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...
Resonance (Australia) - A stylized, wordless look at two men in Sydney: a gay man and a man who leads a gay-bashing gang. The gay man, recovering from his beating, practices dance that is sometimes tai chi, sometimes ballet, sometimes modern jazz. The man who rescued him from the beating is his teacher, his lover, and his dance partner. We also see his attacker, who, trapped in machismo, mistreats his own girlfriend as well. By the end, the male couple is joined by a third dancer, a woman, suggesting an artistic and social harmony.
R.S.V.P. (Canada) - Sid returns home for the first time since his partner Andrew's death of AIDS. He turns on CBC Stereo's classical music program RSVP just as the announcer is reading a request, submitted by Andrew himself shortly before his death. While the music is playing, we see various friends/family members hearing the same song, creating an extended community of people united in their grief as the shared experience of the music metaphorically collapses their geographic distance from each other.
Anthem (USA) - Dance, music, words and poetry in defiant celebration of the sensual and sexual pleasure of being black and queer. The film is less lyrical, more like a chant and rap, declaring that such love is revolutionary in its impact and implications.
Relax (UK) - Steve, a gay man who lives with his lover Ned, has had multiple partners and is worried he may have the HIV virus. Ned tells him to relax and get tested. Steve can't relax: he's obsessed with scrubbing himself, he washes between his toes with a toothbrush. He doesn't want to know, but he does have the test. The five days' waiting for the result are agony. He picks a fight with Ned, who's long-suffering and cheerful. He dreams. He frets. He pictures death by drowning. The waiting almost over, he sits in the doctor's office and imagines the two possible results. In either event, is there a case to make for Steve to relax?
Billy Turner’s Secret (USA) - Billy and Rufus are roommates and good friends. But since Rufus is a strong homophobe, Billy can't tell him that he is gay and has a boyfriend. When Rufus' girlfriend's sister finds Billy and her boyfriend, she starts blackmailing them but eventually Billy's secret comes out. Billy reacts as expected. But Rufus gets thrown out by his girlfriend and is also beaten and is now forced to think his views on gay men and its time to reconnect with his true friend Billy. (I had reviewed this film earlier as well on my blog)
The Dead Boys’ Club (USA) - Toby, just out of college in Wisconsin, comes to Manhattan to spend the summer with his older cousin, Packard, a gay man whose lover John R. has just died of AIDS. Toby is shy, the openly-gay society around him makes him nervous. Packard gives Toby a pair of John R.'s shoes; when Toby puts them on, he has powerful visions of the pre-AIDS scene in the 1970s, as if he's there. He also takes on a different personality when he wears the shoes, more sure of himself, able to express his interest in men. Wearing the shoes, Toby goes to a bar, hooks up with Dick, and wakes up in Dick's bed.
Watch these six films with a perspective, since they are from really early 90s and they do feel dated. I have mixed feelings about these films. None of them are really interesting, especially when you see these today, but maybe they had more of a meaning and relevance at the time they came out. (4/10)
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