okay, i've finally collected my thoughts and i can properly review episode three. (taken from my letterboxd).
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, OH MY FUCKING GOD (ironic). TICKET TO HEAVEN FEELS SO UNREAL, LIKE, HOW WERE WE GIVEN THE ABILITY TO WATCH THIS LEGENDARY, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, HEARTBREAKING, HEARTWRENCHING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMMERSIVE ETC. SERIES!??!?!?!?!?
anyways.
as somebody who studied religious studies/education in school, seeing the focus of the episode being on the 'seven deadly sins', specifically on 'lust' made my heart beat so fast before the episode even started. lust is defined as the 'disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure' but seeing lust through the character of tanrak - we understand and see his fundamental vulnerability, a 'flaw' and a sign of his struggle in sacrificing his principles, self-control as well as belief. from the last episode, in the ten minutes we'd seen his inner-conflict and turmoil due to his lust - the desire and uncontrolable temptation he felt for barth. fourth's ability to portray the guilt, the overwhelming feeling that made him feel 'bad', him walking away from confessing, his eyes everytime barth and cherry interacted - it reflects how lust is not one of the most grievous sins however, it is one of the sins that in a person like tanrak leads to a downward spiral and actions that are usually out of character, this is relfected to us as an audience in the preview of the next episode in the dialogue "i thought you'd take this more seriously." - tanrak is already doing things which are unlike him.
how many more times is crina going to talk about the lighting in the series and the shots used because it's clearly endless. seriously, when they were outside getting the benches set in place, the soft lighting hitting the side of tanrak's face as well as barth's intensifies the dramatic feel of the moment but it also gives us an insight, specifically to tanrak's psychological turmoil as the lighting hitting the side of his face is much stronger compared to barth's. so, not only does it sculpt their faces but it also reflects both the mood of the moment as well as the state that the characters are in. the wide and long shots which are often used to show barth and tanrak are so beautiful because they give us as the audience the space to observe the difference between the two characters, barth - who's already come to the acceptance that the house of god isn't one that truly welcomes him, nor are the people; he's somebody who's "out of place" therefore, he's already put himself on a trial meanwhile tanrak is somebody who grew up with strong beliefs and reliance, father arnon trusts him and believes in him and his faith, master phak relies on him and his guidance to all the other boys at magdalene - he's somebody reliable and somebody who fits in, just like the c chord in the previous episode.
and don't get me started on the brief close-up shots of barth's hands, the veins, the sculpted and tender yet chaotic sensation they bring to tanrak everytime he sees it, once again, emphasising the 'lust' and temptation that he continues to fight against, to 'run away' from every single time.
the scene of barth on the ladder asking tanrak to dip the brush into the red paint, the moment he makes tanrak hold the ladder for him and the small, singular droplet of red paint right on his arm. it's such a powerful visual motif - yes, usually it links to some type of hidden danger and something eerie but here it's supposed to link to the break in the illusion of tanrak still fighting with his guilt, it's the 'corruption' of innocence amongst the pristine, soft, holy and faitful surroundings and of the heavy change that is about to take place for tanrak. it can also be subtely visualised as how the 'perfect, idyllic, faithful boy' is now tainted by the 'troubled' boy.
i also have to talk about the beauty that lies within the softness and tenderness of the growing relationship between barth and tanrak. the little playful moments they have, the gentle gazes that they share, small, almost impossibly imperceptible touches that they share. there is a youthful curiosity there; it's woven within the chaos and the 'sin' of what they're doing.
not sure whether anybody has thought about this too but the series is riddled with rain and thunderstorms. we literally begin our 1996 timeline with a thunderstorm, powerful heavy rain, roaring thunder, lightning and blazing wind. the weather is truly so significant here. it rains everytime we're together with tanrak - the rain reflects his grief and guilt meanwhile the thunderstorm reflects the inner-turmoil and conflict that he goes through, take the scene of him running in the rain as it thunders and lightning strikes constantly, take the last scene in the washroom, the lightning keeps cutting the electricity and it roars even stronger alongside the thunder as they kiss. it also reflects how as they're caught in such intense and dangerous elements - they also have to confront their feelings, either be externally or internally and it almost signifies a newfound, honest confession and psychological rebirth for tanrak especially.
