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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
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...
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Johan (French)

By Golu
It is so hard to believe that this film came out back in 1976. The film is so sensual and so sexually explicitly charged, that its hard to explain. Sure, there is not much from a plot point of view. It feels it was made to express the voice of but one man,  the director's,– with additional characters introduced for the sole purpose of roles occupied within the filmmaker's life.But if vintage is your thing, the film has a non stop line up some of the most beautiful gorgeous ethnically diverse men in all kinds of acts of partial and semi and full nudity. I am amazed that the film came out at a time it did.

The director was planning to make, and had acquired funding for, a film about his relationship with his partner, Johan.  However, before shooting could begin, Johan was arrested on fraud charges (cashing cheques that he had stolen from their friends) and was being held in prison awaiting trial. The director instead decides to make a rockumentary film where he searches for a replacement actor to play Johan. We walk through the gay cruising sites in ‘70s Paris including a gay bar, a leather bar, the sauna, public toilets, under bridges over the Seine, and in the Tuileries Gardens, among other sites, looking for a Johan standing and other characters.  He also includes talking head interviews with friends and family that may or not be real.

Let's be clear, it is a VERY explicit movie, but not a single time did it give me the impression that it was pornographic, it's passionate and artistic, but it's not supposed to be arousing or anything. The film is a subversive attempt to redefine sexuality and ethics. It has scenes involving visiting as well , so yes, it. Is quite explicit and I have read that expectedly, it ran into a lot of problems with respect to censorship. 
Johan is a radical re-envisioning of social norms. Drawing on explicit sex scenes and portrayals of homosexuality, the film forces audiences to face a reality of repressed sex. I would not have imagined the kind of scenes with gay men cruising in the 70s, some bathroom scenes and open cruising. It was refreshing to sort of go in that era and see what possibly gay life was like back then. There is an extended scene in the desert while film is being shot. It is so artistically erotic and hot, it is hard to explain. As mentioned before, the film is worth watching just for some of the most gorgeous men involved in sexually explicit artistic scenes. It may not be easy to get your hands on a copy of this film, but if you do, I can recommend it for a lazy evening. Do not go looking for a plot here though. (5.5/10)
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