I am always wary when I start a new Thai BL drama, because they vary so wildly in quality - This one is definitely on the high end of the scale.

The target audience is definitely much younger than me, but I liked it.

Technical aspects of the production were fine. Overall, the acting was good, especially since the actors are all really young. Directing was fine also -- I always have an eye on how ensemble scenes are done, and I did not notice anything missing here.

There are quite a lot of songs in the series, which is appropriate, since it's about a band -- not too many (and that's coming from me, who thinks that there's too much singing in Disney movies), and all of them fitting the band's general vibe and the plot.

Regarding the plot, it is a slow burn with lots of pining, and I tend to love this trope. Yes, it's a bit ridiculous at times, and also a bit cheesy, but that makes the series so charming. Even though some more serious issues are addressed, it's never high-stakes for the audience.
A lot of the good tropes are used liberally, some are there just to be subverted (an episode at the beach, but the young people get only five minutes to actually enjoy it?) -- and there are none of the trope I hate (e.g. miscommunication because some character is lying, love triangles, traumatic childhood experiences, jealous female characters...).

I also loved that there's so much time dedicated to the bandmates' friendship and the highs and lows they go through as the school year progresses. They are all young boys who enjoy life, and are not ashamed to act silly when they feel like it.

The parents also got some character development, and enough time to show it.

There really only two very minor points that could have been better:
a) I wish there were more female roles. I know it's a BL, and BLs have to have a majority of male characters, but why not have a girl in the band? Or a female Kajorn? Or female MCs? Or a female Yak? (Though, I admit, the last one is maybe a bit more difficult.)
b) I would have liked to see a bit more story for Tinn, whose main role is to support Gun, his love interest. He does have his own insecurities, his own questions about his future -- it's all already there, just underdeveloped and glossed over.

One last thing, because I waited for it but it never came: There is absolutely none of that old and tired top/bottom-dynamic in this show! None of the boys have any characteristics that trope would demand (difference in age, status, experience, body type etc.), none of the "pushy top" and "reluctant bottom", their body language and whole demeanor are always "typical boy" and touches are very much mutual and equal in reciprocation. I hope we'll get to see more of this kind of relationship dynamic in future Thai BL shows.
(They even make fun of the trope at the end when they talk about ship names!)
So that was a very nice surprise.

All in all, the show is light-hearted and funny, even silly at times, with great friendships -- it made me smile throughout the whole series. So I recommend it as something to watch on gloomy days. Characters don't take themselves too serious, and the audience should do the same.

Leia Mais

Excellent drama with one flaw

THE STORY:
I started this thinking that we'd get to see detective stories, where I could solve cases together with the heroes. The cases were, although interesting, not of that sort. They all made sense, but the audience often only got to see the clues at the time Li Lianhua or Fang Duobing revealed them to their co-characters. The cases themselves were overshadowed by the overarching plot relatively early, so for me, they did not have too much merit by themselves, and only served as a vehicle to move the story forward.
The overarching story wasn't that complicated, we got to guess the main villain quite early, and some of the plot twists weren't that twisty for me.
(Also, the main plot point -- evil people from a defeated foreign country try to overthrow the mighty and just and overall better [China] and fail -- is typical Chinese nationalist fare.)
What makes the story interesting, is the journey of Li Lianhua, both in the past, which is revealed to us in increments, and in the present -- Li Lianhua, who is terminally ill and is pulled into the Jianhu after ten years of solitude, whose journey is one of finding closure, of forgiving or avenging, of finding meaning in life and death.

A plus, for me, is also that the series has little romance -- most of it finds it conclusion within three episodes or so around episode 20 (they decide their romance will stay in the past only). Unfortunately, most female characters' motivation still circles around love, more on that see below.

The story unfolds over 36 episodes, which never drag or feel rushed. The series kept my interest throughout -- the pacing was always just right.