i also really liked how tanrak was holding the umbrella continuosly but he wasn't the one to keep it in the rain regardless of walking in it, he left it behind for barth. umbrellas are not only a physical shield but here, it acts as divine protection and god's grace; it's tanrak's own way of showing his active faith but also divine refuge and the safety beneath god's love - "he will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." psalm 91:4. he's practically giving away his refuge to barth.
i cannot begin to emphasise how fast my heart was beating at the two shots as they were washing themselves and barth began to look down at tanrak's body. the way his eyes kept moving up and down meanwhile tanrak's own eyes fought to stare as far away from him as possible. the break. the break the moment barth's gentle touches came upon tanrak, checking whether he truly had a fever. the lights cutting off. the intense and suspensful closeness there. the deep blue lighting and the dark feel of it as if they're hidden and nobody can see them. the silence besides the lightning and thunder as they're so close to each other. the near kiss before the moment breaks. LITERALLY LEGENDARY.
and please, how do i even talk about the last scene, seriously. the physical barrier placed between the two of them with the door. the way barth is in the blue lighting meanwhile tanrak is in the yellow, neutral tone. barth telling tanrak "you're running from yourself.", tanrak's own facial expressions and the way you could understand the moment the situation truly, really hit him. all the close-up shots and extreme-close up shots of both of their faces - there's guilt, sorrow, temptation, devotion, regret. JUST EVERYTHING.
and the kisses? the gazes and stares. giving into the desire and the temptation. barth having already accepted he wouldn't be welcomed in the house of god, putting himself on trial. tanrak challenging his faith and belief as he's also accepted that he's not "favoured" by god although teachings would often say god has no favourites. I LITERALLY CANNOT.
SOMEBODY PLEASE CHECK ON ME. I'M CUTTING THIS SHORT NOW BECAUSE I JUST CANNOT. I WAS GRIPPING MY PILLOW SO TIGHTLY AND TEARS WERE RUNNING DOWN MY FACE, MOUTH WIDE OPEN, SCREAM CONTAINED.
vamp is mike's production and i don't understand why people can't grasp the fact that these people are busy and…
ah i'm sorry then ! i seriously wasn't trying to be rude either but the same type of remarks are made about jeff so often and it's getting very frustrating sometimes. i'm very sorry, it was my bad.
I love Jeff but I’m not holding my breathe. Wuju didn’t happen Vamp didn’t happen don’t even know if they…
vamp is mike's production and i don't understand why people can't grasp the fact that these people are busy and productions to this extent aren't going to be easy to make. we've had many updates from jeff about happy ending as he is the producer, scriptwriter etc. and he's been updating us on how far in he's on writing the script, scriptwriting takes some time, especially having to revise it and finalise it so that its perfect. wuju unfortunately was not in his control like you said but this is just the entertainment world, series like these take some time but they will happen (obv not wuju).
Jeff did 3 pilots trailer and non of them are happening lol
first one had absolutely no deal with him in terms of production, he was only part of the cast so he had no power over whether it ever came out. the second one is his own series and as a film student, writing a script and then going through production is smth that will take some time, especially when he's the one doing literally everything for happy ending. my chef in crime is a production in works w the government and it's definitely coming out. and vamp is mike's production, not jeff's so once again, it's an independent production which takes time compared to once from fully established production houses. it seems to me that people don't really understand production of any kind of entertainment with these kinds of comments.
guys I'm thinking about waiting out till ep2 since it's only one ep per week how scary was the horror part??
just finished watching it and it truly depends on how easily you get scared. i wasn't scared at all personally but it was actually very well done, like someone else said, especially the first scene !
just finished watching it and i'm crying so much. this is just crazy. i loved this so much. the acting, the cinematography, the story. everything was so good.
spoiler for the ending scene: I SOBBED MY EYES OUT ONCE THEY KILLED JINGNA, BOY WAS MY 2ND FAV CHARACTER LIKE I CANNOT. rain wedding is definitely sadder once you've watched the movie like, honestly.
i seriously cannot describe how much i bawled at that ending scene. this movie was just so good and all of their efforts truly paid off.
i'm going to point out the fact for people who seem to be throwing the term "bromance" around to simply explain what they believe the ending and this whole series ended up being.
a bromance is literally a close friendship between two men that goes beyond the "norm" of a close friendship, it's more intimate, HOWEVER, it does not cross the line to a romantic relationship. it's strictly platonic.
