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...
Filmed over eight years, we see Jonathan being close to his mother, his father abandoned them when he was young. He rose to fame in the gay porn industry while working a side hustle as an an escort. The fly-on-the-wall approach chronicles Agassi’s swift, awards-laden ascent to the top of the industry, from his native Tel Aviv to Berlin where he also finds work as an escort. But his rise is bittersweet: behind the door of his very ordinary apartment in the German capital, behind the fame, fortune and flamboyance, lies a compelling story about a man battling depression, drug addiction and past identity struggles. It is intriguing character study about a man on the verge of self-destruction. One scene late on, shot with distressing rawness, shows Agassi experiencing a particularly unpleasant comedown. As his body writhes on the floor and his wails echo about the room, it is a sobering reminder of how appearances can so often be deceiving.
Early in the film, high on his success, he says that Jonathan Agassi “saved” his life because he was able to leave the damaged version of himself from his teens behind, but as the film progresses it becomes increasingly clear that the reverse is true. While Agassi is an expression of who he wants to be, he is still the Yonatan Langer of his youth; damaged, hurt and rejected by his father. A porn producer lets slip why Jonathan's star in porn faded quickly. He would not take advice. Instead Jonathan went for more tattoos, cut his hair shorter and shorter and bulked up his muscles with steroids. Jonathan goes into escorting as he ceases being the main star in porn movies. Other actors take the limelight and win awards. The Jonathan Agassi we see at the end of the film is a shadow of his former self; pale, drawn and reserved. His earlier declarations of loving sex and loving his job are replaced with going through the motions and resorting to more and more extreme ways to perform sexually. With a lot of time spent with his mother, as well as frequently reverting to photographs of his childhood, we are constantly reminded that the man who has been built up by the adult industry as little more than a face with muscles and a dick is someone’s son and someone’s brother. Jonathan Agassi is now off drugs and works in a store. He turned his back on porn. Is he content and happy and at peace now? We won't know! (4.5/10)
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