Bokura No Ai No Kanade (2008)

I'm really surprised no one has done a review of this film. I loved it except for the ending. But this actually falls into a genre with a long tradition in poetry and literature - the age old tale of "courtly love" - you can trace it back to Genji or mediaeval Europe - courting the loved one and sacrificing everything for him (or her in the European tradition). Gay lovers were not subject to the same discrimination in the Chinese and Japanese  (until Meiji) traditions (see e.g. Ihara Saikaku's The Great Mirror of Male Love). Plus there has to be a villain - and that music teacher brought something coldly sinister to it (ugh!). The music of Debussy was a bonus. A gem of a movie - but I was hoping he'd match the love shown him and return at last. Life's not like that, is it? Pity. A beautiful movie. What happened to Tsuyoshi Hataya?

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For some time I've been putting off watching this due to the low rating that oftentimes indicates dreadful things happening in BL movies. Now I finally gave it a try and I am glad I did!
It is a rather sweet and dreamy love story between two male students of music. There is Debussy and a lot of sweet scenes in which the music and the acting are quite enough to create an amazing atmosphere.
The main flaw of this movie (and the reason I did not rate it higher) is hard to explain without spoilers. One boy does something for the one he loves and the movie kind of rushes over it without really dealing with it. For me that was one of the main story impacts and while they take their time showing the development of romance in the beginning and middle parts (which I enjoyed very much), it seems as if they ran out of time to tie everything neatly together to make it great. That is such a pity! I do feel as if I've been thrown out of the movie theatre half an hour too early.

Even that is so, I will still watch this again sometime, it is all in all a sweet story with beautiful music.

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