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 simple (is it?). Captain Favila is the S3 officer in an exclusive school. Private Abel and Private Fujioka are both aspiring for Favila's prestigious position, with the power and popularity it brings. However, the one-on-one interrogations of Favila with the cadets took extremely unconventional detours for him to determine who among the two was the right candidate for the job. The cadet's every aspect is thoroughly scrutinized and humiliated physically, sexually, intellectually. The cadets are pushed to their limits and then a gentle hand from Favila leading to rape like sex.
I believe the film is based in 70s and has a very theatre like feel to it. Favila is in a position of authority and abuses his position accordingly; cadets squirm and twist under his command and can do little else in response. The question of morality is pointedly ignored by both cadet and superior, and much of the tension comes from maintaining that carefully cultivated act of evasion. I'd say this film is less of a gay film but is full on obsessed with homoeroticism with lot of bare chested shots with their faces so close to each other, sweating and sort of wrestling. Even though the setting was theatre lie, I must say, the acting by all three leads was very impressive. It didn't feel amateurish at all. In fact quite a bot of hard work must have gone since their roles demanded a lot of intensity. The seduction scenes are tense and very loaded. I have read online that this film has won many awards. I might be missing a lot of subtleties in the film, but I fail to see if I would recommend this film to watch. I still have very very mixed feelings about this one. (4/10)
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