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...
The time is 1950's and Frankie Howerd is a successful comedian. He is closeted gay and he meets Dennis, a bartender who for some reason is very much into Frankie. Dennis is young and extremely good looking. After a few instances Dennis eventually manages to make a place for himself in Frankie's life. As time passes, Frankie gets more and more insecure about his looks, his body and he also wears a wig. Despite a very loving boyfriend, he looks for cheap thrills outside for self assurance. Dennis first becomes his driver and then his manager as to appear in public life with him. But their relationship are full of up and down and at one point Frankie even goes for therapy sessions because of his childhood assault which we find out later. He is extremely close to his mother and when she dies, things don't go well for him. But Dennis stays through thick and thin and cheating. At one point he is almost ready to leave Frankie when he meets another man but decides to stay back for Frankie. Eventually, a gig at Peter Cook’s Establishment Club enables Frankie to reinvent himself as a satirical comedian and his popularity soars, with successful television comedies and a well-publicised appearance at the Oxford Union.
Firstly, I liked the fact that the film was just about an hour long. I have always admired BBC's presentations on taboo subjects. The film is equally about Dennis as is about Frankie. Dennis is so madly in love with him that he is willing to overlook all his flaws and just wants to be there for him and take care of him. Its the kind of love, we all wish for at some point. But Frankie's depressive nature and doubts about himself, doesn't make for an easy relationship. Furthermore the time in 50s was obviously not the most pleasant to be able to live a free life. The film actually doesn't go very deep into anything, but still manages to cover over 20 years of Frankie's and Dennis life together. In terms of general story-telling this is all well and good and I was reasonably interested by it, however in a film that was meant to be about Frankie, I feel it was Dennis who eventually takes the center stage. I have mentioned about acting before and I will say again that this film has some of the most amazing acting by both leading guys. My one issue was that even though Frankie Howerd was a comedian, all the sketches o him that they show are far from funny. Not sure why the makers would chose such skits. But besides all that, I just enjoyed the film for its amazing chemistry between two men, even though it may seem rushed. The film is no histrionics by any means, but I felt my one hour was worth spent and thats something to say, isn't it? (6/10)
Comments