A Distant Place (2020)

Gentle movie about biological and found family (minor spoilers)

Overall: this reminds me of God's Own Country with its countryside setting and sparse dialogue. Things are subtle (maybe a bit too subtle at times); I wish I could hear a director's commentary as I'm sure I missed many things. Watched on Amazon Prime Video, also on Gagaoolala in some regions.

Content Warnings: homophobia, side character death

What I Liked
- the foreshadowing, double meanings, subtle hints, for example when the grandma was mixing and said to watch it and wait it out, and also that pregnant sheep
- the countryside setting
- production value was good overall
- realistic flawed characters who made mistakes and apologized/tried to change

Room For Improvement
- maybe a few things were a bit too subtle and we could have used a little more dialogue to tell the audience what the characters were thinking
- it was odd when that female friend was yelling around the house that the guys wouldn't have woken up

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Meaningful Overall

This is a very slow moving movie. One thing I will say, is the acting is the best I’ve seen, especially the child. The story, although slow, had a deep meaning that involves acceptance of yourself, and how much it means to you. It left me with mixed feelings. I didn’t particularly like the ending, although I read it as the characters moving on in their life. Like of a re- birth, so to speak. It is worth watching it for the superb acting. But as I mentioned at the outset, it is VERY slow moving, with many conversations and scenes that should have been shorter. I would call it a BL, but more implications of a BL. But if it was more physical, it wouldn’t have fit the story.

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Steady

I saw a few comments that this movie was slow but I don't think so. It didn't jump in but it didn't drag it out either. I thought it was an even pace. I enjoyed it more than I thought cause it wasn't some random story that was too cliché or cheesy, it was realistic. No matter where you go people will talk and the only thing you can do is remove yourself from that toxicity. I had a few different emotions which tapped into the realism of the story. It's not something I'd recommend cause this theme isn't for everybody but it's not something I'd turn away either. If you're looking for lust you won't find it here! The little girl was an amazing actor and so cute. Just like in any household, I'm sure it's tricky for all parties growing up with homosexual parent(s). I hope more people can learn that even if YOU don't understand what it's like, hurting others won't make it anymore understandable.
Enjoy...

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A story about a distant place, where you go to get away

It has a slow pace a quiet, somber undertone. I really liked it. Maybe because it felt all too relatable, living in a very small town in the countryside. Being queer. The cinematography was amazing, and no overbearing music. Like you really got to immerse yourself in the silence and the scene. If you are a person who needs action, this is probably not for you. This movie has long scenes with lots of silence. It feels very real, as if you're really there.

I like how the directors trust the audience to read between the lines. The movie is aimed towards an older audience not for it's explicit content, but for it's mature and collected framing of the story and dialogue. There is no excessive exposition or any unnatural sounding dialogue, where the characters state things simply for the audience to know - not because it's natural for them to say that.

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A reality

A calm yet tremendously heartbreaking movie that talks about escaping the world full of homophobic individuals to finding a certain place that someone will welcome you despite your gender identity. A small family that showcases that love and acceptance can make one person's life happy. Very realistic approach to tackle a life of a gay man who suffers from the harsh feedbacks of those people who's only good on commenting about other people's life. This drama is an impact; from the tragedy of the nanny, the breakup of the couple, to Seol being lost, and the ongoing life of the rest of them from the farm are such a ride.

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This is good Movie

The flow of the story is relly good but its relly detailed so you need to understand everyting. The casting is so good and all of them did so well. I like how the story of the 2 flowed in the movie though they gave an open ending. I dont really know if they continue to seoul or something but I wish the two male lead will meet, while watching the movie I just realized that, Indeed, Goodbyes that aren't said are the most painful goodbye, I was really hurt when hyun min leave like that but I understand his reason... I was ready to cry when seol was leaving because Its really sad that those people that are left behind wouldn't able to see you in a long time but yeah, in the movie they didn't continue what happened that night. I read a comment that the lamb that gave birth is a sign of hope so maybe ther is still a hope for their story, I wish they give us continuation. Overall I love this movie so much, I learned a lot!

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Rien n'est jamais aussi loin que la paix du cœur

