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...
We meet our two lead characters. Daniel is a 19 year old bright, but lazy (different) student on the verge of failing to graduate. At home, his parents fight constantly. At school, he’s bullied for being gay. He keeps his head down, headphones on and tries to get through the day without bothering anyone. Then we meet Adam, who is the school’s gym and literature teacher. Perfect on the outside, he doesn’t discuss his homelife at work. He is gay and has been in a happy relationship with his partner for over 5 years. As it happens Adam is stuck with this whole class on a school field hiking trip, where Daniel goes missing. While searching for him, Adam falls into a crevice and ends up with the lost student in a dark cave. Rest of the film, almost 80-90 minutes of the film is about the duo together exploring the caves trying to find their way out, talk about life and how for each of them being different has been in their life and slowly bond while trying to survive each day in the caves. They will need to drop their pretenses and learn to survive in order to escape. The film thankfully (as I would have expected, does have a happy end).
After establishing a bit of background of both these characters nicely, the film soon moves to the core survival drama. I actually liked the fact that the film tells us just enough for us to understand these characters better. Daniel has family issues, and him being different and being bullied has led him into a corner within himself. Adam, though proud gay, still doesn't fell comfortable sharing his private life with anyone despite having a very understanding and caring partner. I loved their relationship. But soon the film moves to the caves and shout out to the cinematographer who captures the breathtaking appeal of the caves while keeping their fears very much to the core. There is a sexual tension thats created between the student and the teacher, primarily by Daniel which is constantly rebuked by a very sure Adam, who know that this will be wrong. In fact, before the trip Adam's partner even jokes about him leading a camp of hot teenagers…surely he must enjoy it a little bit? We are never really sure, because the camera does sexualize male bodies sometimes and Daniel even jokes about it with Adam inside the caves trying to understand his sexual preferences, but it feels that Adam, as a person, is much stringer and man of principles than we would like him to be. As the two are forced to cooperate to find a way out, Daniel sees the benefits of applying himself and Adam learns to relax and open up a little. By providing Daniel a role-model, not just academically, but as a gay man, Adam proves he’s more than just a good teacher. And kudos to the script writer to not give into a teacher and a student giving into sex, even though, almost everyone would have expected them to. The film has rough patches and is too long and you wanna fast forward many scenes, but despite all this there is something good and different about the film.
The actor playing Adam has this interesting rugged look that made him appealing and sexy but also very simple and boy-next-door at the same time. In short, he was hot. Daniel was ok. Lastly, don't miss out on the post credit scene. We witness how this incident has changed them both for good and made them open up, and this almost quite 2 min scene uplifts the movie and gives it a cute ending. (6/10)
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Czech Republic has bought me cheap, probably had a discount, too - Prague, glass beads, "The Adventures of Shvejk", legends, food. I thought I fell for its charm in adult age, but it probably started with Czech animations I used to watch as a kid. So before watching this film I was half cut :D And then the Czech spring. The little town of Kadan. The teachers who actually have authority, presence and attitude - one knows immediately who's the teacher in that classroom. The nature. The bus trip. Adam having a most helpful partner, packing properly and everything. Followed by my favorite format "two men talking". And Daniel's eyes... Ah... Total Titanic sinker. And Adam and Daniel speaking fluent sarcasm.
At one point the inside of the cave looked familiar. Like very familiar. In 2016 we went on a road trip to Poland and Czech Republic and visited a few caves as well - you've seen one, you've seen them all, right? Well, the end titles revealed that it was the very same Katerinska cave where one word made me fall in love with the Czech language. The "two men talking" in the cave gave a few good moments, like the cannabis scene (-That's why you asked for matches? - Yeah, my own got wet) and roasting the bugs. And the hugs in the sleeping bag made me think the writers have probably been impressed by a certain classic - "Latter Days", Christian telling Aaron his story about his cowardly father leaving him in the snowstorm and a rescue worker warming him up in his sleeping bag.
It was good to see Adam stating that he's a professional and he won't use the opportunity just because it's there. I couldn't find any points from the Czech law about the intimate relations between teachers and students, but in one very good Spanish series ("HIT") the same subject was covered and not only could it end the teacher's career in education, a prison sentence up to 15 years was also an additional option. The student was of age, but it was more about the power position - they both were in the same school and that was enough.
The only thing that made me raise an eyebrow was the fall that ended with a broken leg. I doubt a physically fit gym teacher has bones this brittle that landing flat on his back ends with breaking a rather big bone in a completely different location.
The ending was amazing. Daniel not caring about the opinions of others and being openly smart was big. See, it's a thing here. Although there are a few people thinking that smart is the new sexy, the general public in the regions that have the Soviet baggage still doesn't value actual brains and it's even taught that it's not polite to "brag" with what you know when the rest of the company are... well... thick.
I was just happy that the makers tried their best to not give into a sex scene between teacher-student; because somewhere, I think everyone who watched the movie, was expecting it to happen.