Is this technically a gay show? Even after getting through the whole thing, that's still kind of tricky to answer. There's never any physical intimacy shown between the two leads, not even a single kiss. What it gives you instead is something that goes way deeper than that. It traces an emotional bond that spans a full decade between two guys who are both dealing with their own baggage, and what they share basically amounts to being soulmates. The story moves across Japan, South Korea, and Berlin. Honestly, whether people want to call what they have a romantic relationship or not doesn't really matter to me. A relationship doesn't need a label like boyfriends attached to it to actually mean something. And closeness doesn't need to be physical to feel genuine. What this show captures is something quieter but way more powerful, a bond rooted in understanding, respect, and just showing up for each other. Across eight episodes, each running 35 to 45 minutes, this is one...
Starting with the legalization of gay sex in private for adults over 21 years old this film moves quickly through the history of male homosexuality in the UK. It talks about how there were no places for gay men to meet, then slowly moving onto a few books and magazines that started to get published where male genitalia would be on display, helping gay men to move away from Playgirl magazines. It then talks about how slowly some open gay bars opened up and how men would meet at these clubs and bars and other various cruising spots to gratify themselves. It also talks about the first gay pride parade and how that was one of the first major events. Of course, the fears of AIDS crisis slowed things down causing fear among the gay community but eventually everyone bounced back. The fight for legal age of consent for gay marriage, legalization of gay weddings, to the first gay characters in sitcoms eventually leading to full blown shows like Queer As Folk, right through to the modern events of gaydar.com.
This was not going to be a soft documentary. With a subject like this, expect to see a lot of naked Mae images on screen and I like it for that. The documentary just doesn't show the multiple interviewees but the makers try to keep it interesting by having multiple video and static clippings of almost all events being talked out here, which keeps the proceedings very interesting. Like any potted history of any subject, the film struggles to have a lot of debate or detail and it is fair to suggest that this is a weakness of the documentary – that it rattles forward covering ground without perhaps having a lot of food for thought, but it is hard to criticize it for this because this is also a strength. We all all of the history by now, or at least I hope most of us know, but it still is an interestingly plotted timeline across the history of male homosexuality across the years in UK. With a duration of about 50 minutes, it does make for an engaging watch. (6/10)
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