Pathos and Passion
This isn’t a BL; it’s a gay film, gritty passionate and political, touching upon the real grim choices some gay men face, choices the working poor face and the sometimes crushing contradictory privilege wealthy gay men labor under. Lee Young Hoon delivered a stellar performance deserving greater recognition than his career has drawn these many years past. Admittedly melodramatic the climactic ending seems all the more comprehensible in view of the very real trials gay men have faced forever and particularly South Korean men at the time this film was made. If you’re looking for a fluffy formulaic BL about an elite boys school seme and uke, this ain’t it. If you want a convincing facsimile of real tears, passion and redemption, as a cinematic mirror held up to life can hope to reflect No Regret has few rivals.
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