Night Flight (2014)

A GUT PUNCH YOU WILL LOVE!

I don't usually write reviews and I won't go into details for this movie either but just let me tell you this film is BEAUTIFUL.

It hits and shatters your heart with its crude reality, a reality unfortunately so many gay teens have to face in a country that barely acknowledges let alone accepts homosexuality. The actors' performance is beyond excellence, you can litterally "feel" all their raw emotions so get your tissues ready! There's a lot of violence happening so someome may find it uncomfortable to watch this film, however I feel like it's kind of necessary to really explain what kind of hell the main characters go through.

What I loved the most is how one the two main characters is able to slowly but surely pierce through the "wall" the other had built up to protect himself, making it collapse eventually to finally touch his heart...

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Korean high school life...

For me, the BL aspect is not what's the most important in this film, even if it's in the center of the action.
What I appreciated is the realistic depiction of the highschool life. In an all boys school, the violence is omnipresent between students but also from the teachers. Bulling is simply ignored so one has to do with it or find something to divert the attention to something else.
Actors are not polished at all, at times the environment / ambiance is shady, almost sordid.
This is not your fluffy BL drama but rather a slice of real life (almost like a slap for me) and it basically shows what a gay person may have to endure in the Korean society. This was filmed in 2014 so I jus hope society evolved since then.
But - it's rather well executed, the young actors played wl and were credible. I would probably have appreciated a glimpse of their future. The ending imo doesn't give real closure to the story.
If you hesitate and are not afraid of some violence, go for it.

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You should watch it but watch out for some things...

So. I would recommend you to watch it and I would give it between 8/9 out of 10. Let me explain what I liked and what I did not.

Before we start, shout out to Yong-jun's mom and Jun woo. These two are litteraly the best characters so far imo. Wished they had more implication in the film, especially Jun woo ! He had a very good chemistry and a genuine friendship with Yong-Jun.(Btw Gi-woong's dad was so cute and their story moved me tho we didn't get to know all of it and his reasons...)

Then before we dive into my thoughts on the film, let me tell you : the cast and the ost were just ON POINT. Period.

I did liked the film for its very nice pacing and how truthfull it depicted bullying, and also homophobia. It was really represented very well. For the outcome of the movie, I'm confused since it was an open one yes, but too much for me. You know when you get that feeling of something unfinished ? That's what I had. We don't even know if the feelings were requited though I feel yes.

What I disliked would be the VERY borderline relationship of the two ML. I felt like it was very toxic and unsane. They had that questionnable passive-aggressive relationship. One would hit the other and then they would share a very intense eye-contact. Another time one would kiss the other and the latter would response by beating him up or litteraly spitting on his face. So I didn't got the thing when they moved from that to a sort of implied situationship especially if you have in mind Yong-jun s€xually assaulted his crush (maybe more... I didn't really understand what was going on on that scene.)

On the other side, they stayed considerate to each other. It was actually nice and very thoughtful of Gi woong to do what he could to get back the chip on which was that video the bullies took of Yong-jun as they were assaulting him.

I made a shout out to my fav characters so I'mma do the same for those I hated.
This fake a** Gitaek first. Why betray the person who in addition of being your only friend (apparently), was also the one always helping you out to the point he gets also beaten ??? This was very low. Plus Gi taek never apologized for that...

Then second one would be Class President. Oh gosh- He is exhaustivingly fake and I feel like he has some sort of inferiority complex. But boy, having a rich and powerful mother doesn't allow you to bully and even assault s€xually people with your 'friends' !Tbh, I've always felt like he wasn't straight at all (eventho he was acting all homophobic). Especially when he was talking to Yong-jun in the washrooms at the beggining.

Wished there was a second volume of the film to have my unanswered questions solved...

