"The Name Engraved in Your Heart" is not so much a romance film as it is a social and historical film. In May 2019, Taiwan passed the same-sex marriage legalization act, becoming the first region in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage (it seems to be the same so far). The film almost follows the timeline of the 30-year gay rights movement in Taiwan, interspersed with the backs of historical events and tributes to classic literary and artistic works. After watching the film, it is already embarrassing. If you look at the 30 years of blood and tears behind it, it will be even more so. Emotional.
The story takes place after the lifting of the martial law, Taiwan's social atmosphere has loosened, and the church school has also begun to recruit girls, and two boys in the same school, Jiahan and Birdy, fall in love at first sight, and begin to test, ambiguous, hesitant, struggle, and tragedy in the name of friends. . Chiang Ching-kuo's death in Yeling became the beginning of a date for the two of them. They were left in Taiwan's movie theaters. Swimming lessons and band training reminded me of "The Blue Door" back then.
Just when I thought it was a youth romance film, there was a street protest of same-sex equality in the film. The prototype of the protesters was Qi Jiawei, the father of Taiwan's gay rights movement. Qi Jiawei's status in Taiwan's affirmative action movement is equivalent to Luo Dayou's status in Taiwan's pop music industry. After that, Birdy chose to go to the closet, and even took the initiative to join the girls' class in the same school, not because of doubts about his identity, but after careful consideration. In reality, in 2000, more than ten years after the story happened, the young Ye Yongzhi was bullied to death by his classmates because of his femininity. In a time when homosexuality was considered a disease, it was the best excuse for bullying. The youthful love of the two ended in tragedy, which is the most normal ending. Afterwards, family members who had doubts about their own identity went to Er28 Park to look for their counterparts, obviously carrying the shadow of "Niezi", which also reminded me of "East Palace West Palace". Thirty years have passed, and the lonely family went to Montreal to find the priest of the school. Only then did he point out that the priest was also gay. The place where the priest could not love and left his hometown has become the most tolerant and open city in North America. one. Jiahan's meeting with the priest's lover, and unlocking the priest's secret, is one of the tears of the film. Later, when Jiahan went to the Nicaragua Falls, the plot was a bit redundant compared to the main story line. If it wasn't for the original work, there should also be a tribute to "Happy Spring".
The director said that this film is an adaptation of his own story-he grew up in a Christian family, and coming out of the closet is also a well-known event in 2020. Of course, many of his own personal memories have been added to the story, but the homosexuality of that era and the post-legal , Even the younger generation of the pre-legal 2010s are obviously different in terms of ideas, family and social environment, and political atmosphere. They have the subcultural feeling of depression, struggle, violation of ethics and family expectations that we are more familiar with. A lot of seasonings are added. Some viewers complained that they couldn't understand it and the editing was broken, but I don't feel that way - the audience may not know much about that era, and there are many behind-the-scenes words that the director doesn't need to say on the screen.
Homosexuality was never a gay issue, it was a power issue. Of course, the efforts of Qi Jiawei's generation can solve the problem of homosexuality in Taiwan, but it also shows the power of social progress. In East Asia, homosexuality is often accompanied by resistance from family and society. Unlike Western society, it is mainly the pursuit of personal happiness. You can see it by watching "I Love You, Simon" and "Call Me by Your Name". For wealthy and enlightened families, it is not a problem to engage in homosexuality. The main contradiction lies in their own identity; but in China, Japan and South Korea, even though the people have been relatively tolerant towards homosexuality for thousands of years (no religious constraints), but in modern times , Under the pressure of legal ethics, homosexuality and femininity have been criminalized, which makes all homosexual films have a layer of social significance, such as "Farewell My Concubine", such as "Lan Yu", and even today, such films It's not even possible to show it. Of course, this does not include danmei films, which can almost be said to be genre films under the new situation, no different from heterosexual films. In other conservative countries, such as Georgia, homosexuality has a political meaning, such as "Then We Danced", and the heavyness of the film mainly falls on the heavy history of the ancient Caucasus country and the complicated relationship with the Soviet Union.
Aside from the priest's secret, the film gave me two tears at the end. One is that a middle-aged Jiahan met a middle-aged Birdy in Montreal. Jiahan summoned his courage and asked Birdy if he wanted to sit in his hotel room and have a drink; Birdy refused, but on the steps, Jiahan turned around. Saying "good night", birdy immediately replied "good night", and then the family said, good night. "Good night" is a play on words when they were young: good night, WANAN, i.e. I love you, love you. Jiahan thought Birdy's hot air balloon was for Banban, but now he realizes that it was for himself. The last scene, the old city of Quebec, after the tired figures and bleak eyes of the middle-aged Jiahan and the middle-aged birdy, they are imaginary teenagers appearing on the street of the old city facing the sea. In the night, they hugged guitars and footballs, were carefree, enjoyed a beautiful love, and then walked off the stage like the end of the play. This scene is especially sad - the young and beautiful body is gone, and the youthful years are gone. No matter what the final outcome is, whether it's equal rights or legality, their 30 years can't go back.
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