THE CHARACTERS:
Li Lianhua is a wonderfully human character. He is flawed, he lies, he deceives but still seems to be a person who has his values he lives by. He is a miracle doctor and a horrible cook. He is someone who pushes others away, and it's never quite clear if it's to protect the other person or himself. He is selfish in his last decision, and at the same time sacrifices his life (essence) for others over and over again. Li Lianhua is world-weary but can still find solace in the little joys in life and seems to believe that most people are ultimately good.
Li Xiangyi was young and inexperienced. He trusted wholeheartedly -- but also judged hard. He thought he was the most important person in the sect -- and died because of it.

I also loved the other two main characters -- loved their banter, of course. They both had their distinct personalities and unique goals. Fang Doubing and Di Feisheng had good character development -- more time to show their personalities and their inner life would have been even better.

The one thing that irked me for the most part of the series was the portrayal of the female characters. Their motivations mainly circled around "love" (or a version thereof), and usually, they had no agency without a man. Let's look at the four most prominent women:
Jiao Li Qiao: Her motivation for anything is to get Di Feisheng as her husband. That's it.
Qiao Wan Mian: She is important as the past love interest of Li Xiangyi, who waited for ten years for him. Later, she gets a bit more agency, but it remains half-hearted. Has she left Zijin or not? Why does she take his Sect leader token but does not take on the role herself? (He is obviously still the sect leader later.)
Master He (Fang doubig's mother): She's the only woman without an interest in pursuing another man; the only one who is shown with significant skills who can contribute to the fight. She is also the only married woman, and the only middle-aged woman, so it's probably just that she's "too old" to be a potential love interest who can be heroically disregarded.
The princess: Her interest in marrying Fang Doubing is somewhat understandable -- as a princess she lives a highly regulated life, and probably knows that the only chance to get a bit of freedom is as a married woman. (Of course, her interest has to take a backseat next to her fiancé's desires.)
There's also the young girl who we first meet when she disguises herself as a man -- she could have easily been a cunning woman with a network of informants or a vast library. But no! She always gets her information from her grandfather and she is allowed to bring Li Lianhua to her brother for treatment.

That's enough of a rant for this review. Let's close with another excellent aspect:

THE ACTING:
I did not find one actor unsatisfying. The minor characters were all right throughout.
All three main characters were portrayed incredibly well. Especially Chen Yi (Li Lianhua) who needed to show his multi-layered personality without words had excellent micro-expressions. Di Feisheng is probably more interesting than the script itself has provided because Xiao Xun Yao manages to hint for underlying emotions of his character from the first second we get to see him on screen.
And a special mention has to go to Rain Wang (Jiao Li Qiao), who, despite her single-trait character, shows how chillingly deranged Jiao Li Qiao has become over the course of the series.

OVERALL:
This is, despite the one flaw, a series that tells a story about friendship, betrayal and revenge -- and a man who just wants to have a quiet death.
Recommended!

Leia Mais

Making the world a better place by lovingly preparing one dish at a time.

There's not much plot, apart from the last two episodes. But that doesn't matter, it's just about people cooking, serving and eating different, mostly Japanese dishes.

Really, if you're waiting for an explanation for why there's a connection between the worlds, or how the owner can buy things in our world with currency from the other world, you'll be disappointed.
The whole thing is a thinly disguised food appreciation show, with some loveable characters who do the appreciation.
I was reminded of Wakako Zake.

Bonus points for the German, the texts that were readable had actually decent German. (If I wanted to nitpick, I'd mention that the Fraktur font needs a "long s" at the beginning and in the middle of a syllable instead of the "round s" (only used at the end of a syllable), but I won't.)

The isekai the tavern connects to has elements of different centuries -- for example: references to a northern God whose name sounds a lot like "Oden" (early middle ages, maybe around 6th cent.) or the buildings in the town (late middle ages to early renaissance, so ca. 14th to 16th cent.) or the clothing (somewhere in the 17th and 18th cent.) or the mention of Kartoffeln as main staple of food (late 18th and 19th cent.) and the Fraktur font (mainly late 19th and early 20th cent.) -- so it's not medieval, but firmly in the realm of fantasy.

