![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddAt first, I started writing this really long post that went into the plot in great detail, but then I thought, "Screw this, what people really want is screencaps of shirtless guys!" Am I right? Be warned that this review contains me being snarky and flippant, and commentary on tragic, clichéd, same-sex love.
Boys Love
So the movie is called "Boys Love", right? My first thought was, "What? You mean there wasn't already a movie with that title?" Then, after a minute, I had to ask myself why, if they were at all serious, they would name a movie after a whole genre. Once I'd finished watching, I decided that it really should have been titled: "Boys Love : A Study In Genre Clichés".
Note: I had no subtitles when I first watched this, so while I understood most of the dialogue, and mainly accurately guessed the rest, I missed a few things, but that's all been cleared up because I found a script. And now, without further ado, A Review In Pictures!
The Players:
Mamiya - A young reporter for a magazine, The One Who Says Their Relationship "Isn't Like That"
Noeru - A handsome high school student who models, The One Who Drinks And Sleeps Around Because He's Lost Faith In Love/Promises
Chidori - A friend and classmate of Noeru's, The One Who Is Secretly In Love With His Best Friend And Willingly Devotes Himself To Said Friend In Hopes Of Someday Having His Affection Reciprocated
The Painting - A painting of a boy looking out to sea, The Meaningful Object Representing A Character's (in this case, Noeru's) Most Fondly-Held Wish
The Story:
The first shot is of a train racing through the Tokyo night. In a suspiciously deserted car (I don't think I've EVER been alone on a subway or train car in Tokyo, EVER, no matter the time of day or night):
Cut to a nice-looking apartment. Mamiya is interviewing Noeru, and instead of asking the typical "What's your favourite food? What kind of movies do you like?" questions, he asks about The Painting. Noeru seems intrigued. Later on, they end up going out to eat together. At the restaurant, Noeru insists on ordering champagne ("Dom Peri!"), to celebrate Mamiya's first "big" article. After a while of Noeru flirting with him, Mamiya stumbles off to the washroom. And then -- DAI SHOKKU!
Cut to the next morning:
Mamiya then goes back to looking troubled, this time at his reflection in the mirror.
Next we see Chidori sitting in class, looking back at Noeru's vacant desk. Finally, he runs out of class and finds Noeru sitting on the roof. They chat a bit, Chidori looks love-struck, and Noeru goes off to phone his agent, complaining that Mamiya was rude to him, and asks his agent to get Mamiya to come apologise in person.
Mamiya gets the call from Noeru's agent, and is understandably confused, but agrees to stop by Noeru's place later on. When he shows up...
Mamiya is, of course, shocked, and gets even more upset when Noeru tries to stick a hand down his pants. Mamiya turns to storm out, but Noeru stops him,
Cut to Mamiya's apartment, that evening:
Eventually he gets up and takes out his frustrations on the bag, flashing back to various shots of Noeru, including their bathroom encounter, and Noeru about to go down on him, telling him, "Don't be scared."
Cut to various scenes: Mamiya at work, Noeru sleeping through class, Mamiya walking around town, Noeru and Chidori on the roof of the school, Mamiya with his punching bag, Noeru naked with a (different) middle-aged man.
Evening: Mamiya is back at Noeru's apartment. Noeru aparently leaves his door unlocked, because Mamiya waltzes in when no one answers. Noeru is out, but Chidori shows up with a bag of groceries, because he is Noeru's self-appointed guardian/maid. Chidori accuses Mamiya of writing a nasty article about Noeru, and Mamiya figures out that Chidori is in love with Noeru. "Why are you hanging around him, still?" "Because he needs me, and one day, he'll choose me."
The next day, Mamiya shows up at the (conveniently otherwise deserted) pool where Noeru is swimming laps.
Noeru pulls him into the water, and they frollic around.
Noeru asks Chidori, who's still pouting, what's wrong, but Chidori won't answer. Instead, he finds the camera, has the film developed, and shows up at Mamiya's apartment (how did he find out where Mamiya lives, anyway?) in a jealous rage at one in the morning, looking for Noeru. He accuses Mamiya of toying with Noeru and leading him on.
Later (and it must be pretty late, by now!) Noeru gets home and finds Chidori there. Chidori wants to know what's going on between Noeru and Mamiya, and Noeru notices that his painting of the boy by the sea is gone. Chidori says he threw it out. Noeru flips out, and Chidori says, "What do you care? You don't need the painting anymore, just like you don't need me anymore!" Noeru punches him.
