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...
The primary characters are Boris and Jonathan, a gay couple who have been together for a few years. But their relationship has reached a point where they might as well spend their evenings together separately: One lies in bed reading, the other works at a desk in the next room. Boris is an actor who begins to confuse work and reality and Jonathan is a writer challenged to face his various fears, mainly of death. Boris is rehearsing for a film where he is supposedly cheating on his wife with a younger man, played by an actor Tim. Because of the strained relationship, Boris finds himself getting attracted to Tim in real life too. Jonathan is busy with his novel taking cues from their life and relationship. Their seemingly rock-solid partnership turns out to be surprisingly and unexpectedly vulnerable. In between this, we have Boris's niece, who is a teen who is dealing with relationship issues in her own way since her parents separated. She plays pranks, steals stuff etc. I am just not sure how this was relevant to the main story, but a good part is spent to that in the film. The film just ends abruptly after Boris comes back home having kisses Tim, maybe rethinking of his actions to save his relationship.
This was really a strange film. One of the official summaries of the film said that it is "A sensitive and humorous reflection on the dissonances in relationships that both connect and distance us from each other." I did not find it either funny, or sensitive. Yes it did focus on a relationship between a gay couple, or a budding new film maker trying to make a film supposedly taking a cue from her own life (the film that Boris is rehearsing for) or the nieces idiotic pranks; but what was the message being made here? I have absolutely no idea. The changing ambiguities of the couple's relationship are all over the place. Are they in love, are they falling out, are they bored, why can't they leave, where does Josie fit in all this, why does this film spend almost half of the duration in showing us a film's rehearsal etc etc; I have so many such questions. The lead actor playing Boris also happens to be the director of the film. Him and others do a good job as actors but I think, when it comes to basic story idea and execution, he fails miserably as a director. We are never clearly shown what the issue between the couple is. We never get to understand Jonathan's point of view in all this. The set designs are plain and col with all interior settings, this was truly an absurd film for me. As someone said, this film looks like was made for German gay hipsters, anreven then I would wonder if they would like the film. This, according to me, is again one of the case where the filmmakers are way too deep in thier heads, making a cinematic experience, and meanwhile ordinary audience like us are at a complete loss of what are we watching and why? Even the title of the film makes no sense to me. (2/10)
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