If you just want to see how some Japanese-style food can make a society a bit better, and want to relax watching people enjoy this food while bickering a bit, then this might be for you.

Leia Mais

Who is it you love?

Do you really love the person as they are or is it just an image you have made of that person in your head?

What I liked:
* I loved the development of the author's character. He went from very much self-assured, narcissistic, and someone who is sure that his love story will finally come to the end he wished for three hundred years ago to a very much shocked, insecure person whose world has been turned upside down, and at last to someone who is starting to learn that there are always two people in a relationship with their own thoughts and feelings.
* The author's actor showed all of these emotions well, sometimes dramatically, and completely unashamed to be seen. I can hardly believe that this was Jin Gun's first drama.
* In contrast to the author, Ha Yeon knows what he wants very well and he is not afraid to go for it. This makes for an interesting dynamic.

What I did not like:
* I wish we would have got to see more of the second life. It was always flashbacks to the same scene. How long had they known each other then? How did they meet? What was their relationship like?

I think if we knew more about this time, the question the modern Ha Yeon asks -- Which Ha Yeon do you love? -- would have made more sense to more people in the audience.
I suppose that, in both of their lives, they did not have much time together in mundane situations (it was obviously a time of strife and struggle in their second life, and in the first they did not even get to speak as someone else than slave and lady), and that's why Yeon Seok had this image of "Ha Yeon" of someone who is not goofy, but rather refined -- who knows how the first two Ha Yeons really were?

Is it love if you only know the other person's facade that they show to the public?
It would have been nice if the show had more time to explore this question in greater depth.

Still, the story we get to see is cute, well acted, and we get to see some character development.
Recommended!

Leia Mais

That was an outstanding drama about a small team of pathologists, with casas that seemed well researched to me who is a non-medical person.

Things I liked most:
* The female characters! Although they were still in the minority, they were fantastic! The two main female characters were an equal part of the cast -- in most cases the female forensic doctor was the one who found the deciding clue, even. Both were shown as professionals, with interesting personal lives, own ambitions and well-rounded personalities.

* The team! We get to know all five (hm, six) people of the UDI well, and how they learn and grow together. They start as distant, even uncomfortable colleagues -- and in the end, they work as a well-integrated team. Some of them get some character development, some don't really need it.

* The supporting cast! Even they got a personality, some are more mysterious, some antagonistic, some familial. All of them clearly have their own motivations and goals.

* The acting! The directing! The soundtrack!

* No Romance! Well, over the course of one or two episodes, the male part-timer wonders if the female lead might be interested in him, and it seems he wouldn't have rejected any advances -- but! That fizzles out and is never even thought about again.
(Although, as I read through the other reviews, I see Orangevine's who states that "There is also a love triangle (with the caveat that one must be well-versed in Japanese romance tropes to spot it)". I'm obviously not well-versed, so I don't see it.)

* Minimal gore! We see blood, contusions, discoloration of the skin, some wounds, the occasional part of an organ preserved in formalin. Faces of the deceased are never disfigured, there are a few scenes where we see how the scalpel starts to cut, but never any opened bodies or any inner body parts while the autopsy is in progress.
All in all, it's remarkably respectful of the dead (compared to US productions) and there's never any kind of voyeurism.

* A fascinating insight into Japanese culture! Concerning death, and how the deceased and those who have contact with them are regarded and what it means for the politics around them.

* Last but not least: The cases! Not every case is a crime, but they are all interesting. The first one is noticably from before CoViD. The seventh had me in tears, that one hit close to home for me. The overarching plot was also intense, and was the main focus of the last three or so episodes, and tied all the personalities and their development together.

Leia Mais

This series is a gentle and quiet exploration of identity and self in adolescence. I'm not sure though, which age group could be the intended audience -- teenaged people who get a mirror for their own growth or older adults who might feel a slight melancholia when watching the drama.

