after he tells him that he loves him. Yngve cannot take this anymore and he tries to commit suicide and is now in a rehab institute. Jarle visits him after days of struggle and cannot contain himself when he sees him. The ending though not positive, shows that Jarle really cared for Yngve. You will never know whether he truly loved him or not. If he did, why could he never have the courage to do so.
An engaging and tender story, this film also shows the struggles with admitting true feelings when it comes to a same sex relationship. Jarle fears violent retribution from his father and emotional disapproval from his mother. I wish the movie had a little more to offer during the whole length of he film. There is so much that happens in the last 15 minutes, that I personally wish the film makers had spent more time on etching out those details of Yngve's and Jarle's relationship. I liked the friendship that Jarle shared with his straight friend. Unfortunately in these kind of stories, the girlfriend is always neglected. I feel, someone should make a film of what the girl goes through when she gets dumped by a guy for being gay.
My first Norwegian gay film but overall pretty impressive. It could have been a better if treated a little different, more streamlined beginning with maybe a positivie ending but still it is one of the better films that I have seen in recent times. (6.5/10)
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