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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 Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets (UK) [The War Poets - Forbidden Love]

By Golu
Starring John Hurt, this ITV film tells the secret story of First World War poets Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves. Told in their own words, using their diaries, letters and poems; this film may not be everyone's cup of tea. Told in a very documentary-drama style where scenes have been enacted for audiences to connect, we are passively told their story.

The three young men are gay budding poets, thrown together in battle. They soon lose their boyish innocence in the trenches. On the front line an officer’s life expectancy is barely six weeks. They all struggle to cope with the magnitude of the slaughter around them and forge deep, intense friendships. Together they give a voice to the rage of a generation. At the heart of the film is the story of Sassoon and Owen’s forbidden love affair, told through their passionate correspondence. John Hurt plays Sassoon in the 1960s, in the twilight years of his life. He is haunted by his experiences in the trenches and cannot overcome the grief of losing the love of his life. He provides the backbone to the film as we flash back with him to his younger self. 

I will admit that poetry is really not my thing, like not at all. But I o have feelings to connect with these three individuals who are in the war, trying to hold on to the passion of poetry and also hiding their sexuality but slowly falling in love. The film is touching in places but for an audience like me, who doesn't know much about either the poets or the story; it loses me at various points with its excessive poetry.  It was a good primer though to the realities of trench warfare and those men who not only fought, but also wrote about what they saw. The film was touching in places, but somehow just not enough or even closer. The good thing is that just under 50 minutes, it was a short easy watch. (3.5/10)
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