All in all, it did not wholly deliver on its promise.
The premise I liked, four young people who have to come to a decision and their own standing point regarding their position towards platonic and romantic relationships -- and issues of belonging to a group versus being who you are. Even the love triangle made sense within these topics.
The execution, though, is stilted and at times too slow.

These are definitely directing choices, not the problems of the actors -- as soon as they get to do something, they start to shine.
For example, I don't understand why the actors stand right in front of each other in most conversations, with their arms hanging down without movement (and the whole drama is conversation-heavy) -- alternatively, they talk while walking next to each other at a snail's pace. I suppose the director wanted to convey some kind of awkwardness -- which is a good idea, since the characters definitely don't feel comfortable for most of the time, but it just gets boring after a while.
Also, the characters (with the exception of Namgoong) all have similar mannerisms (or, if I want to be a bit mean, the same mannerisms) -- including the teacher, which I mistook for another student in several scenes.

There were also some minor issues:
* At times, the background music did not quite fit the mood -- I'm also not a fan of the "plink-plink"-kind of music.
* The scene with the adult toys in the beginning was never resolved, and did not fit in with the rest of the story.
* I could have done without the kiss at the end -- it feels as if the writers or the director said: Oh, the audience also wants a kiss, so lets add it somewhere. A hug or some light cuddling, or even sitting very close to each other would have fit the overall mood better.
* I'm also not too sure about the female character, but since she had her own story arc and character development, I'll let it slide.

The plot itself, with its theme of exploration and the awkwardness of navigating relationships in adolescenece, is fine, and surely of interest to many. It's just that the way the series is brought to the screen cannot convey all the depth and the emotion it wanted.
Maybe if the creators had been clearer of the intended audience and made some bolder choices for directing according to that, it would have been more on point.

Overall, I found it okay to watch, but not worth a second time.

Leia Mais

This is a workplace story, set in the manga publishing industry -- with all its struggles in the early 2010s.

Why I gave ten points:
* The main character was quirky, energetic and enthusiastic, without being annoying. These traits were balanced with a grounding earnestness to understand and to grow.
* Overall, the show has a positive outlook on life and work, it is a Japanese-typical "ganbarimasu"-type of story. This, too, is balanced with scenes of failure, of darkness that lives within people, of sadness and introspection. Not everything is roses here, just like in Real Life.
* During the unfolding events, we get to grow close all of the characters, mangaka and editors alike. Some are more multi-faceted than others, but they all have their individual characteristics. Many of the characters get some chance to grow, sometimes in subtle ways -- which is an accomplishment to show for so many characters in such a short time.
* I liked that different sub-storylines connected to others, sometimes just for a few moments, sometimes longer.
* No Romance! It's about the characters and their journey, their interactions as colleagues and/or as editor-and-mangaka. (There is one scene when one character sends some glances in another character's direction which could be seen as some kind of romantic interest, but that's never acknowledged, and it's only the one time.)
* The struggles in the storylines were all either internal struggles of a person or issues of the publishing industry. There were no external conflicts, no "evil" people -- in short, no unnecessary drama.
* The length of the drama was just right for the storyline. It doesn't need more, but if it was shorter, the atmosphere would probably suffer.

All in all, I recommend the series, which has an overall optimistic tone balanced by darker and more sombre parts, which make a well-rounded story, with a small plot twist in the last episode.

[This is a very slightly edited version of my review on Viki.]

Leia Mais

This show is NOT: A romance drama. And NOT: A baseball drama.

Why not a baseball drama? Well... It's about the time between seasons, so there can't be any games played. We actually see only bits of a game at the start and pieces of two practice games. That's all.
This drama is more about the politics and management side of professional baseball in South Korea. If you are not a fan of strategic machinations and emotional development of characters, you might want to give this show a miss.

I liked that the drama does not insult its audience's intelligence. It does not spell out every little thing, it does not repeat the same information endlessly, and there are several times when little throwaway comments or actions make an impact in later episodes. This is not a drama to watch while doing other things.

