This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
Teiichiro is a doctor with a wife and two adult kids. We soon find out that he is having an affair with a university arts male student who also makes pottery names Umezawa. Incidentally the actors wife soon joins a pottery making class where this student is her teacher. One day when a murder happens near the doctor's clinic, a suspect is taken into custody, who also happens to be an ex-patient of the doctor. But the suspect claims that he was not near the murder site and instead he was in a different area where he had met the doctor who can be his alibi. It turns out that the said night of the murder, the doctor was indeed spending the night with Umezawa where this suspect had seen him. Fearing his secret will out, the doctor tells the cops that he was in his clinic that night and doesn't know what the suspect is saying. But soon, the guilt starts coning in. He tells everything to Umezawa but he is still sacred of coming out to the society about his affair. When Umezawa gets to know how happy the doctor's family really is, he decides to move away from his life, unless the doctor comes out of closet. But he would have none of it and in fit of rage, he ends up killing his lover Umezawa. Unable to take the guilt anymore, he eventually tells the truth to his wife, claiming that he had to kill Umezawa because he loved him. The wife who was already suspecting of her husband's odd behavior is shocked by her husband being gay and also feels cheated. She eventually kills her husband by mixing pills in his drink to save her family.
You know, there is noting great about this film honestly, but somehow the story kept me intrigued from beginning to end. The genre although kept changing from one thing to other. First I thought the film is going to be about this suspected murderer, but it soon changes to a gay love story and the love between the two men, before it again switches gear to a murder-cum-love story or murder for love (something like that). It did offer shock values but the way events were handled you don't get the shock. The killings are shown in a way, as if they are just a matter of fact. But that aside the story was interesting and a lot happened in the duration of the film. What I don't understand is the title of the film and I guess there is something I missing. I guess this film is a part of larger series, but whatever that is; it was a good watch. Acting by majority cast is pretty spot on. The film doesn't dwell on how the two men met or fall in love but its more about there situation. I wasn't too happy with how they suddenly treated the character of Umezawa. Him accepting being propositioned by another older man when he is heart broken by the doctor doesn't reflect good on his character, which so far seemed very much of a gentleman. That way, at least for the doctor it was clear that for him, his family and his image always comes first. The final act by the wife was perfect and I was like, you go gurl.!!
Overall, a decent one time watch. Nothing really memorable, but not the worse film I have watched either. (5.5/10)
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