When the Waves Rise

still cliché...

There is the boy who likes the other boy and still says "He's not that way". That cliché is sooooo old and is just annoying. The bullying consists in a passive way, shunning the other boy. The end scene does not really tell us if they get togehter or not at least the boy which is not that way seems to be that way.

So I don't like the premise much, the acting is a bit over medicore but for a coming of age story the actors are too old imho. Cinematography is nice, music is good but it lacks depth. Even for a short film there was not much substance.

Overall it's not bad but also not good. Even in 2020 we should expect better writing, more emotions and someone who stands up against bullying especially in a gay context. This is just medicore.

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A film that has something in it...

A film that has something in it that I can't exactly define from my inner perspective, gentle, light and essentially simple, about the beauty of life and individual moments, fragments of life that are not always completely clear. I perceive it not as a short film, it is exactly on the border (40 min), but as a feature film, which was also awarded at the Seoul International PRIDE Film Festival in 2021. I also appreciate that the guys were chosen realistically, they are not handsome guys from a poster and I don't mind the slightly open ending at all, on the contrary, I like the film and its mood ...

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It's the date for me...

This is one of, if not the, most beautiful movies I have watched in the past few years. I've watched it maybe 5–7 times since I came across it a few months back.
There is something so subtle and powerful in the way each scene is portrayed. I could write a thesis on this short movie, going into details about all that is carried in those silent moments.

I love everything about this movie, but the scene that just lives rent-free in my mind is the one where we see the calendar on Hwi-young's desk: he has marked in red his friend Kyung-jun's birthday on the 11th, but not his own, which comes on the 18th.
Because his mother died giving birth to him, his family resents him (and goes as far as accusing him of killing his own mother...!). And he has no friends who would wish him a happy birthday. So he doesn't expect anything and doesn't celebrate it... Until his one (1) friend, Kyung-jun, asks him out on a trip to actually celebrate it !
So HY, who never asked for anything, circles—probably for the first time—the date of his birthday on his calendar, picks out a location (the sea), and books the bus tickets to spend that one day with his best friend. But then his supposed friend starts withdrawing from him.
HY tries his best, though.
He tries talking to KJ to clarify things, but KJ ignores him.
He goes to the station by himself but still hopes for his friend to show up.
And eventually, alone, he takes the bus to go to the sea.
He doesn't break down, he doesn't throw a fit, he doesn't cancel his plans, even if it means spending his birthday by himself in a foreign place.
HY is quiet, he's insecure, he's not popular, he admits not being smart too—but he's NOT weak.

The one thing that annoyed me the most is, coincidentally, a mistake from production about the dates.
KJ's birthday is Thursday the 11th. HY's is Thursday the 18th.
HY takes the bus at night (9 PM), i suppose on Wednesday the 17th because the plan was to spend his birthday by the sea.
The next day, in the evening (after school, the sun is setting), KJ and his friends are talking about the dates, and they say it's Wednesday the 18th (which is not possible) instead of Thursday the 18th.
When KJ reaches HY at the beach, it's daylight, so it means it's Friday the 19th.
Also, when we see HY on the beach Friday, he has the same clothes as on Wednesday except for the shoes, which makes it seem like no time has passed, and it's very confusing (since we are shown HY packing several pieces of clothing, production could have made him change clothes for the beach scene).
Why am I nitpicking about this? Because the beach scene has a vibe of its own which makes you wonder if it's reality, a dream or something else entirely : the waves crash on the beach, where the boys are sitting as they slowly fade away in some cinematography effect. HY breaks the fourth wall and looks directly into the camera. We also don't really know when KJ took the bus (did he actually?)... and since the dates and clothes add confusion on top of all of this, for a second, I thought the last scene was all HY's imagination... and that maybe he even... died?
So yeah, not a good feeling.

Overall, it's a subtle story, but it has my heart, and I wish for everyone to watch it.

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