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Contrast (Japanese Series)

By Golu
This is basically a high school BL where two guys who have nothing going on in common somehow end up getting really close to each other, and that's kind of the whole point of the title too. There's barely any drama or fluff packed in here, it stays pretty straightforward the whole way through. A little bit of friction pops up here and there, but it's nothing compared to what you'd normally get in this kind of show. Runtime wise you're looking at 8 episodes, each one sitting around 25-30 minutes. The two guys carrying the story are Akira and Kanata, and funny enough they knew each other's faces way before they ever knew each other's names. Kanata's the type everyone likes, always got people around him, popular guy, but there's this distance to him that people can't quite place. Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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Jaurès (French) (Documentary)

By Golu
Touted as an inventive collage approach mixing reality and fiction, I am not sure what is it that this documentary was really trying to say or achieve. Twi sis one of the most basic, very random documentary who ha son idea if it wants to tell a love story between two men or make a commentary on refugee crisis. The title of the film Jaurès refers to a prominent underground station in Paris.

A man and a woman are watching random video footage shot from someone's flat overlooking a canal. The footage has views of the street, the metro line running above it, buildings opposite and most prominently the Afghan refugees who have setup a make shift shelter at the two ends of the canal. Apparently the flat is of Simon, this man's lover whom he used to visit most nights. The documentary is a series of questions asked by the woman to this man Vincent watching footage asking him about his platonic gay relationship with the mysterious Simon while also looking at the refugees crisis. We never see Simon. We only hear how Vicent met him at a bar, slowly got together and would meet only at nights because they both had their personal life during the day. That's pretty much it.

Shot on digital video, the film is an improvised puzzle that not only tries to suggest what Jaurès neighbourhood in Paris is like, but also tries to conjure a picture of a love affair with someone who is not really seen, since the real Simon – whose name and life was changed for the film – never appears on screen. I am actually surprised that this weird documentary has actually won some awards. I saw someone made a comment online saying that this film is like a Poverty porn analysis  by two people sitting in an AC studio. Shot from an Jaurès apartment, while also just sharing his love story with another man from whose apartment these footage were shot. And I couldn't agree more. This documentary is absolutely ridiculous. (1/10)
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