I especially liked how realistic the actions of (almost) every character was. In systemic coaching (which I'm starting to learn for professional reasons), two of the main theses are: "Every person's actions make sense for that one person within the current situation, always." and "Every decision has a prize and a price."
Even if some things are only hinted at, or not fully explained, there's this feeling that every character has their own motivation for their decisions. There is no pure good or evil, just people.
The actors did a terrific job in bringing their characters to life.

I'm also glad that the writer did not try to force a romance into the plot. The dynamics between the two main characters were of the profesional sort, maybe with a hint of a possible friendship, but nothing more.

And one last thing I loved is the ending. This is not a 100% happy, team-spirit-has-overcome-everything ending, but an ending which rather shows that even though you might have grown, things will probably not work out like you would have wanted them to. For me, that was absolutely satisfying.

[this is an updated version of the review I posted on Viki]

Leia Mais

The story, just like Death itself, is quite simple and could be told in a few sentences.

What makes this movie amazing is how script, settings, nature, music and acting make a whole that is more than the sum of it parts.
The script itself - a journey to self-discovery, a story about leaving and letting go --has some rearkable lines that could sound cheesy but the way they are spoken, feel like profound truths of life. The acting makes as much use of silence as of speaking. The ritual of nokan has few words spoken, but the body language of the nokanshi and the bereaved speak volumes.

The music with it's leitmotif of "the Traveller" bridges the gap between what we see and what we feel.
And nature itself follows the flow of the story. The ending of the dream happens in late autumn, the winter storms accompany the lowest point of Daigo's lfe. Spring brings new hope and new life.
Similarly, the houses tell the stories of their owners: The bath house is run-down but lovingly maintained, Daigo's house where his mother lived is full of her own life and the memories of Daigo's father, and last but not least, the Nokanshi's living space is full of green and flourishing plants.

All of this is done with lovingly attention to detail: The ritual itself, of course. But have you seen that when Daigo washes the bath house owner's body -- the bowl Daigo uses is one of the bath house's?

When so much of the movie relies on silences, on the music and on the settings themselves -- what use is a review that uses the written word? Go, watch for yourself and feel what you see and hear.

Leia Mais

What is a family?

Six aspects I loved most:
* No romance! Yes, it feels like a BL at points, but it's not. This is about people who have found a place and people they belong to. If you consider all the families that are shown -- the four Rokuhoudou men, the chef, his daughter and the young man from the Italian lunch place, the brother and his patissier, and all these people who only appeared in one episode but found each other in the café -- none of these are what you think of when you first hear the word "family".
* The locations, the food, and the way both were filmed.
* Although this is a manga / anime adaptation, the producers made things look realistic -- no strange wigs, coloured contact lenses. The acting definitely shows the heritage, but it's not too over-the-top, and doesn't distract from the message at all.
* The intimacy between the four men in the café -- I loved that they don't shy away from expressing their feelings by touches, hugs, etc.
* As a bonus, they managed to include the Covid-pandemic as a plot point to underline the message on how integral their little family is to the Rokuhoudou guys.
* Nothing ever felt rushed in the story telling, it was slow where it should be without letting things drag. After all, this café is all about finding a place to enjoy good food, good drink and good company.

Overall, a lovely story about family, and where to find it, with a lot of tasty food.

Leia Mais

Down-to-earth but with introspective tones

The cases as they are, are not that complicated, it is much more about the characters themselves, their story, their motivations and how they deal with grief and danger. There a quite a few scenes where it seems as if "nothing" is happening -- those scenes show the characters, what they think, how they (re)act. Sometimes theyare there for the atmosphere, to allow for some introspection.

As such, the pacing can feel slow at times, but in my opinion, there is not one scene that's superfluous ar dragged out. Everything has its time.

