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 film starts in bleak darkness where we see two soldiers first fighting and then leading to gay sex and accidentally stumbling upon a house where two trans women live. One of the soldiers then kills the other because he makes some comment. Change scene and we meet agin drag queen Tonia. She is head over heels in love with Rosario, a gay man half her age, who makes her dresses. Rosário is a drug addict, a thief, and a generally abusive partner – but as the film progresses, the sheer volume of interaction between the pair begins to wear you down. You wonder why is Tonia so much in love with this toxic man, but you stop asking questions. Eventually you're forced to believe that there must be a real depth of feeling tying them together. In between Tonia's son shows up out of nowhere a few times. He is the same guy who killed the soldier in the beginning of the film but Tonia is never able to get hold of her son. While all this is going on, Toia is still dealing with her own surgery issues. She doesn't want bottom surgery but will get it just because Rosario insists, plus her breasts are starting to get completely infected. The duo go on a road trip and accidentally end up being in the same house we see in the beginning of the film. She gets admitted to a hospital where her breast implants need to be removed, but she passes away. Rosario drugs himself and dies and the duo get buried next to one another.
The ending of the film is absurd. For a film that is centered around a trans person, showing that Tonia is at peace when she is presented as a man really doesn't make sense, but hey, every director can have their own interpretation. We are never told why Tonia can't get out of the toxic relationship with Rosario. Clearly the couple has issues but he ending shows us as if they are immortal lovers. The entire subplot with Tonia's son who keeps appearing with no purpose or even the whole house win the woods with two other trans women had no bearing at all to the actual plot of the film. And it all just started to drag on me. The film is filled with abstract direction moments where the director seems more interested in capturing eerie odd shots, then actually telling a story. This is not helped by the often wooden support cast, who at times drops off into pointless banter, or ventures into singing in graveyards or reciting poetry. Trust me it's just bizarre. At almost two hours duration, the film becomes tedious to sit through and wonder what, if anything, will actually happen in the film. To make this film watchable, it seriously needs to be cut short by at least 30-40 minutes. (3.5/10)
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