JAMCOabc123

PLEASE give "Silent Sparks" a chance, despite the low rating.

This was an excellent, slow-burn, slice-of-life short film.

It's not a BL in the usual BL sense. More of a LGBT film, but.....not exactly that, either. It slightly reminded me of the multi-award-winning movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985).

I think in its short screen time (~1 hr 15 mins), "Silent Sparks" squeezed in a lot of character development, and the short plot - while not containing much "action" - was exactly as long as it needed to be.

The two main actors were very good. They had a real connection, and both did a great job portraying two small-time criminals with some unexpressed feelings between them, but hopeless futures.

Although at the end.....in a weird, twisted way, perhaps there was hope for them after all?

---------------------------------------

I've read a lot of the comments from others on here, and it seems like a lot of people say it was "boring" or "lacking in development because it was too short."

But I have watched quite a few gritty Asian films, both full length and short, and IMO some of the most interesting ones were much more spare than other films, and almost completely devoid of what some would call "charm." The casts are always very small in number, and the actors spend the length of the movie showing us their seedy lives, with only a few - if any - moments of humanity and "just-out-of-reach" potential for happiness.

That, to me, is what "Silent Sparks" is - a brief interlude in the main leads' lives that ends up leaving the viewer feeling forlorn and frustrated, because the characters are stuck in a never ending cycle with no real opportunities to step away from that and take a different path. It's not meant to be full of action, and it's not constructed in such a way that we get a deep dive and well-rounded picture of what happened in the past, and what might happen in the future. We only get to see the present moments, and the actors' superb character portrayal.

I really enjoyed "Silent Sparks," and I hope others will give it a chance.

Read More

I am not happy

While I LOVED the series, this "special" was NOT worth the almost 2 year wait. In fact it actually made me mad.

First, it was boring and the characters, while still likeable, were awkward with each other.

You would think that as much as they missed each other, there would be some actual excitement once they were reunited, and sparks would fly. Especially considering the big sparks they had together in the series. But there was only ONE dead fish kiss at the very end and nothing else throughout the episode beyond hugs. Any other intimate scenes were flashbacks from the series.

I mean, if YOUR lover that you hadn't seen in a long while and thought you might never see again traveled across time and suddenly appeared not only before you, but IN YOUR BED, would the first thing you do be to:
1) pull an exaggerated "shocked" face for way longer than necessary
2) pace back and forth trying to figure out what happened and acting like your lover showing up was an inconvenience
3) finally relax only to greet him with FRIEND ZONE body language, instead of OMG YOU'RE HERE COME HERE SO I CAN SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I'VE MISSED YOU body language

?????????

Second.......what pissed me off the most is the fact that the writers decided to place far too much emphasis on all of the "technology" Khun Yai wasn't used to (robo vacuum, TV, cell phone, VR headset, etc), and to also make Jom's character act like playing on his cell phone and recording / uploading a Tik Tok style dance were more important than re-establishing their connection as a couple and spending real personal time together......talking, touching each other's faces, kissing, sharing warm and snuggly skinship, being more intimate, making breakfast together......before THEN taking Yai out into the weird new world.

Scent of Memory was just poorly conceived, poorly executed and a real disappointment for me, because again, I truly loved the series and Jom and Khun Yai as a couple. And I like the two actors, Bright and Non, too.

(Please understand that ^^^^ before you see my extremely low rating in the "ACTING / CAST" section. I love the actors. I love the characters. But specifically in this particular "special" episode, I DO NOT like they way they were written.

So bummed.

Read More