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a good coming off age/out of the closet movie, but freakin depressing - first off the bullying aint for the faint of heart. also didn't get why Gi Woong who was friends with Yong Joo and Gi Taek, not only distanced himself, but turned into this bitter delinquent. it takes more the half the movie to show u what went down and why he changed. plus found it ironic that he and his new crew of bullies, worked for a thug "disciplining" - well threatening/beating-down other bullies for pay, to stay away from kids they were bulling - ironic cycle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

there were bittersweet parts like Yong Joo still trying to communicate with his friend - and i get that some of the motivation was his infatuation - given some scenes it was mutual (before Gi Woong went through the transformation" = normal kid to thug). even his closeted friendship with a gay kid from another school, that he met through a gay-app, was sweet and heartening - that he at least had one friend he could be "himself" with.
also the scenes with his mother, who was more like a friend was a balm to the soul, compared to what was to come... loved how accepting she was and his coming out without actually doing so, and her blind acceptance of him - did the soul good.

the rest - not shocking to guess, as its more or less written in the description - Gi Taek the geek is the typical victim turned bad-guy, who the sec sees a way to get from oppressed to oppressor, he takes it throwing his bff to the wolves, quite brutally and literally - this was sad and distressing in many ways
seen comments that this a good ending and i guess the mains finally being there for each other, showing solidarity is positive but considering what goes down before the end - still Gi Woong has to "pay" for his crimes. and what will Yong Joo do while he is serving his sentence? go to the same school with the guys that brutalized him?!? so this open end wasn't satisfying. still good movie

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Night Flight

wonderful moving film about gay love repressed in an oppressive society reflected in its schools 〜thoughtful and provocative with much darkness about how and why people behave to each other so cruelly especially to those considered "different" and the struggle to accept yourself being gay in this environment。the action is filmed against a background of arid broken gloomy urban landscapes well reflecting the cruelty and alienation in the fight for survival among the persecutors as much as those they persecute. there are only brief interludes of happiness or beauty along the way such as Yong Joo's and Gi Woong's trip to the coast。the title of the film Night Flight comes from an abandoned gay club （closed down because of prejudice it was too near to schools！） where Yong Joo and the only other student from a different school in the area secretly meet。 it is a dark film with much violence bitterness hatred but out of the darkness almost miraculously come fragile glimmerings of light, love and hope💛💛

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What the fluff did I just watch?

I dont even really know where to begin. I guess let me first start out by saying if you're reading this review so that you can decide on whether or not to watch this, I'm going to warn you right now.. this movie is not for the faint of heart. Not only is there very homophobic bullying by students AND teachers, but there is also a rape scene. Two of the main characters are pretty much destroyed emotional and physically by this gang and its absolutely heart breaking. I genuinely wanted to hurt some of the side characters in this.. and I'm not a violent person. I will say though, I think the ending was decent enough and the rage scene that happened in the school was actually pretty cool. Every single one of them deserved what they got. The plot was honestly pretty interesting and I didn't really ever get bored of it. I didn't hate this movie, although it has very triggering topics, because I think that sometimes it's important to show this side of things... considering this does happen everyday in real life. Despite that, I dont think I would ever put myself through watching this again. It hurt and this is definitely not the type of BL I prefer to watch. I think its good to watch through once just to get the expierence but it's not going to be something you're going to want to return to.

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This was surprisingly dark. Not that the trailer showed otherwise. But i's a bit dark. The whole concept of homosexuality in Asian countries aren't accepted yet and some of our parents don't want to even speak about it as a matter of fact. I know for a fact mine don't. So the whole concept of this where homosexuals are made fun of the society is not new to me.

I came here after watching Long Time No See so the whole concept of this pretty dark for me. All in all the actors did a pretty good job here. Especially Kwank shi Yong. He deserves his own drama by now.

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i can't explain how i feel; hurt, lonely, sad, maybe even happy after i finished this movie.
it really touched me, i cried a lot thinking about how bullying someone for being gay happens so much.
the story first was confusing, but it all made sense, they loved each other but sociaty didn't let them be who they are which made me really sad. i think the story is perfect, and unfortunately may have happend to someone somewhere in realy life.

the actors were great, their act and how they express their feeling as well.

i will recommend to someone who really ready to cry their hearts out, but it is a good movie after all.

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Perfeito.

Esse foi meu primeiro bl, e eu considero ele o pior bl que já vi, mas é meu favorito.
Chorei por horas e continuo chorando quando revejo, mas é simplesmente perfeito.
É uma confusão de sentimentos, ódio, amor, confusão, esse bl é uma merda, mas é tão perfeito.
Eu consigo odiá-lo e ama-lo.
Meu primeiro bl, meu bl favorito, e o pior bl que ja vi, depois de playboyy.
Assistam, vale a pena, mas se procuram um romance clichê, não é o bl certo.
Considerem assistir em uma quarta-feira a tarde, um dia frio, tomando algo quente e no conforto, porque o bl é desconfortável o suficiente.