This, and the fact that nothing is glittering or modern in this drama, make it exceptional. The main character is linving in a small neighbourhood in a house that doesn't even have an indoor toilet; the police in Shangta have their quarters in an old cinema, where there's no heating and the walls are crumbling. The whole town looks more or less run-down -- as do the actors. There are no airbrushed, beautiful people in colourful clothing here. Everything feels real (and very, very cold).

I love how down-to-earth the police are in this drama. While I certainly don't expect any real criticism of the system, the way the police officers make the best out of their limited ressources, how they grumble a bit about them but basically take them with a bit of humour; how they plod along and try to find the girl, but as humans, fail again and again -- this also makes the characters relatable.
And after the cases are closed, they all return to their daily lives; they live on as before, but something in them has changed.

Another point that I loved were the female characters, few of them as there were:
* The girl, of course. What a great actress! And what a strong and resourceful character! This is not a pitiable and helpless victim.
* The karaoke bar owner. She lost her family at an early age, is clearly jaded -- and still finds humanity and love in herself.
* And last but not least, the fire watcher ("bear lady"): She was beautiful in her love for the forest and the creatures living there, but was very realistic in her approach to life and death. She lived alone and was happy with that. She felt very solid and grounded.

One last mention goes to the music -- both the songs for the opening and closing credits are beautiful and fitting for the rest of the series.

[Cross-posted to Viki]

Leia Mais

A visual delight!

As many shorter K-BLs, this is a snack for in-between; light, without much substance but well-executed for what it is.

What I liked:
* This movie is a visual delight. The actors are cute, the lighting at night is bright and fits the mood, the sets look comfy.
* The background music confirms the light-heartedness of the story.
* The story does not pretend to be anything but what it is: A light and simple love story.
* The straightforwardness of the younger guy was refreshing, I loved how he made it very clear what he wanted, without pressuring the chef.

What I did not like:
* I wish the plot would focus on either the chef's inner journey from "Is it possible I find another man cute?" to "I want a relationship with him, even if my friend wants it too!" or the love triangle. Doing both means that they couldn't do either enough justice within the time frame they had.
* Why the timeskip at the end? It did not add anything meaningful to the plot or the character development, and it took away from the emotional impact that the couple had their happy ending. Maybe it was supposed to be a set-up for a possible sequel? It would explain why the usually more stoic chef would cry so hard during the hug.
* The realist in me is pointing out that a rooftop restaurant with comfy chairs and sofas is not a sensible thing: If it rains, everything will get wet. And what about winter?

Overall, like some other Korean BL-movies, a nice way to spend an afternoon if you need something where everybody is beautiful and nothing hurts (much) -- but you won't miss anything if you skip this one.

Leia Mais

Finding closure and moving on

This is mainly a story how people who are stuck in limbo after a close person's death (a brother, a friend) find closure so they can finally move on.
(Through the power of Love!)

... and I think this is why some might find that the romance part doesn't get enough screen time. This has been a point of contention in other recent (BL) productions too, that as soon as another story line gets more screen time, the romance part has to be cut a bit, which upsets some people.

If seen from this angle, writing choices make a lot of sense -- because grief needs time, grief is remembering the past, and letting it go. Trying new things can help, as can reliving the old things.
Neil needs someone to push him out of his fugue -- which Sea finally does. And only now that he is able to finally face the loss of his brother, his friend Reese, who until now had dedicated his life to help Neil, can also finally find his own new goal in life.

So, with these thoughts in mind, these are the things I loved:
* The time that was dedicated for flashbacks, and the way we got to see them bit by bit, to understand why the loss of Matt hit all of them so hard,
* the ugly crying -- crying is not cute, and if you really cry, then you don't care what you look like, you don't care about the snot and the mucus, you are just crying,
* the talks between Reese and Neil, which were so important for both, and obviously did not happen before,
* the way they found closure -- and that the writer chose to not go the route I expected in the beginning. This is obviosly onbly the start of a new part in the characters' lives.

