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...
Before 1966, these gay magazines were all about musclemen in jockstraps posing like Greek Gods. But then, everything flipped. In this "golden window" from 1966 to 1973, the pages started featuring young guys between 18 and 22 who had boyish faces and totally normal bodies. They weren't gym rats; they were just ordinary kids, often drifters or runaways, who modeled for unknown photographers for just a few bucks. They’d show up in a magazine for a minute and then just disappear. After 1973, the "hardcore revolution" happened, and these softcore magazines became old news almost overnight. Just like that, the whole era was gone.
The movie mixes together old photos, actual magazine pages, and some re-enactments to try and catch the vibe of that time. The director acts as the narrator and guide, and since he was a big part of queer filmmaking in the 70s, he brings an insider’s perspective that a history book just couldn't capture. He talks about how the old studio photography died out as mass-produced, cheaper work took over. He’s also really open about his own taste for what he calls "wayward kids"—scrawny and scruffy types—before he was eventually moved aside by other photographers, who sold the "California Golden Boy" look with blond hair and big smiles. The film also digs into how this industry lived in a legal gray area back when being gay was still a crime in most of the U.S. These magazines weren't just for titillation; they were proof to gay men that they weren't alone and that they could be beautiful. On the downside, a lot of the footage and photos are fuzzy and low-quality because they've degraded so much, and the narration sometimes leans on clichés instead of really digging deep into the history. I honestly found this whole thing fascinating because I didn't know anything about this subject before. It does a great job of saving these faces, names, and stories that mainstream history has mostly just erased.
It's a really cool look at a lost era of queer media that acts as an important historical record, even if the production quality is a bit rough around the edges. (5.5/10)
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