Floss (2019)

I have no idea what I just watched but let me explain

Now, before I begin I just have to say that I do not fetish shame and when I read the synopsis I thought, "hmm, this looks like an interesting short film." However, after watching this I am truly wondering what the fuck did I just watch.

The idea is there but was poorly executed with the lack of dialogue or monologue in order to understand the main character. I understand that sometimes one's fetish does not need to be understood by others, maybe that was the director's intent, however, it leaves the audience, such as myself, wondering if I truly wasted 14 mins of my life watching this and thinking, "okay?".

We get a scene where he is at the dentist and the dentist tells him how horny the main lead left him which then the later scene proceeds with the ML groping the dentist THEN NOTHING. There is no continuation or explanation as to if there is an affair between him and the dentist, or what was the purpose of that besides the ML's fetish with teeth. I was also left confused as to whether his fetish for teeth is for his own, his boyfriend's, or if he groped the doctor because he touches other people's teeth.

the director seemed to have tried to portray the main character's internal dilemma with his own fetish by, obviously, concealing it from others and not finding any sexual satisfaction from sex with his partner.

I gave it a 3.5 because a lot was left up for interpretation and when I say a lot I mean the entire thing since there was not much to work with besides a scene WITH A LOT OF FLASHING, which I would have appreciated a warning because my brain was stunted for a while looking at all those flashing lights to which I did not even understand the purpose of.

I would not watch it again and if I do, it would be maybe to determine if there was a hidden message somewhere in those 14 mins. If you are watching it because its rated, "R" then there are some scenes (3?) but that is all it is and maybe some more development would have made it better.

Read More

Disturbing: I'm not sure about the what and why, icky but kinda grossly fascinating

This very short movie of about 15 minutes is very indie as it focus on a very odd and relatively disturbing topic as one of the character has a strong secret kink. No judgment from my part, but I personally found it quite gross and icky.

The camera does not shy from the disturbing details and the main actor does an overall convincing job. The filmmaking has a very strong approach on featuring the specific kink of the main character. It is kinda fascinating in a way and I felt a bit sick watching it.

It is impactful in a way but I am absolutely not sure of what the movie is trying to say or why...Honestly there are many fascinating elements in the psyche of the main character that would be interesting to explore...But the short length of the movie prevent any kind of plot & character development.

I would not recommend this movie as I am so unsure of what to think of it after watching it. It is pretty short so you might want to give it a shot if you like indie movies featuring somewhat obscure and disturbing topic.

Read More

I'll start by saying that if you aren't used to the explicity and the bizarre endings that characterise chinese gay movies, maybe this is not made for you.
Plot/Characters:
I don't know if it is just my personal taste, but I found this short pretty intriguing. The story is one of a kind I would say, or at least not one you could find everywhere. It is a short film so it doesn't show that much or doesn't explain in details what portrayed; but still it was able to express something.
The first thing I noticed is that most of the events take place at night, maybe because it is one of the quietest parts of the day so the perfect one to do things undisturbed; so suitable for Ting's purposes.
I have to admit that my first impression of him was of a young, certainly sensual, and cold boy. Cold because as we could see he didn't seem to care that much about his boyfriend, but to find more interesting everything related to his teeth. But towards the end of the short my perception of him changed. He may seem to be indifferent as before, but his eyes tell that there's something troubling him. When he watched the photos of him and Mark, his boyfriend, I realized that maybe it is not like he doesn't care about him, but he finds it hard to do so due to his "fetish". I believe that in some kind of way he feels guilty because he knows that he will never be able to love him, since he can't find pleasure in anything else with the exception of teeth-related stuff.

Cast: the acting wasn't one of the best I've ever seen, but it wasn't bad either. I liked the way the main actor interpreted Ting because in my opinion he was able to portray well his obsession.

Cinematography: the scenes were on point and conveyed perfectly the sense of obsession.

So in conclusion I didn't dislike watching this short film, but as said before I would recommend it only to those who appreciate ore are familiar with similar movies .

Read More

Very Disturbing

See, I found this extremely disturbing to say the least. Especially when I have a teeth phobia.
The story itself isn’t bad, as Ting has a new boyfriend where our ML (main lead) comes in, Mark. And so, he has a hard time trying to tell Mark that he has a teeth fetish. A very strong one. Although it may sound a little bad, it’s not completely bad, from just reading it I didn’t think to much thought into it as I should’ve, since I didn’t really expect all of the disturbing parts such as: close up shots of mouths. And they brings us to our next topic; Disturbing parts!
So, off the bat it starts us off with a close up shot of Mark eating.. and this isn’t the only part where it’s disturbing, no no no… it has multiple of multiple close up shots of teeth, and eating, and just in general gross things. For a film that is 15 minutes long and is named “Floss”, I should’ve expected this. But, it was just.. gross. I hate seeing people eat, hate seeing people Floss, even hate hearing people chew. It’s disgusting (to me).
I have zero hate for people with fetishes such as teeth fetishes, this is just my opinion and my side of this film and how I’m viewing it.
I feel like there’s just so many explicit scenes, though it did show that ‘18+’ viewer age on the page. It was just so many, more than half of it was just that, and if it wasn’t it was just weird and disturbing clips. The entire film felt wrong watching, and I felt grossed out by it.
This is just my opinion and my viewing of this film!

