This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
The story is about 2 boys, both incidentally named Mitsuo. By flashbacks, we realize that in school one was a bully and other other bullied and eventually they got into a master/slave kind of a relationship where the bully Mitsuo would insult him on every possibility. In fact he even takes the virginity of bullied Mitsuo just to show him his place. The film starts with present time when bullied Mitsuo gets a call after many years from bully Mitsuo informing him that he has killed a girl and wants his help. The bullied guy is calm, composed and doing well for himself where the bully is more rampant, aggressive and doesn't think through. Through careful thinking, they bury the girl, and bullied Mitsuo kisses the other guy very passionately. A cop starts following these 2 guys when the news comes out but turns out the girl was alive and was bully Mitsuo's girlfriend. Our bullied guy sleeps with her to take revenge and eventually the two guys get into a physical relationship. We are also told that bully Mitsuo works for a dreaded gangster (there is some homoeroticism there as well). He wants out but he can't. Mitsuo tries to help but instead gets entangled himself. The two try to get rid of gangsters after them and also the cop. Impulsive Mitsuo ends up killing a cop and in a separate incident get badly beaten and raped and tortured by the gang. In an ending that I am not very sure how it happens, the duo manage to escape to Korea.
As I mentioned above, I was so confused in so many scenes. Whey does impulsive Mitsuo go to cops and confess of a murder and when they start investigating, he then tries to run and avoid them. And if the girl is actually alive, then why the whole drama by the police in the first place? To try to get closer to gangster? I am not sure. Mitsuo is just an errand boy for him. When does bullied Mitsuo start having feelings for the other. It randomly starts and is equally randomly reciprocated by him. It just comes out of nowhere, especially after the years of master/slave relationship that they have shared, as we get to know via flashbacks. Coming to that, there was really no reason for Mitsuo to agree to such an arrangement. Does that mean that he was always a submissive kind of guy and was actually looking for a master? I wish more focus was given to the overall story line rather than the random of events in the film, especially since the production values seem above average. Its not like they were in shortage of finance or anything.
The actors’ (both younger and the older version) performances are generally well done and the two sets of Mitsuo actors complement each other. But there is way too much confusion in the plot. It definitely needs rewriting and a more seamless flow of narrative. It was strictly ok. I wont really recommend it. (4.5/10)
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