คู่รักอลวน วิวาห์อลเวง 2

I'm thrilled! I was excited from beginning to end. It's like the forbidden romance novel I always imagined, now on screen!

Fluid and accessible, yet leaves you with a sense of disorientation by the end. The first hour is exceptionally well-crafted, cleverly interweaving character relationships, inner emotions, and the historical context. You can truly feel the "Prince's" fear and anger, along with the light, complex emotions layered on top. The latter half, however, tumbles down with the rapidly accelerating plot, creating a disorienting effect. While the ending does circle back to the beginning, it feels a bit forced. A slower pace would have served it better. (Surprisingly the first review! And the film's boldness is unexpected. Also, who changed the title? It has nothing to do with a bar...)

In the twilight of Chilean pre-military dictatorship, the small prison is both a haven for homosexuals and a den of vice, where desire and conquest are laid bare. A prince may become a king, but what he cannot obtain will forever elude him. The new director is still too sensationalistic in his approach to the confined space theme, focusing on possessiveness rather than profound emotions.

Absolutely loved it. A self-pitying pretty boy, a jealous and psychotic murderer, and a promiscuous elder content in his prison. The climax in the second half could have been more impactful, but the lust, fear, and ambiguity in the first half were excellent. In this kind of ancient Greek-style May-December pairing, the older male lead usually has an absent father, leading him to seek support in homosexual relationships before becoming a support figure for another younger man.