This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
Feng Yi Chen and Run Yi are medical students. Feng is the quiet type and Run Yi starts falling for him. They both separately run into each other at a gay party with Run Yi's best friends who happen to be a couple. About 8 of these guys are kidnapped and when they wake up, they find themselves locked up in a huge house. Soon they realize that a killer is on the loose (maybe amongst themselves) and 2 murders happen while more attempts are done. 2 new members come in home after 3 days. Soon it is revealed that an anti-homosexual organization ASAS is out there to kill gays and this is part of this. Apparently Feng Yi Chen is part of that organization and killing folks. There is a reference to a previous such party that may have happened where more gays were killed. Love for Run Yi wakes Feng Yi and he does the right thing and everyone escapes.
The story may not sound lame but almost everything about the execution was illogical and bad and almost laughable. How did the 2 new folks come into the house. Shouldn't they have helped the captured folks get out? And why did they come into the house in the first place? The boys spend almost 4-5 days there. Rather than being together, they prefer to be in groups of 2 in a room and just be by themselves. Where is the food coming from? There was unnecessary over drama for no reason at all and way too much talking. From the beginning of first episode, it seemed like the makers wanted to pay a tribute to the gay killings in US and middle-east but this seemed very insensitive. If they thought it was poetic or something, they are wrong.
This was a complete waste of my time and the money that was spent on making this series. Very disappointed. This is a story that didn't need to be told. (1.5/10)
Comments
Sorry to be rude to write such words: Chinese are not capable to make some decent movies in motherland. Outside their borders there are superb movie makers.
Farewell my concubine was also good, but long time since I saw that film.
I pointed out that Chinese " themed " films ( and soaps ) are fare away from the acceptance of homosexuality , quite the contrary !