2
Saeng
in my Pillowfort
This review may contain spoilers
If a film from Japan is 60 minutes long and has an 18+ rating, then there's a good chance that it is a pink film -- with all that entails about crass sex scenes, random nudity, production quality and sometimes questionable plot.
For more info, I recommend RandomUsagi's introduction to their list of gay pink films (https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrm2893) and a comment of theirs about the distinction between BL and gay pink films (https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrm2893#comment-19083260).
I haven't seen a lot of gay pink films yet, but what I appreciate about some of those I've watched is the way they use soft porn to tell stories about the universal human experience -- love, loss and gentle heartbreak.
This is one of those.
The main character (Takeshi) is torn between familial obligations and wanting to live his own life -- this resonated deeply with me, and maybe other people who are or have been in the same place in life.
Love and loss play a big part in this story: His boyfriend Kazuyoshi, who left Takeshi to pursue his own career while Takeshi remained to care for his elderly and disabled father, returns, but only for a short while. His sister leaves the house to get married. The gift from the ocean, the man without history, Akira, might have been a temporary person in Takeshi's life.
What is not said is at times more important in this film than what the characters tell us. I liked the use of silence and the chosen soundtrack.
I am impressed by how the director managed to give the obligatory sex scenes some meaning -- the first, before the break up, is loving, on the dry part of the beach, warmed by a nearby fire -- the second, the reunion, is harsher, on the wet sand -- the third in the liminal space between land and sea, doused in cold ocean water, bodies smeared with black sand -- and the in last scene at the beach which, in contrast, is not even a sex scene, both men are overwhelmed by their emotions and, in accordance, by the waves crashing over them.
The acting was not bad, I've seen worse in other modern gay pink films, and the plot holes are not that bad, considering the film is only 60 minutes long -- it's not about the plot anyway but either about the sex or the emotions (whichever the viewer prefers).
If you don't mind the way sex scenes are done in pink films, and are willing to look beyond the plot holes, it's a not-bad way to spend an hour.
For more info, I recommend RandomUsagi's introduction to their list of gay pink films (https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrm2893) and a comment of theirs about the distinction between BL and gay pink films (https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrm2893#comment-19083260).
I haven't seen a lot of gay pink films yet, but what I appreciate about some of those I've watched is the way they use soft porn to tell stories about the universal human experience -- love, loss and gentle heartbreak.
This is one of those.
The main character (Takeshi) is torn between familial obligations and wanting to live his own life -- this resonated deeply with me, and maybe other people who are or have been in the same place in life.
Love and loss play a big part in this story: His boyfriend Kazuyoshi, who left Takeshi to pursue his own career while Takeshi remained to care for his elderly and disabled father, returns, but only for a short while. His sister leaves the house to get married. The gift from the ocean, the man without history, Akira, might have been a temporary person in Takeshi's life.
What is not said is at times more important in this film than what the characters tell us. I liked the use of silence and the chosen soundtrack.
I am impressed by how the director managed to give the obligatory sex scenes some meaning -- the first, before the break up, is loving, on the dry part of the beach, warmed by a nearby fire -- the second, the reunion, is harsher, on the wet sand -- the third in the liminal space between land and sea, doused in cold ocean water, bodies smeared with black sand -- and the in last scene at the beach which, in contrast, is not even a sex scene, both men are overwhelmed by their emotions and, in accordance, by the waves crashing over them.
The acting was not bad, I've seen worse in other modern gay pink films, and the plot holes are not that bad, considering the film is only 60 minutes long -- it's not about the plot anyway but either about the sex or the emotions (whichever the viewer prefers).
If you don't mind the way sex scenes are done in pink films, and are willing to look beyond the plot holes, it's a not-bad way to spend an hour.
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