Silent Sparks (2024) poster
6.6
Sua Avaliação: 0/10
Avaliações: 6.6/10 de 90 usuários
# de Fãs: 440
Resenhas: 2 usuários
Classificado #38036
Popularidade #13932
Fãs 90

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  • País: Taiwan
  • Tipo: Movie
  • Data de Lançamento: Jun 24, 2024
  • Duração: 1 hr. 18 min.
  • Pontuação: 6.6 (scored by 90 usuários)
  • Classificado: #38036
  • Popularidade: #13932
  • Classificação do Conteúdo: Not Yet Rated

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Silent Sparks (2024) photo
Silent Sparks (2024) photo
Silent Sparks (2024) photo
Silent Sparks (2024) photo

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JAMCOabc123
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25 dias atrás
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No geral 9.0
História 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Musical 8.0
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Esta resenha pode conter spoilers

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?

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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.

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ariel alba
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
22 dias atrás
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Same-sex love from a heterosexual perspective

Emotional repression has been addressed previously in homosexual gangster films, through films such as 'Friends & Family' (2001), directed by Kristen Coury; 'The Boondock Saints' (1999), by Troy Duffy, 'Cruising' (1980), directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino and Karen Allen, 'Performance' (1970), by Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell, among others.
Before the legalization of same-sex marriage, Taiwanese cinema explored friendship and bromance between men to analyze the emotional relationships between gangsters. In 'Báng-kak' (Monga, 2010), directed by Doze Niu and script by Tseng Li-ting, we can have a representative cinema, by showing Ethan Ruan's crazy love for Feng Xiaoyue. With changing times, Taiwanese cinema may not show all the expected courage to directly address homosexuality among gangsters.
'Silent Sparks' is a gay film with a Taiwanese flavor that, through the aesthetics of the lens, a change in the body language and the gaze of the characters, leaves us a lot of room for imagination.
Directed by Zhu Ping, the film tells the story of Pua (Huang Guanzhi), a young man who after being released from prison begins to work in a warehouse.
Orphaned by his father, he tries to take the right path, but gets into a fight and is reported to the police. He lives with his single mother, who worries about his activities and nightly escapades. The young man has debts and still must pay compensation to people who suffered in the past because of him. This justifies the link with the criminal gang.
Only some glimpses of happiness in Pua can be seen in his lively talks with his friend and co-worker Zhi Hao (Wei Jie Hu) and in the escapades on the back of the cart to transport vegetables that travels through the market where he works, with unforgettable moments subjective shots of the market roof.
Upon learning that Mi Ji (Shi Mingshuai), his former cellmate, is released, Pua is eager to meet him to rekindle the secret relationship they had in prison, but the man, about ten years older, shows no interest in reestablish the sexual-emotional bond.
When drowned in his debts and worries faced with the dilemma of returning to prison or paying a high fine, Mi Ji decides to step forward to help him, which again leads Pua to commit a crime, now by intervening in a blood crime.
Huang Guanzhi and Shi Mingshuai previously played LGBQ+ characters. The first as one of the members of a gay couple in the short film 'Sunlight Tree Shadow', while Shi Mingshuai gave life to a drag queen in the short film 'Blooming Flowers'.
They are two actors who have very well-achieved performances, in which rage, erotic and sexual tensions, and the hunger to achieve what they desire exude naturally, almost organically, from their bodies, no matter how physically distanced they are. They have a real connection and they both do a great job portraying two small-time criminals with some unexpressed feelings for each other, but with a hopeless future?

THE FILMMAKER AND HIS WORK

Zhi Ping's career has been different from that of other filmmakers. After graduating from Shixin Radio and Television, Zhu Ping left the film and television industry to work at a hydropower company.
Knowing the workers directly, living with them, being part of the Taiwanese working masses, has been a powerful factor in the filmmaker's life, to the point of leaving these experiences reflected in one way or another in his works, giving them realistic vitality, a strong "Taiwanese flavor", a "very popular flavor".
The work of the emerging filmmaker is focused on local Taiwanese themes such as work, migration to the river, tasks related to the art of fishing, small family businesses, and characters at the base of society, as we can see in 'A Quan, a Rough Worker', 'Migration Down the River' and 'Friends Are Here', all of which illustrate the helplessness and current situation of the Taiwanese working class, with strong emotions mixed with realism.
With a precise selection of scenes close to reality, the characters in his films usually speak Taiwanese and behave naturally in the workplace.

