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...
Geraud is a young film maker who is visiting a small town that is showcasing his film “My Life with James Dean”. His phone gets stolen by a kid as soon as he leaves the bus. Although his hotel reservation is done, it turns out that there is absolutely no promotion or word about his movie being played in the local cinema on that night. When Geraud visits the cinema, the young projectionist Balthazar agrees to play his film and in fact watches the whole film and loves it. Geraud is anxious about feedback for his film but at the same time, something is also going on with his boyfriend (they are breaking up). Balthazar falls madly in love with Geraud after seeing the film and pursues him with directness and honesty. During this festival screenings, Geraud and Balthazar meet interesting mix of people including the hotel receptionist, the festival facilitator dealing with her own issues and Balthazar's family. Eventually, Geraud breaks up with his boyfriend, after finding out he has a wife. Balthazar is finally able to convince Geraud of his love for him and they both leave the town.
After researching on internet, I found that the film was shot in Normandy seaside village which adds a very nice rustic charm to the whole film. In fact, this town got added in my must visit list of places. Geraud, the actor had this very attractive charm about him and you can see why everyone who meets him would get attracted to him. And Balthazar has this very sweet and cute puppy love for him. The scene when he calls Geraud's boyfriend asking him to stay away form him is so cute, a sign of pure innocent love. Combined with drunken evenings with locals, mixed reaction to his film, dealing with his break-up and a young boy madly in love with him, Geraud's life has a roller-coaster ride throughout his stay in the village. The direction was actually quite intelligent, because throughout the film you would see a young man with a bagpack showing up in most scenes but its not till the end that he adds any significance to the film. On not a positive side, there are way too many parallel tracks happening and as an audience its difficult to connect with any single one of them. Also it wasn't very clear at the end whether Balthazar was really underage or not really. As per the film, it was irrelevant because the two men loved each other? I am not too sure about this aspect.
The film is sort of an old school gay light fun film which most people should enjoy. The 2 scenes where 4-5 people are following each other cracked me up. Keep your expectations minimal and this film is a small little fun ride. (6.5/10)
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