C: Do you love that guy?
N: (pause) I do.
C: More than Ken-chan? (HINT OF TRAGIC PAST!)
N: (silence)
C: I love you! I've always loved you! You were always supposed to come back to me! I'm the most important one for you! I'm the one you're supposed to love!
He tries to hug Noeru, but Noeru tells him that they're just friends before walking out of his apartment.
Well, well. Up to this point, I was thinking that the movie, while totally formulaic, wasn't too bad. Indeed, the actors are not bad, and nice to look at, and I was thinking that the last 1/2 hour of the movie would be comprised of more angsting around by all three parties until Chidori managed to put aside his feelings, the allusion to the mysterious Ken-chan was explained, and Noeru and Mamiya confessed their feelings to each other and started properly dating instead of just hanging out together and flirting. Silly me, I'd forgotten the very first scene of the movie! This is the point where it all degenerates into Super!Tragic!Love territory.
Ken-chan other boy?! Meanwhile, back in his apartment, Chidori cries himself to sleep in Noeru's bed. In Roppongi, Noeru gets beaten up and raped. No, really.
I seriously wish I could have written that last sentence without being flippant, because rape of any kind is disturbing, but this was just...
The next morning, a bruised Noeru is scolded by his manager, because he has to cancel his photoshoots until his face heals. Cue Montage of Angst!
The not-calling lasts until Mamiya opens the paper one morning only to see an article about Noeru being attacked. He rushes over to see Noeru after work, but it seems Noeru's been busy...
M: What the hell are you doing? What about your promise?!
N: Everyone breaks their promises eventually.
Finally, we learn that Ken-chan was a childhood friend of Noeru's, an older boy he greatly admired and loved. They promised each other they'd go see the ocean together someday, but then Ken-chan died of an illness, and so Noeru lost his faith in promises. Noeru breaks down once he'd told this, and Mamiya forgives him.
Later, Chidori shows up with The Painting, seemingly remorseful, until he sees:
The next morning, Mamiya's boss speaks to Mamiya. He's apparently received a call telling him that Mamiya's been perhaps less than professional with his interview subject. The next scene is of Noeru storming into his classroom and knocking Chidori to the floor, because Evil Chidori is the one who got Mamiya fired!
Noeru calls Mamiya:
M: Aren't you supposed to be in class?
N: I heard you lost your job. Because of me.
M: Don't be silly, I quit. It was my decision.
N: So... What now?
M: It's all right, I'll look for another job.
N: No, I meant about our relationship.
Cue happy montage: Mamiya and Noeru look at magazines together, they chase each other around Mamiya's punching bag, Noeru pays attention in class (but Chidori's desk is vacant), they race each other in the pool, Noeru starts sketching a portrait of Mamiya.
Again, I was thinking that things were back on track, that tragedy had been averted. HOWEVER! While Noeru is teasing Mamiya about the portrait, Chidori shows up.
He tries to stab Mamiya, but --
Seriously!
One thing I couldn't figure out was how Mamiya managed to carry Noeru's lifeless body (there's no sign he's still alive, anyway) around Tokyo without rousing suspicion, because there's no direct train line from Roppongi to the ocean, and it would take at least an hour.
Apart from the totally silly tragic ending, what annoyed me the most about this movie was that apart from the initial blow job, the only actual sex we're shown is Noeru with random men and the rape scene, so it smacks of "gay sex = bad", even though I know that's not the point, and that we're supposed to mourn the fact that Noeru and Mamiya never got the chance to develop a deep, loving relationship.
All right, that's enough, I've been thinking much too much about this movie. After all, I still have the theatre release* to watch! Wish me luck? XD
* This movie was a DVD release, and was popular enough that the director was asked to remake it for theatre release. They kept the title and Kotani Yoshikazu (Mamiya), but changed everything else, including the story. In this version, Kotani plays a teacher at a Catholic school who is shocked to discover that the boy he had a one night stand with is now one of his students!
Boys Love
So the movie is called "Boys Love", right? My first thought was, "What? You mean there wasn't already a movie with that title?" Then, after a minute, I had to ask myself why, if they were at all serious, they would name a movie after a whole genre. Once I'd finished watching, I decided that it really should have been titled: "Boys Love : A Study In Genre Clichés".