WHY HAS ZHU PÌNG FILMED A GAY FILM WITH A SPECIAL STYLE?

Upon learning that 'Silent Sparks' was in production, doubts about gay films written and directed by heterosexual filmmakers, such as Zhu Ping, came to mind. However, once seen I have to confess that it exceeded all my expectations, achieving a film with a different "flavor" than most queer and BL Danmei films.
In my opinion, the fact that Zhi Ping does not belong to the LGBT+ community allows him to have filmed a masterpiece, with a gay romance that takes too long to develop (if that phrase can be used).
In the film, which at times reminds me of 'O Beijo da Mulher Aranha' ('Kiss of the Spider Woman', 1985), by Héctor Babenco, Great Freedom (Große Freiheitaka, 2021), by Sebastian Meise, or The Prince (2019), Sebastián Muñoz's debut feature, but Zhu Ping successfully finds another narrative path from the script to film a very direct but convincing film, in which Mi Ji will avoid Pua in almost the entire film.
And it could not be any other way, if we take into account the social environment and the underworld in which they live, and the heterosexual hegemony that defends masculinity, which together hinders a homosexual relationship. In other words, the taboo surrounding a gay relationship between two gangsters.
It is undeniable that Pua has an unrequited love for his new boss in the gangster office. The emotions and motivations of the characters are "internalized" through the use of looks. This is related to the setting of the film, because the two protagonists are not from the community, so they do not identify as homosexual.
In fact, we cannot achieve an effective psychological characterization of either man; only through a few stray words do we learn that they had a homosexual relationship in prison.
Prior to his imprisonment we do not know if Pua had girlfriends, wives, or children. Love only happens for him behind prison bars, another world of life.
Is it just a physiological need that brought you together initially, or is it emotional to physiological at first?
Back in society, Pua does not look for love in other men... or in any other person. He only has his interest in Mi Ji, an interest that is reinforced once he also goes out on the street.
Very wisely, the director chooses as protagonist’s two men without community and recognition, two people who, growing up in a heterosexual hegemony, are not able to understand the various aspects of love between people of the same sex in a short period of time.
The filmmaker intentionally prevents the protagonists from being able to face romance openly and frankly, creating a film full of stares and repression.
Everything is very convincing, even Mi Ji's deliberate evasion, which was a bit exaggerated at the beginning, was fully integrated into the later development.
Except for the phrase in which Pua, shocked by Mi Ji's rejection, referring to prison, expresses to her: "My mother asked you to support me in there, not to fuck me in there" and the deep kiss, there is no obvious reference to homosexuality in the work.

MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

The film dedicates a large part of its footage to describing the relationship between Aru and Pua, mother of a son, respectively.
Aru is dedicated to divination. In one of the scenes, he expresses that the bad boy has been calculated since childhood as "brother's destiny." This can be interpreted as your child's love (sexual orientation) towards an older brother, which comes from nature and destiny.
They never discuss the issue of Pua's sexual orientation, but near the end of the film, when the mother hopes that the son will escape his fate and asks him where he plans to go to escape prison, Pua responds: "I will join him, Mom, I'm sorry." These words could mean that Pua made the decision to join her loved one again in prison, but if this phrase is interpreted as Pua's decision to say goodbye to her mother, the mother's departure brings another perspective.
The director allows the audience to interpret the scene with multiple meanings.
A round of applause for Fan Ruijin, the actress who plays Aru, for her final scene. She shows restraint and vulnerability when portraying the complex emotions after learning of her son's tragic decision.

BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

There are those who talk about a sad ending. Others claim that this interlude in the lives of the main protagonists ends up leaving the viewer feeling helpless and frustrated, because the characters are trapped in an endless cycle with no real opportunities to move away.
The truth is that the only place where Pua felt free, protected, and loved in his life was in prison. In the end... in a strange and twisted way, maybe there is hope for them after all?
In summary: The use of a heterosexual perspective on same-sex love is related to Zhu Ping's ignorance of the culture of the gay community, but this "deliberate choice" is very suitable for 'Silent Sparks', which makes the story unique.

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Detalhes

  • Movie: Silent Sparks
  • País: Taiwan
  • Data de Lançamento: Jun 24, 2024
  • Duração: 1 hr. 18 min.
  • Classificação do Conteúdo: Ainda Não Classificado

Estatísticas

  • Pontuação: 6.6 (avaliado por 90 usuários)
  • Classificado: #38036
  • Popularidade: #13932
  • Fãs: 440

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