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...
Pitch is a young man who is a skilled craftsman in making baisri, elaborate, multi-tiered floral ornaments made from jasmine and banana leaves. He has cancer and after trying for therapy in Bangkok and also herbal way, he has now moved back to his village. His belief is that overtime he makes baisri, he gets better. He meets his old love Shane, a rural farmer and they reconnect. Shane was married but when his girl was killed by a python, he started drinking heavily and his wife left. The two men rekindle their love and however hard they try, they cant escape death. Shane wows to become monk, hoping that maybe that will help Pitch. Destiny has something else in store. Pitch passes away and Shane is now a practicing monk. We then follow him as he treks into forests to practice meditation.The ending is a bit vague after Shane feels that he has finally one last time reconnected with Pitch via meditation on a rotting corpse.
The first half of the film is magic. It needs patience. The film moves really slow but the magical designs of the baisri are to die for. Those floral arrangements are so intricate and delicate, it just mesmerizes you. The film is about love and a bit the suffering of love. The guys being gay is never an issue, more because no one knows about them. But this is about love embracing death. Its through mention of witches, rotting corpses, python and Pitch's death scares that we see different pretexts of death. As an actor Shane does an amazing amazing job. His character is a man haunted by death; not his own, but of those he loves (first daughter and then lover). He walks around with a weight on his shoulders, unable to comprehend the harsh truth of life, that we all sometimes wish was eternal. The second half gets a little too slow and preachy for my taste and I wish it was either trimmed down or something more substantial had happened. The high that the first half created was let down for me in second half. The story has been handled with grace and warmth and a gentle yet reassuring touch about life and death. The film , in my opinion, has a lot of metaphors , which unfortunately, I am not smart enough to comprehend but I can totally see how and why some movie critics would go gaga over the film. No wonder this was Thailand's official nomination for oscars as well.
If the pace of the film was better, especially in second half, I would have rated this film very high. But still how does on deal with their own imminent death and how does the loved ones deal with it after you are gone, is something that gets a new meaning with this really profound, heart-touching gay love story. (6.5/10)
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