Note: I had no subtitles when I first watched this, so while I understood most of the dialogue, and mainly accurately guessed the rest, I missed a few things, but that's all been cleared up because I found a script. And now, without further ado, A Review In Pictures!
The Players:
Mamiya - A young reporter for a magazine, The One Who Says Their Relationship "Isn't Like That"
Noeru - A handsome high school student who models, The One Who Drinks And Sleeps Around Because He's Lost Faith In Love/Promises
Chidori - A friend and classmate of Noeru's, The One Who Is Secretly In Love With His Best Friend And Willingly Devotes Himself To Said Friend In Hopes Of Someday Having His Affection Reciprocated
The Painting - A painting of a boy looking out to sea, The Meaningful Object Representing A Character's (in this case, Noeru's) Most Fondly-Held Wish
The Story:
The first shot is of a train racing through the Tokyo night. In a suspiciously deserted car (I don't think I've EVER been alone on a subway or train car in Tokyo, EVER, no matter the time of day or night):
Cut to a nice-looking apartment. Mamiya is interviewing Noeru, and instead of asking the typical "What's your favourite food? What kind of movies do you like?" questions, he asks about The Painting. Noeru seems intrigued. Later on, they end up going out to eat together. At the restaurant, Noeru insists on ordering champagne ("Dom Peri!"), to celebrate Mamiya's first "big" article. After a while of Noeru flirting with him, Mamiya stumbles off to the washroom. And then -- DAI SHOKKU!
Hey there, handsome, why don't you come into this stall with me?
Cut to the next morning:
Mamiya then goes back to looking troubled, this time at his reflection in the mirror.
Next we see Chidori sitting in class, looking back at Noeru's vacant desk. Finally, he runs out of class and finds Noeru sitting on the roof. They chat a bit, Chidori looks love-struck, and Noeru goes off to phone his agent, complaining that Mamiya was rude to him, and asks his agent to get Mamiya to come apologise in person.
Mamiya gets the call from Noeru's agent, and is understandably confused, but agrees to stop by Noeru's place later on. When he shows up...
OMG! There's a middle-aged salaryman getting dressed in your bedroom!
Mamiya is, of course, shocked, and gets even more upset when Noeru tries to stick a hand down his pants. Mamiya turns to storm out, but Noeru stops him,
Cut to Mamiya's apartment, that evening:
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...
Also, I appear to live in converted office space.
Also, I appear to live in converted office space.
Eventually he gets up and takes out his frustrations on the bag, flashing back to various shots of Noeru, including their bathroom encounter, and Noeru about to go down on him, telling him, "Don't be scared."
Cut to various scenes: Mamiya at work, Noeru sleeping through class, Mamiya walking around town, Noeru and Chidori on the roof of the school, Mamiya with his punching bag, Noeru naked with a (different) middle-aged man.
Evening: Mamiya is back at Noeru's apartment. Noeru aparently leaves his door unlocked, because Mamiya waltzes in when no one answers. Noeru is out, but Chidori shows up with a bag of groceries, because he is Noeru's self-appointed guardian/maid. Chidori accuses Mamiya of writing a nasty article about Noeru, and Mamiya figures out that Chidori is in love with Noeru. "Why are you hanging around him, still?" "Because he needs me, and one day, he'll choose me."
The next day, Mamiya shows up at the (conveniently otherwise deserted) pool where Noeru is swimming laps.
Don't mind me, I'll just admire your hot body while I try to convince you to give up your slutty, drunken ways and be nicer to poor Chidori.
Noeru pulls him into the water, and they frollic around.
My jealous face, let me show you it.
Noeru asks Chidori, who's still pouting, what's wrong, but Chidori won't answer. Instead, he finds the camera, has the film developed, and shows up at Mamiya's apartment (how did he find out where Mamiya lives, anyway?) in a jealous rage at one in the morning, looking for Noeru. He accuses Mamiya of toying with Noeru and leading him on.
Grr! Back off, bitch!
Later (and it must be pretty late, by now!) Noeru gets home and finds Chidori there. Chidori wants to know what's going on between Noeru and Mamiya, and Noeru notices that his painting of the boy by the sea is gone. Chidori says he threw it out. Noeru flips out, and Chidori says, "What do you care? You don't need the painting anymore, just like you don't need me anymore!" Noeru punches him.
C: Do you love that guy?
N: (pause) I do.
C: More than Ken-chan? (HINT OF TRAGIC PAST!)
