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...
Markova is an older flamboyant gay man who lives with other older gay men in a home. One day when he sees a documentary about comfort women, his past rushes back to him and he decides to tell his story. He manages to find a reporter his story, his family and friends. Growing up as Walter and one of the four siblings, his older brother used to bully him and beat him for him so flamboyantly gay. But Walter never understood why it was being wrong to be himself. When his brother dies, he feels a sense of freedom and starts living freely as a cross dresser rechristening himself as Walterina Markova and together with four other very close friends, they start performing in clubs. When Japan attacks Philippines, the five friends are abducted and are forced to rape and torture for many days in a row. They manage to finally escape but in their on way try to take their revenge. Two of them end of dying in the process and the remaining try to move on with their life. At some point as she grows up, she takes up job of a make up artist and gets to meet some very influential people along the way. The stories continue, but the point is that she may have been saved from the Japanese soldiers but his everyday life full of struggle continues.
As you can imagine, Walterina is the central character and the whole film revolves around her. All three actors playing him/her as teenage, adult and older version do a splendid job. They keep the life and loving spirit of the character alive. Although the subject may sound serious, its full of humor with some brilliant one liners. I also enjoyed the two dance performances that these five girls give as part of their troupe. The screenplay of the film is quite nice actually. We do get to see his journey right from childhood and what he goes through multiple abuses and how it shapes his personality. That said, you see how his zest and zeal for life never ends and is always hopeful of being happy and doing something meaningful for others. The end was almost befitting with Markova wearing dress and makeup ready for a show for one last time. Just because someone is gay or cross dresser doesn't give others the permission to force themselves upon and take their suffering and longings for granted. You won't be overwhelmed with the movie but the film will make you smile and feel the pain of the protagonist at the same time. There are only a few films that have the magic doing this. (6/10)
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