Gay Themes Movie: Boys Love (2006)

Stars : Takumi Saitô, Atsumi Kanno, Yoshikazu Kotani |
Source : AVI
Size : 677 MB
Subtitle : -
Language : Japanese

Info : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235414/

SYNOPSIS :

The title and the description- tormented young artist falls for straight laced reporter- made me expect the common Boys' Love clichés. Anyone familiar with this particular genre of manga/anime/games knows that it is a far cry from reality, in fact, it is deliberately escapist and more often than not it only recycles the exact same elements to the point one knows exactly what will happen beforehand.

In other words: it harbors few surprises or innovations.

'Boys Love', however, is not so. Surprisingly enough it does go in-depth into the characters' relationship without exploiting it for kinky purposes. There is a lot of angst but it is for the most part justified. The quotes about love that frame scenes and the overly present soundtrack do detract from the overall appreciation of the movie but the essential structure is not greatly affected.

It has a certain psychological realism that highlights the dangers of obsession and the redemptive power of love without falling off the deep end of cheesiness galore as tends to happen all too often in this kind of movie. Perhaps staying true to Boys Love as a genre there is something of a disconnect between the very real social context in which homosexuality is far from tolerated and the movie's universe. It is not complete, there are hints of it throughout the story, but it is underplayed considerably. And as it tends to be the case with Japanese works about the subject, the idea of sexual orientation is not even mentioned as such. Which allows for the movie to unfold as a love story first and foremost, of the very personal kind, and not a commentary on society. In a way this approach (again, somewhat prevalent in Japanese productions) is refreshing since it gives space for the relationship proper to occupy in the narrative but in another way it strikes one as highly artificial when taken too far.

The end is both moving and low key in execution which might be for the best. After all there is not much artistry to this movie and its strongest points rely on its sincerity of delivery.

Screen Shoot