Read More

Whether we like it or not, we can only have one part of our partners

"Why don't you ever kiss me?" Mark asks his boyfriend Li Ting in the short film "Floss," by Chinese filmmaker Fan Popo, known for his documentaries "Mama Rainbow" (2012) and "Papa Rainbow" (2016), which address the experience of parents coming to terms with their children's sexual and gender identities in a society where family and face remain paramount. "I just did it," Li Ting replies without flinching. "No, I mean with tongue kissing".
By then, viewers have already discovered that Li Ting is harboring a strange secret: he's obsessed with teeth, both his own and Mark's, but especially with the delicate floss they use daily to clean them. His obsession even drives him to dive into the piled-up trash to retrieve a floss used by his partner. We soon discover that his paranoia has nothing to do with oral hygiene.
If in 'The Drum Tower', her previous work of fiction, also from 2019, Fan posed a story about the budding connection between an introverted student and a transgender shopkeeper in Beijing, in 'Floss' she explores the abject objects of our desire and the often unacknowledged loneliness of love, seen through the relationship between two young people in the Chinese capital that becomes strained after one of them develops an unusual fetish.
In the short film, the Chinese filmmaker (whose work is compared to that of fellow queer filmmakers He Xiaopei and Cui Zi'en for his "direct queer aesthetic", with a "media-savvy" approach, linked to the global LGBT+ movement and advocating for the acceptance of queer people in a more open and diverse society) introduces us to a pair of lovers: Mark (played by Xiao Ke) and Li Ting (Etsen Chen).
In the eyes of others, the two young professionals live a life no different from any other couple: they go out to dinner at luxurious restaurants, and after returning home from walking the dog, they settle down on the couch to watch movies together. Every night, in the bedroom, they have hot, energetic sex, in large quantities.
But an obsession grows in Li Ting's heart. When Mark, after shopping at the market, shows up at the house with floss sticks instead of the usual dental floss, Li Ting can't hide his Dissatisfaction.
That night, during sex, Li Ting shows no interest in emotional intimacy. Time and again, she offers her boyfriend excuses avoiding much more embarrassing situations. Distressed, Mark tells her at one point, "I don't think you like me at all." And he receives silence in response.
Matthias Delvaux's cinematography soon shows us that the photos of a happy couple decorating the apartment bear little resemblance to the sullen couple who live within its four walls.
From this moment on, things visibly change within the couple. Or have the images shown of the couple at the beginning only exposed a false reality, an illusory world? Have the two protagonists truly been happy? Despite the vigorous sex, is there passion? Don't the two seem to be living in separate, different worlds? Doesn't Li Ting look away from Mark while they have sex? Isn't he later tormented by dreams of being bound by a glowing spider web?
And that's when the viewer begins to understand what Fan is trying to tell us: the line between desire and disgust can be so thin that it can be erased at any moment and by any trigger: for some, it might be sweat, saliva, an unwashed body... For others, it's our partner's semen spilled on our chest during sex, blood, and pieces of chewed food.
The neurotic protagonist of the short film is aware of the abject nature of his own fetish. Expressing his obsession also entails shame and the silence that comes with it. That's why he prefers not to kiss Mark; why he chooses to look away when he meets her gaze; why he chooses to remain silent...
How much of ourselves do we hide from the person closest to us? That's the central question that 'Floss' invites the audience to reflect on, as it uncovers an uncomfortable truth: whether we like it or not, we can only have one side of our partners.
What's interesting about the film is that through the sexual obsession with dental floss, something certainly novel, 'Floss' examines contemporary relationships and the secrets we all have and jealously guard.
The film explores the communication barriers that exist between human beings, no matter how close or intimate we are with the people around us. Li Ting's confusion reflects the loneliness of ordinary people, especially those living in big cities.
Li Ting's obsession invites us to reflect on the intimate and idiosyncratic nature of fantasy and the power it wields, especially when it involves some aspect of reality that is often forgotten or forbidden in everyday life, as the Chinese director so aptly reminds us.
Presented at Palm Springs International Short Fest, Queer Lisboa, and Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival in 2019, and Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival in 2020, in 'Foss' the Chinese director accepts the challenge of tackling themes and approaches little explored by much of current LGBT+ cinema, to focus on the less attractive aspects of love and lust, in this case a fetish, to question the universal model of the monogamous couple.

Read More