Movie No. 45 (Cinemalaya 2018): TALE OF THE LOST BOYS
Tale of the Lost Boys (2017)
Director: Joselito Altarejos
Cast: Oliver Aquino, Ta Su
In Tagalog, Chinese, English, and Putonghua, with English subtitles
Indeed, the film is about two "lost boys." Alex flies to Taipei to escape responsibility and any form of ties to his pregnant girlfriend. He has another agenda - to confront his estranged mother. Jerry is a gay man, studying medicine in Taipei. He's a Taiwanese aborigine from Ylan, a city north of Taipei. By chance, they meet and immediately form a bond, which later will transform into a something that is bordering between genuine friendship and platonic relationship. A spur of the moment decision to travel to Ylan to pay visit to Jerry's parents will make the lives of the "lost boys" change forever.
Director: Joselito Altarejos
Cast: Oliver Aquino, Ta Su
In Tagalog, Chinese, English, and Putonghua, with English subtitles
Indeed, the film is about two "lost boys." Alex flies to Taipei to escape responsibility and any form of ties to his pregnant girlfriend. He has another agenda - to confront his estranged mother. Jerry is a gay man, studying medicine in Taipei. He's a Taiwanese aborigine from Ylan, a city north of Taipei. By chance, they meet and immediately form a bond, which later will transform into a something that is bordering between genuine friendship and platonic relationship. A spur of the moment decision to travel to Ylan to pay visit to Jerry's parents will make the lives of the "lost boys" change forever.
I like the film for its honesty. I like the way it goes astray from the vapid and boxed gay story lines that have proliferated second- or third-run local theaters. The film has elevated discourse on straight-gay relationships. The cross-cultural issues it presents are inspired.
My only comment is when Alex speaks in English, he's grammar is almost perfect, which is unbelievable given his back story. Even learned Taiwanese locals can get lost in Alex' accent and perfect sentences. But, for an audience who's not familiar with this, this will be unnoticed. And, for me, it doesn't dilute the film's achievement.
The film debuted at the 2017 Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. In 2018 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival early this month, it was exhibited as non-competition film.
Rating: 3.5/4.0
Date seen: August 4, 2018
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