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...
Released in 1973, this film can best be described as a staged documentary (neither fully feature film nor a full on documentary) that focuses on several years in the life of the British painter David Hockney. I am not an art connoisseur, so I have never heard of this artist and was looking forward to this. The name apparently is taken from one of the more famous paintings from the artist.
Hockney's lover was Peter, also the muse for most of his paintings. As described by many friends, Peter was gorgeous, almost like a Greek-God; so no wonder Hockney had such a liking for him. The film focuses more on the. breakup time between the two guys. The breakup has left David a wreck and he imagines scenes with Peter making love to another man. One day, he is hit by inspiration. Two images, one of a semi-nude male figure seemingly at the bottom of a pool, the other of a fully dressed man at pool’s edge, peering down. The resultant painting, “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” had up until recently held the record for the highest price paid for a work of art at an auction.
To be honest, I was not impressed by the film at all. Having read the synopsis, I was looking forward to it and wanted to like it, but there was absolutely nothing that caught my attention. Maybe its because of my lack of knowledge of the art scene but I doubt it. With its combinations of staged conversations and encounters and intimate documentary glimpses, is about is how a certain artist has to work. Except that after a certain point I really couldn't care less. I wanted to know how and why the painting was created but don't really get clear answers even for that. And I found myself having to fast forward a lot of scenes because they would just go and on. Why did we watch a female fashion show for 15 minutes? Why was the naked swimmer pressed up to the "window" while two others ate dinner? and more stuff like that. I don't understand much of art or this film/documentary for the same reason. The rating is my personal opinion on this. (1/10)
Hockney's lover was Peter, also the muse for most of his paintings. As described by many friends, Peter was gorgeous, almost like a Greek-God; so no wonder Hockney had such a liking for him. The film focuses more on the. breakup time between the two guys. The breakup has left David a wreck and he imagines scenes with Peter making love to another man. One day, he is hit by inspiration. Two images, one of a semi-nude male figure seemingly at the bottom of a pool, the other of a fully dressed man at pool’s edge, peering down. The resultant painting, “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” had up until recently held the record for the highest price paid for a work of art at an auction.
To be honest, I was not impressed by the film at all. Having read the synopsis, I was looking forward to it and wanted to like it, but there was absolutely nothing that caught my attention. Maybe its because of my lack of knowledge of the art scene but I doubt it. With its combinations of staged conversations and encounters and intimate documentary glimpses, is about is how a certain artist has to work. Except that after a certain point I really couldn't care less. I wanted to know how and why the painting was created but don't really get clear answers even for that. And I found myself having to fast forward a lot of scenes because they would just go and on. Why did we watch a female fashion show for 15 minutes? Why was the naked swimmer pressed up to the "window" while two others ate dinner? and more stuff like that. I don't understand much of art or this film/documentary for the same reason. The rating is my personal opinion on this. (1/10)

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