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...
Transgendered Julia decides to spill her guts in this friendly made documentary. With her charming personality, Julia talks of everything. She tells us how when she was 8, she was in so called 'relationship' with her grand uncle, which only later she realized was probably child abuse but she didn't know then. She talks about school and bullying in school and how after multiple school transfers, there was no more school left to go. She tells us how her parents meet and how her mother was always supportive and never stopped her form doing whatever she wanted to do. We see how it was easy for Julia to fall in love, we hear stories of how she tried her hand at prostitution since jobs were limited, but it wasn't her cup of tea. She spent a few months in Japan to be closer to her father and did many odd jobs here and there. Most importantly she talks about movies. Films were her love and it was only because of cinema she has been able to survive this far.
Aș a personalty, Julia seems very real, charming and captivating and so, even this this documentary is more like a 80 minute conversation of a single person into camera, you never get bored. In fact her stories are intriguing and interesting and the way she tells them in a simple chat manner keeps the proceedings very humane and genuine. Her stories are a mix of her insecurities, her desire to divulge honestly and still engage her audience. It is definitely one of the most personal confessional stories. I am sure we all know many people in our life whose life stories have been a great mix of ups and downs, so in that sense, one may question the need to make this specific documentary and was the director's intention behind this to humanize his friend or just share the story? It's hard to say, but whatever it was, thanks to a very sombre but captivating Julia Katharine, the film never fails to interest you. (6/10)
Comments