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Okay, here we go... I may be biased because Lee Jae Joon is my favorite actor but I mean, it has its reason. :-)
This movie has been my favorite movie for a while now and I watched it 3 times, I think.
I just really like the plot because I think it's great that it's not cheesy or stereotyped. There are just a few small flaws in the story line, where something makes no sense to me. But as I said, it are only small ones. Also the ending didn't satisfy me first but after a while I thought it is really good. (Not going to say too much.)
To me, the acting was on point and I really love the fact, that Lee Jae Joon was in the cast. But also the others did a good job! :-D

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If you don't cry, you're not human

*outline*
[You may wanna wear headphones and/ watch this alone.] I usually don't swear and I'm guessing I'm not allowed to either because there may be some 10 year olds reading this but- f***.
Don't get fooled by the poster. Watch the trailer. But even that won't compare to what actually happens in the story. Both of them fooled me so well and now I'm crying at 3 am as a result of it. This movie was a real pain in the behind.


*analysis*
STORY : What the heck? I was expecting some crime, mystery, maybe even thriller. But all I got was beautiful pain. Before I knew it, the climax had come and I thought the climax had already happened. Yeah, I got fooled, I got that- but did the director have to do me so dirty? Now... I'll give a real analysis; if you consider what the ending is like, you'll end up hating all the characters and I don't blame you. The ending will also make you realize how slow the pace of the movie is. In the beginning, sure, you'd think the story is getting somewhere as soon as the first scene appears. And it is, until it isn't linked to the end much. The filler scenes just added to the heartbreak at the end. Even the confessions and rejections in this movie hurt. Beautiful. But it still hurt. I don't think I'll be able to get over this movie, especially considering how I won't be able to sleep and it's 3 am on a school morning. I wasn't expecting much from this movie from the very beginning but I didn't realize when it got so addicting. I was expecting something a little lowkey, something that happens between friends. But it didn't end there, there was definitely more to the movie than just that.

ACTING/CAST : Every actor did beautifully. There weren't many background actors, but even they acted well in their roles. Rather than fantasy, this movie was based off on reality and was more like a wake-up call. There wasn't much of a moral to the story but the characters acted so well that I almost feel like I missed what the moral is, and just cried over the movie instead. Kwak Shi Yang has come such a long way since 2014, clearly. I didn't know he'd also played these roles before and hats off to him for making it so big in the entertainment industry. He acted so well that it feels like 2014 Kwak Shi Yang is the same Kwak Shi Yang we find in 2021. I feel like a proud mother even though I'm not a BIG fan. I couldn't love his work more after watching this movie.

MUSIC : Okay, the background instrumentals fit perfectly according to each scene. But there was only one song dedicated to this movie. This movie does seem a little low budget but I also doubt it because a whole school must've been hired out for this, and all those students must've been paid for their roles too. However, I still understand. After all, even 2 songs are a bit much for a movie. It seems very unrealistic to think about unless you consider Bollywood. They're just extra anyways. The song played in the last scene really didn't fit, but I don't feel disappointed because as soon as I saw the credits roll, the waterfalls started again and this time I was sobbing over the unfinished ending. Really, I even went back to the MDL page for this movie but I didn't even see a Night Flight 2. Tsk, ruthless directors. They really left it to our imagination.

REWATCH VALUE : If I rewatch it, I'm still gonna cry and I know it. So I doubt I'll rewatch it for a while because now I have to find a light drama, and MAKE SURE it's INDEED light. And that it doesn't fool me.


*recommendations*
Would definitely recommend this to friends, but be mindful of the two mature scenes when watching. This is why you have to watch it with headphones/alone. Don't watch this with someone straight, they won't be able to handle it honestly. Actually, no one would. I'm practically married to BL and even I couldn't-
Watch more of Kwak Shi Yang. When I said his acting hasn't changed, I wasn't joking. However, I've only seen straight dramas of his; this is the first time I've seen him acting as a gay character. Despite that, I assure you won't be disappointed by his acting. It's beautiful.

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