J’ai adoré ce film, son atmosphère paisible qui va pas à peu se fissurer, la façon délicate et absolument pas démonstrative dont le réalisateur nous fait découvrir la vérité, comme une série d’écrans qui s’écarteraient les uns après les autres… Rien de plus simple que le début : Un père et sa fille qui ont trouvé refuge dans une ferme, les relations amicales qui se sont nouées entre le patron, sa fille et l’employé et sa fillette, dans un cadre bucolique, une nature splendide et pure… Sans coup de théâtre, d’une façon très naturelle, des arrivées, telles des cailloux brisant la surface lisse et sans mystère d’un étang , vont nous faire pénétrer dans la vie des personnages. Le miroir est brisé et les morceaux recomposent à la fin une autre image, qui nous laisse avec un sentiment indéfinissable d’amertume, car ce qui était au début un symbole encourageant de la nature humaine, a retrouvé à la fin tout ce qui en fait la tristesse : les préjugés, la discrimination qui détruit des vies, l’impossibilité de trouver, même dans un lieu lointain, la paix du cœur et le droit de vivre.
Le titre « un lieu lointain » en est le parfait résumé : c’est à la fois le lieu rêvé et inaccessible où chacun est accepté pour ce qu’il est, et le lieu intérieur où trouver la paix de l’âme. Le film nous prend dès les premières images par la beauté incroyable de la montagne coréenne en automne, par la paix qui s’en dégage, puis nous accroche par les premières fissures qui nous font avancer de compréhension en découvertes… Les deux heures passent comme un souffle, et même j’aurais voulu continuer à suivre les personnages, mais nous ne pouvons que les imaginer, car nous restons dans ce lieu lointain où ils avaient cru pouvoir vivre, lieu dont nous avons découvert qu’il n’était pas le paradis entraperçu au début…
Les acteurs sont parfaits, simples, justes, sincères, les dialogues aussi, il n’y a rien de trop dans ce film, et en même temps chaque plan, chaque mot a son sens et son utilité pour ouvrir les perspectives…
Nous sommes sorties littéralement enchantées par ce film, au sens propre du terme, pris dans un enchantement, par son atmosphère, sa justesse, sa simplicité poignante et il m’a été difficile de voir de l’espoir dans la fin, ouverte, mais sans illusion…

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Great cinematography and acting, storyline confusing and unsatisfying

This BL, much like its main characters, is very soft and quiet in its expressions of gay love. The movie is 2 hours long, and it could have made much better use of the time. A lot, and I mean a lot of scenes are way longer than they need to be, probably to give the sense of how slow time flows in the small town where the movie takes place. Even still, there is little happing during these prolonged scenes. In other BLs, the main characters would glance at each other and the time the scene takes makes you feel like something is happening. In this movie, it feels more like the movie is paused and you are waiting for the next scene to take place. Another gripe I have with the movie is that the scenes shown and the story told are confusing. What I mean is that I don't feel the depth that the director wanted the viewer to feel. The feelings of the main character and what goes on inside his head remain a mystery, and the ending is open and feels very incomplete, like there is no ending.

The acting overall is good and the characters are recognizable and deep. The lighting and the camera angles are satisfying as well. I wish that the movie was stronger. So either, have a stronger emphasis on love or a stronger emphasis on dealing with homophobia and feeling rejection from society. The general sense I got was: main character has daughter and moved to small town because he is gay and rejected by his surroundings, he has a lover and wants to be together with him but feels uncomfortable that he will be seen as gay and rejected again. I don't understand what the main character wants other than being accepted (not expressed directly) and living with his daughter. Interesting watch I suppose but not as deep and meaningful for what it's worth. Still, nice to see a more manly Korean man in a gay role like this in a Korean BL, most are or look like idols so this is nice for the larger gay population in Korea.

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life changing

eu percebi que eu estou tão inserido em uma bolha lgbtq+ friendly que as vezes a homofobia parece algo tão distante. e derrepente, eu paro para pensar e vejo no quão eu preciso tomar cuidado. é muito cruel o sentimento de estar sempre se sentindo aflito com a possibilidade de descobrir quem a gente é, nós abrimos mão de tanta coisa e sacrificamos nossa própria felicidade em nome de uma "segurança". até que a gente encontra a felicidade e as coisas parecem que vão começar a dá certo. você se permite sonhar, até que algo te lembra que as pessoas não te querem por perto, não importa o quanto você se esforçe e no quão generoso você é com essas pessoas. no final do dia, você é ainda o galho que nasceu fora de ordem e precisa ser podado. é um sentimento de exaustão constante, mas tá tudo bem, você sempre pode recomeçar em outro lugar :).



eu estou muito surpreso com o filme, foi uma montanha russa de sentimentos que terminou em um lugar muito triste. toda a questão técnica do filme é impecável. eu sinto que vou carregar ele comigo a partir daqui e mesmo lembrando de uma história triste irei lembrar que houve felicidade no meio do caminho.

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I like this type of movie, but in this case it remained just above average for me. Maybe this time I would cut the first half of the picture a little, where nothing much happens. The plot started to move only in the second half and overall I didn't find anyone who stood out in any way as an actor

Tento typ filmů mám rád, ale v tomto případě zůstal pro mě jen těsně nad průměrem. Možná bych tentokráte malinko prostříhal první polovinu snímku, kde se nic moc neděje. Děj se začal hýbat až v druhé půli a celkově jsem nenašel nikoho, kdo by nějak výrazně herecky vyčníval

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definitely a must watch
i love the way movies like this portray lgbt and the struggle of my community as a minority.
the cast is also super perfect. waiting for the day this will be available on more streaming sites!

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