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On The Sea (UK)

By Golu
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...
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Hui jia lu shang (Mandarin) [The Road Home]

By Golu
Is this really a queer film? Probably not! This film is more about self acceptance for being who you are, proud of being who you are and trying to do do the right thing. This is a story of a father who is torn between an unexpected love and the love and respect of his daughter.

Ah Ming lives with his daughter Xiao Feng but they have a troubled relationship where the daughter doesn't talk to her father at all. Turns out her mother left her when she was a baby and Ah Ming has been taking care of her even though he is not his biological father. One day she suddenly disappears and through police he finds out that she was seen in Taipei. Turns out that Xiao Feng went there to meet her online friend, another guy but the guy who shows up is an older man. When Ah Mind finds them both, the old guy is rushed to hospital and now Ah Ming and Xiao Feng are both interested in finding the truth behind that man. With Unearthing the truth about the old man, Ah Ming also needs to confront and tell the truth about himself and his gay lover to his daughter, who apparently has known all along. In their quest, the father and daughter grow closer and try to understand each other, facing their problems and Ming's secret together.

Even though the film was poignant and all about self acceptance and also love and family, a lot more exploration and attention needed to be given to the love story between Ah Ming and his guy. The subject was hardly touched upon only towards the end. Given that Ah Ming's sexuality is one of the major reason for the weird behavior by the daughter, it needed more focus. Also, the lover was so damn handsome, so I am quite unhappy by seeing him only barely for 2 minutes in this long movie. I wanted more of this couple. Secondly, what was the daughter's real issue? That was never addressed. Was she being bullied or something else? Why would she take her anger out at her father who was just trying to take care of him. I did like Ah Ming's friend character, The girl who secretly loves Ah Ming and wants to bewitch him but how things change when she realizes that Ah Ming is actually gay. Her character going through disbelief, anger, sadness and acceptance was allot more etched out than any of the other ones, the focus son whom should have been much more important. The acting was top notch from everyone thankfully. The secret angle of the older man who had a trans son and how he did not accept him was alright, but then why would he go around chatting online with young teenagers didn't make any sense!! So, essentially even though the film had soul and emotion , there were way too many loose ends and unexplained character behaviors which make it hard to comprehend for me. (4/10)
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