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...
When I came across this documentary I was genuinely curious because I really had no idea what life is like for gay people in the former Yugoslavia region. The film gives Kosovo's homosexual community a platform to speak about their experiences and the discrimination they face, while also bringing in voices from religious leaders, psychologists, analysts and everyday citizens. It came out in 2007 so it's almost 19 years old now and things may well have changed since then, but the whole point of this documentary at the time was to look at the harsh realities of gay life in Kosovo and ask how much longer people should have to stay hidden, living in fear of their own identities. A big chunk of the film is given over to four gay men who sit on stools, silhouetted in shadow to protect who they are, and talk about their feelings, their fears, the humiliations they've faced and what they hope for. There's also a lesbian and a bisexual man. A lot of the story actually gets told ...