N: (silence)
C: I love you! I've always loved you! You were always supposed to come back to me! I'm the most important one for you! I'm the one you're supposed to love!
He tries to hug Noeru, but Noeru tells him that they're just friends before walking out of his apartment.
Well, well. Up to this point, I was thinking that the movie, while totally formulaic, wasn't too bad. Indeed, the actors are not bad, and nice to look at, and I was thinking that the last 1/2 hour of the movie would be comprised of more angsting around by all three parties until Chidori managed to put aside his feelings, the allusion to the mysterious Ken-chan was explained, and Noeru and Mamiya confessed their feelings to each other and started properly dating instead of just hanging out together and flirting. Silly me, I'd forgotten the very first scene of the movie! This is the point where it all degenerates into Super!Tragic!Love territory.
I seriously wish I could have written that last sentence without being flippant, because rape of any kind is disturbing, but this was just...
The next morning, a bruised Noeru is scolded by his manager, because he has to cancel his photoshoots until his face heals. Cue Montage of Angst!
The not-calling lasts until Mamiya opens the paper one morning only to see an article about Noeru being attacked. He rushes over to see Noeru after work, but it seems Noeru's been busy...
M: What the hell are you doing? What about your promise?!
N: Everyone breaks their promises eventually.
Finally, we learn that Ken-chan was a childhood friend of Noeru's, an older boy he greatly admired and loved. They promised each other they'd go see the ocean together someday, but then Ken-chan died of an illness, and so Noeru lost his faith in promises. Noeru breaks down once he'd told this, and Mamiya forgives him.
Later, Chidori shows up with The Painting, seemingly remorseful, until he sees:
My jealous face, let me show you it again!
The next morning, Mamiya's boss speaks to Mamiya. He's apparently received a call telling him that Mamiya's been perhaps less than professional with his interview subject. The next scene is of Noeru storming into his classroom and knocking Chidori to the floor, because Evil Chidori is the one who got Mamiya fired!
Noeru calls Mamiya:
M: Aren't you supposed to be in class?
N: I heard you lost your job. Because of me.
M: Don't be silly, I quit. It was my decision.
N: So... What now?
M: It's all right, I'll look for another job.
N: No, I meant about our relationship.
I don't want to change anything.
I was hoping you'd say that.
Cue happy montage: Mamiya and Noeru look at magazines together, they chase each other around Mamiya's punching bag, Noeru pays attention in class (but Chidori's desk is vacant), they race each other in the pool, Noeru starts sketching a portrait of Mamiya.
Mamiya: You're not going to do anything pervy, like sketch me naked, right?
Noeru: Would I do that?
Noeru: Would I do that?
Again, I was thinking that things were back on track, that tragedy had been averted. HOWEVER! While Noeru is teasing Mamiya about the portrait, Chidori shows up.
Can't believe the movie has actually come to this.
He tries to stab Mamiya, but --
The End.
Seriously!
One thing I couldn't figure out was how Mamiya managed to carry Noeru's lifeless body (there's no sign he's still alive, anyway) around Tokyo without rousing suspicion, because there's no direct train line from Roppongi to the ocean, and it would take at least an hour.
Apart from the totally silly tragic ending, what annoyed me the most about this movie was that apart from the initial blow job, the only actual sex we're shown is Noeru with random men and the rape scene, so it smacks of "gay sex = bad", even though I know that's not the point, and that we're supposed to mourn the fact that Noeru and Mamiya never got the chance to develop a deep, loving relationship.
All right, that's enough, I've been thinking much too much about this movie. After all, I still have the theatre release* to watch! Wish me luck? XD
* This movie was a DVD release, and was popular enough that the director was asked to remake it for theatre release. They kept the title and Kotani Yoshikazu (Mamiya), but changed everything else, including the story. In this version, Kotani plays a teacher at a Catholic school who is shocked to discover that the boy he had a one night stand with is now one of his students!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 04:33 pm (UTC)I may have made it sound worse than it is; aside from the completely ridiculous ending, it's really not bad, though it's completely generic (it's boy love paint-by-numbers!). The leads are good, nice to look at, and it's not overly dramatic, for the most part, if you can ignore Chidori's near-permanent bitchface. Though I'm kind of bitter that you only get to see Noeru have sex with old guys. With a face like that, you'd think he could do way better!
I can't remember where I downloaded it, but I'll try and look it up if you're interested.