now, the sheer fact that sheng wang admitted his feelings for jiang tian IS what would lead to a romantic relationship. the fact that he acknowledges that he has feelings that go beyond the line of a close relationship already tells you that this is a romance between two men, not just a depiction of their friendship.
for people complaining about the ending or the show overall, it's quite clear that you guys have a problem understanding depictions of relationships and the mere fact that most of you keep mentioning "but they should've done more" or "they didn't even kiss that much" is just straight out igonoring the gravity of their situation.
also, i would like to add that for this series to be a bl, they do not need to kiss, they don't need to have sex or even be romantic with each other in any way, as long as they admit and acknowledge their romantic feelings for one another, it is a bl. and, at the end of the day, we only categorize series as "bl" because it's romance between two men specifically but realistically, it is JUST romance. it's a depiction of the growth, feelings, love, acknowledgement, understanding and so much more of someone.
PLEASE KEEP SUPPORTING SO THAT SEASON 2 COMES OUT !
1
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, OH MY FUCKING GOD (ironic). TICKET TO HEAVEN FEELS SO UNREAL, LIKE, HOW WERE WE GIVEN THE ABILITY TO WATCH THIS LEGENDARY, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, HEARTBREAKING, HEARTWRENCHING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMMERSIVE ETC. SERIES!??!?!?!?!?
anyways.
as somebody who studied religious studies/education in school, seeing the focus of the episode being on the 'seven deadly sins', specifically on 'lust' made my heart beat so fast before the episode even started. lust is defined as the 'disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure' but seeing lust through the character of tanrak - we understand and see his fundamental vulnerability, a 'flaw' and a sign of his struggle in sacrificing his principles, self-control as well as belief. from the last episode, in the ten minutes we'd seen his inner-conflict and turmoil due to his lust - the desire and uncontrolable temptation he felt for barth. fourth's ability to portray the guilt, the overwhelming feeling that made him feel 'bad', him walking away from confessing, his eyes everytime barth and cherry interacted - it reflects how lust is not one of the most grievous sins however, it is one of the sins that in a person like tanrak leads to a downward spiral and actions that are usually out of character, this is relfected to us as an audience in the preview of the next episode in the dialogue "i thought you'd take this more seriously." - tanrak is already doing things which are unlike him.
how many more times is crina going to talk about the lighting in the series and the shots used because it's clearly endless. seriously, when they were outside getting the benches set in place, the soft lighting hitting the side of tanrak's face as well as barth's intensifies the dramatic feel of the moment but it also gives us an insight, specifically to tanrak's psychological turmoil as the lighting hitting the side of his face is much stronger compared to barth's. so, not only does it sculpt their faces but it also reflects both the mood of the moment as well as the state that the characters are in. the wide and long shots which are often used to show barth and tanrak are so beautiful because they give us as the audience the space to observe the difference between the two characters, barth - who's already come to the acceptance that the house of god isn't one that truly welcomes him, nor are the people; he's somebody who's "out of place" therefore, he's already put himself on a trial meanwhile tanrak is somebody who grew up with strong beliefs and reliance, father arnon trusts him and believes in him and his faith, master phak relies on him and his guidance to all the other boys at magdalene - he's somebody reliable and somebody who fits in, just like the c chord in the previous episode.
and don't get me started on the brief close-up shots of barth's hands, the veins, the sculpted and tender yet chaotic sensation they bring to tanrak everytime he sees it, once again, emphasising the 'lust' and temptation that he continues to fight against, to 'run away' from every single time.
the scene of barth on the ladder asking tanrak to dip the brush into the red paint, the moment he makes tanrak hold the ladder for him and the small, singular droplet of red paint right on his arm. it's such a powerful visual motif - yes, usually it links to some type of hidden danger and something eerie but here it's supposed to link to the break in the illusion of tanrak still fighting with his guilt, it's the 'corruption' of innocence amongst the pristine, soft, holy and faitful surroundings and of the heavy change that is about to take place for tanrak. it can also be subtely visualised as how the 'perfect, idyllic, faithful boy' is now tainted by the 'troubled' boy.
i also have to talk about the beauty that lies within the softness and tenderness of the growing relationship between barth and tanrak. the little playful moments they have, the gentle gazes that they share, small, almost impossibly imperceptible touches that they share. there is a youthful curiosity there; it's woven within the chaos and the 'sin' of what they're doing.