Other aspects I liked:
* no romance arc between A-Liang and Ting Fei,
* the choice to show Sea's and Neil's first time as sensual rather than sexy,
* the way they chose to bridge the language barrier -- whenever Orca talks to anyone but Reese (as long as he doesn't want to rile someone up), they all talk in English. Heavily accented English, with grammar mistakes -- just as you would expect from people who speak English as a second language. For Reese and Orca, on the other hand, the writer makes it very clear that they both have been learning the other's language in secret -- they just choose not to speak it as long as they are at odds with each other.
* Actors were great -- I liked how Reese's actor gave it his all during the crying scenes, and I could watch Neil's eyes forever.

One story arc that got lost a bit for me, was Sea's story -- mainly how his feelings evolved from adoring his idol to loving Neil as an equal. I don't even think it would have taken much, just a small gesture or look here and there. It's already there, just not clearly told.
(I also wish they'd given him a different hair style, at least for the concerts. Especially during the last concert, his hair and his make-up made him look even younger than usual.)

I'm not too impressed with how the makers chose and used the background music. I'm not talking about the songs the characters sing, those are all right, if not my kind of music. I do think though that in a drama with music as a main theme, there should have been more focus on the effects background music can have. In several scenes, I found it distracting (silence is also very powerful! And it could have been used to its adavantage!) and overall, it was mostly bland.

All in all, it's a solid production, with a well-rounded cast and no glaring mistakes. "Finding closure through the power of Love" is a well-used trope and it's not badly implemented here at all.
Worth a watch.

Leia Mais

This was extremely hard to watch for me, and also to write a review, because my mother heard exactly the same diagnosis - and there was one scene in the film that came very close to how my mother died.
Mother-daughter-relationships are also at the centre of this film, not all of them are good or even resolved at all.
So, if you're also sensitive to the topics in this film -- late-stage cancer, death of a parent, mother-daughter-relationships - then you might want to avoid it.

That being said, the actors are excellent! This is one of the reasons I couldn't not finish the film, because the actors, child actress included, portrayed their characters so well that I was already invested in their story and needed to know how it all ends.

Regarding the story, apart from my personal hang-ups: The three main characters, are all female -- and they are who are shown as the ones who shape the family, who take on the challenges life throws at them -- while the men are more passive, even weak.
The thing is, the mother is shown too much as the "self-sacrificing prototype", which really got on my nerves after a while. I wish the mother had been given a bit more time for her own struggles, her own pain, her own grief for having to leave her family. There was only one scene, right after she heard her diagnosis, when she broke down, alone in the hot bath (excellently filmed, btw), and then, once, near the end. All of the rest showed her being dedicated to her growing family -- but a mother is also a person with her own life, and I really wish the writer had given her that. It wouldn't even have taken a lot, maybe just her wiping away a stray tear, looking at an old photo, hugging herself in the kitchen ... just show us that there's more to her than just "devoted mother".

Overall, I can see how many people would love this film, even maybe find solace in it -- and most of the aspects I did not like are more related to myself than to the film -- so if you think you can watch something with the above-mentioned topics, then you should definitely try this one.

Leia Mais

oof...

That took a turn.

What starts as a one-night-stand, awkward testing of interest via small talk and slight kink included, ends as something ... very different.
(tw for violence, maybe murder, rape)

This is only 16 minutes long, and the plot could be summerized in no more than three sentences, but there's so much to pick apart in the characterization of one of the main characters, especially in the second part, that it easily feels much longer.

Everything, from the dialogue (small talk to sex talk to only few words), to the use of space (the short film is only set in the apartment and the short hallway outside, and in the end it focuses more and more on tighter and tighter spaces), the use of light and shadow (brightly lit to shadowy), and to the excellent acting by both the actors -- all of it forces the viewer deeper into the darkness, and in the end it's clear that there will be no escape.

I'd recommend watching this at least once, but only if you're prepared to know that this is not a fluffy piece but a graphic depiction of the lengths an obsessed person will go to get what they want.

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