Skip to main content

Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
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...
Post a Comment

Lilting (English/Mandarin) (UK)

By Golu
This film reminded me a lot about this Indian film ‘Memories of March’. I am not saying that the films are similar but I found that the basic premise was quite alike. It doesn’t take away the merits of this film. It is a poignant film and touches you at places. It’s not to say that it doesn’t have its shortfalls but given the duration of the film, its quite nice. A story of two people trying to prevail past not only with language gap, but also the intense privacy of their own grief, makes for an intense serious viewing.

Kai and Richard are long time lovers. Kai’s Cambodian-Chinese mother Junn is living in a London retirement home that she totally despises, because she feels lonely and also because she doesn’t speak ay English. Even more, she despises Kai’s “best friend” Richard because he came in the way of Junn moving in with Kai. Not so long ago, Kai died in an accident and both Richard and Junn are dealing with it. Hoping to connect with Junn, Richard pays her a visit but she makes her disliking for him quite apparent. Richard later comes with a friend Vann, fluent in Mandarin and English, as a translator to help Junn connect with a potential suitor Alan in the retirement home. But soon the dramatic engine kicks in as Vann begins translating longer, deeper and inevitably more painful conversations between Richard and Junn, quietly filling in the gaps for Junn about how her son lived while carefully withholding the true nature of Richard and Kai’s relationship. Both Richard and junk experience visions of Kai as a living breathing soul that stirs up their internal emotions. End may not be as exciting but we do see relationship improving between Richard and Junn and hopefully there will be a happy future for both of them.

The film is a very slow paced film and the way Richard and Junn deal with the grief is interesting. It shows us how it is not impossible to share true, meaningful moments with someone who cannot speak a word of your language. Although the Characters’ background stories are not very well established, the emotions are still vivid. While Junn is restrained, Richard does get his eyes wet on more than one occasion since he still cannot tell Junn the real honest truth about her son. The three-way bilingual conversations are paced and edited smoothly, with smart but not excessive reliance on subtitles. Richard is excellent in his role, but I felt Junn was a little too stiff. As a mother, I would have expected more reactions and emotions coming out from Junn. It’s Vann who surprisingly, in a supporting role, gives a great performance, who unwilling gets involved emotionally between the two protagonists while translating everything for them. Kai has limited role, but him and Richard make a great pair.

The movie is depressing, yet uplifting, but somehow I feel, it failed to reach its true potential. (6/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

By Golu
When I saw this series with 8 episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, I thought, good: Finally someone has come to senses and made a show which is not stretched out and they have tried to squeeze in a decent storyline in a good small episode format. But unfortunately, despite a decent premise on hand, the clunky writing, bad screenplay and an extreme tasteless portrayal of mental illness makes this show, not a fun watch. By the time it finishes, you just want to laugh off at the entire absurdity of it all. Aioun is talented tuxedo designer and very much in demand but he has handful of clients and he builds suits only for people who he feels a connection to. One night when his younger brother is about to get mugged, he is helped by a total stranger named Sichol. Since he tears his suit in the fight and has an interview the next day, Aioun gifts him a suit form his design as an expression of thanks. Sichol's interview is for. Personal assistant of a man named Nawee, a wealthy heir to h...
25 comments
Read more

Heartstopper: Season 2 (Web Series) (UK)

By Golu
Heartstopper Season 1 was a universal hit. You could not have read one bad review or heard from anyone who has seen the show not liking it. It was the kind of series that is easy to love, with sweetness exploding out of every scene without overwhelming you. So naturally, when Netflix greenly Season 2, expectations were naturally high and the same happened with me. I didn't know what to expect, but I had high expectations of this very very sweet teenage love story. And with eagerness and being a little late to the game by a few days, here I am, pouring my t thoughts down having just finished one of the most anticipated shows of the year. The second season also has 10 episodes and has all of our loved ones from the original season. The show continues from where it had left off in Season 1. Charlie and Nick are a couple and only their very close circle of friends know about it. This includes Charlie's best friend Tao and his trans best friend Elle. The center of the show is still ...
19 comments
Read more

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

By Golu
Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...
23 comments
Read more