not sure whether anybody has thought about this too but the series is riddled with rain and thunderstorms. we literally begin our 1996 timeline with a thunderstorm, powerful heavy rain, roaring thunder, lightning and blazing wind. the weather is truly so significant here. it rains everytime we're together with tanrak - the rain reflects his grief and guilt meanwhile the thunderstorm reflects the inner-turmoil and conflict that he goes through, take the scene of him running in the rain as it thunders and lightning strikes constantly, take the last scene in the washroom, the lightning keeps cutting the electricity and it roars even stronger alongside the thunder as they kiss. it also reflects how as they're caught in such intense and dangerous elements - they also have to confront their feelings, either be externally or internally and it almost signifies a newfound, honest confession and psychological rebirth for tanrak especially.
i also really liked how tanrak was holding the umbrella continuosly but he wasn't the one to keep it in the rain regardless of walking in it, he left it behind for barth. umbrellas are not only a physical shield but here, it acts as divine protection and god's grace; it's tanrak's own way of showing his active faith but also divine refuge and the safety beneath god's love - "he will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." psalm 91:4. he's practically giving away his refuge to barth.
i cannot begin to emphasise how fast my heart was beating at the two shots as they were washing themselves and barth began to look down at tanrak's body. the way his eyes kept moving up and down meanwhile tanrak's own eyes fought to stare as far away from him as possible. the break. the break the moment barth's gentle touches came upon tanrak, checking whether he truly had a fever. the lights cutting off. the intense and suspensful closeness there. the deep blue lighting and the dark feel of it as if they're hidden and nobody can see them. the silence besides the lightning and thunder as they're so close to each other. the near kiss before the moment breaks. LITERALLY LEGENDARY.
and please, how do i even talk about the last scene, seriously. the physical barrier placed between the two of them with the door. the way barth is in the blue lighting meanwhile tanrak is in the yellow, neutral tone. barth telling tanrak "you're running from yourself.", tanrak's own facial expressions and the way you could understand the moment the situation truly, really hit him. all the close-up shots and extreme-close up shots of both of their faces - there's guilt, sorrow, temptation, devotion, regret. JUST EVERYTHING.
and the kisses? the gazes and stares. giving into the desire and the temptation. barth having already accepted he wouldn't be welcomed in the house of god, putting himself on trial. tanrak challenging his faith and belief as he's also accepted that he's not "favoured" by god although teachings would often say god has no favourites. I LITERALLY CANNOT.
SOMEBODY PLEASE CHECK ON ME. I'M CUTTING THIS SHORT NOW BECAUSE I JUST CANNOT. I WAS GRIPPING MY PILLOW SO TIGHTLY AND TEARS WERE RUNNING DOWN MY FACE, MOUTH WIDE OPEN, SCREAM CONTAINED.
this series makes me so happy yet so heartbroken.
"i'm not god's favourite son."
"i'm not god's favourite son either."
I SHIT MY FUCKING PANTS (metaphorically).
spoiler for the ending scene:
I SOBBED MY EYES OUT ONCE THEY KILLED JINGNA, BOY WAS MY 2ND FAV CHARACTER LIKE I CANNOT. rain wedding is definitely sadder once you've watched the movie like, honestly.
i seriously cannot describe how much i bawled at that ending scene. this movie was just so good and all of their efforts truly paid off.
a bromance is literally a close friendship between two men that goes beyond the "norm" of a close friendship, it's more intimate, HOWEVER, it does not cross the line to a romantic relationship. it's strictly platonic.
now, the sheer fact that sheng wang admitted his feelings for jiang tian IS what would lead to a romantic relationship. the fact that he acknowledges that he has feelings that go beyond the line of a close relationship already tells you that this is a romance between two men, not just a depiction of their friendship.
for people complaining about the ending or the show overall, it's quite clear that you guys have a problem understanding depictions of relationships and the mere fact that most of you keep mentioning "but they should've done more" or "they didn't even kiss that much" is just straight out igonoring the gravity of their situation.
also, i would like to add that for this series to be a bl, they do not need to kiss, they don't need to have sex or even be romantic with each other in any way, as long as they admit and acknowledge their romantic feelings for one another, it is a bl. and, at the end of the day, we only categorize series as "bl" because it's romance between two men specifically but realistically, it is JUST romance. it's a depiction of the growth, feelings, love, acknowledgement, understanding and so much more of someone.
PLEASE KEEP SUPPORTING SO THAT SEASON 2 COMES OUT !