General, Can I Sleep with You? (2021)

A wlw Chinese short film that will make you want more.

When will we finally get longer wlw historical Chinese fiction? I love those short films, but I dream of more. But we have to do with what we have and what we have right here is a very short, 4 min, short film with some known faces like Shengwei who you must have seen if you've ever fallen into the rabbit hole of wlw historical Chinese short films.

I am weak for good red and white colour coordinated outfits and this short film gives us that along with a taste of a larger story and a developing relationship between a stern general who wants to appear unaffected by this amnesiac young woman who stirs feelings inside of her and said amnesiac young woman (we do love a good trope in this house). There is so much potential, so much story that could be developed if only we had more than 4 minutes. There is even a cliffhanger at the end (which I hope will get resolved in a later short film or even better a longer show so we can get some backstory).

The costumes, as per usual in those short films, are visually appealing. The contrast in colours between the different characters works well and does a lot of the heavy lifting to help deepen the undeveloped story. I also wish they did not have to resort to contrived plot points to show some intimacy between the women, but such is the lot of queer mainland Chinese productions.

A solid watch if you're looking for your next historical Chinese short film of the wlw variety, it will make you yearn for more.

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