Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)

Don't Watch If You Cry Easily

Maybe I'm scoring this so high because I'm emotional right now, but all I want is an ending where Bridy and Jia-han end up together ㅜㅜ! Though it takes a bit to get me crying, I got misty-eyed for a little with this movie. The soundtrack was great, and the movie was amazing! It was a little hard to follow at times, but when I got confused, it was explained quickly. When Jia-han called Birdy and played him the song through the pay-phone, it was heartbreaking yet so tender. I was often talking to the characters as if they could hear me, and the scene with the old man and Jia-han made the protective older sister in me scream! In the bit where the boys were sitting on the rock together, the narrator says, "We agreed to study for the entrance exam, and then never saw each other again." It had me yelling at my laptop, "No, let them be happy!'. As a Canadian, it was cool to see the ending bits be in Montreal(?)! (Even though I'm from BC). And at the end when Jia-han invites him up for a drink at the place he was staying at and then birdy declines; just heart-shattering. I kept saying, "Don't run away again!". And then when they kept saying 'Goodnight' and I remembered when that other girl had said it meant, I (wo), love (ai), you (ni), love (ai), you (ni), I gasped out loud. The first 15 minutes with Jia-Han's friends beating up that other boy made me pause the movie and say out loud to myself, "I don't know if I'll be able to make it through this." But I did. In 1987 I know it wasn't uncommon for things like that to happen - hell, it probably still happens now - but it still kinda shocked me. I would 100% recommend this movie to people!

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Real. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.

"The tide kept rising. I really hoped this would be the end of the world."

In a time of turmoil and a world that is starting to change, Jia-Han and Birdy start to discover themselves and their feelings for each other. Predominantly based on the director's own experiences, it's a story about love and heartbreak. A story about discovering who you are in a world that doesn't accept it. A story about a first love, that is both heartbreaking and beautiful.

When emotions were running high, what really tied everything together was the music. Titled "Your Name Engraved Herein," just like the movie, it is a beautiful song that is perfectly interwoven into the story.

Before I go, I would like to add a small note about something I read in the director's interview. The director, Liu, whose life the movie is based on, did not play the trumpet like Jia-Han did, he played the flute. They made the change, because "the trumpet has a sound quality of wanting to say something, but not being able to get it out."

I absolutely loved this movie. So watch it and I hope it moves you the way it moved me.

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The movie set in 1987 as martial laws in Taiwan had ended. The movie perfectly captured on how LGBT relationships in the 80's would have looked like. Jia-han and Birdy battling in a homophobic society when at that time not everyone (especially same-sex couple) was allowed to express their love and affection. This is why I felt so attached with them. Their relationship might not always about happy moments, but we got to see their struggle, confusion, and suffering. The acting and the chemistry between them are the strong points of this movie.

As for the plot, some parts felt like out of the place. Especially with the constant jumping between flashbacks and current time during the first and second act. I felt some scenes were being cut, so it resulted for some parts were confusing. For favorite scene, it would be the phone scene. It was phenomenal. I felt hurt. You could felt the pain. The acting between them on this scene was incredible. The music theme was also my favorite thing of this movie. And for the final act? I don't know, from second act to third act was kind of boring, but the execution of the ending was beautiful & bittersweet. It reminded me of the ending of Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together. If you have watched Happy Together, you might know this ending was very similar to it. What is it with Niagra Falls and LGBT-themed movies from either Hongkong or Taiwan??? Not only the ending scene that reminded of Happy Together, but also the cinematography and the color grading. But don't get me wrong, I like both aspects (the cinematography and the color grading) on this movie despite on how similar to Happy Together.

Maybe I will re-watch this again after I read further about Director's story because this movie was based on his real experiences.

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An Instant Classic

Pada tahun 1987 saat kebijakan darurat militer dihapus di Taiwan, 2 Remaja SMA, Chang Jia-han (A-han) dan Wang Bo-Te (Birdy) merasakan jatuh cinta ditengah stigma sosial.

Film ini unggul hampir disemua aspek, pengarahan dan sinematografi yang indah, plot dan dialog yang indah, akting dari kedua tokoh utama yang membuat kita yakin mereka benar benar jatuh cinta, scoring dan soundtrack yang indah membuat film ini Paket lengkap.

Walaupun berfokus pada Suka Duka Cinta Terlarang dua remaja, namun yang ditampilkan dalam film ini adalah sisi emosi yang mampu dialihmediakan oleh Edward Cheng dimana film ini kebanyakan mengambil sudut pandangnya, beberapa scene terbaik menurut saya :
1. Percakapan A-Han dan Padri Olivier
2. Mandi
3. Percakapan di Pantai
4. Telepon
5. Jalan-Jalan Tengah Malam di Quebec

Beberapa adegan yang seharusnya sensual malah tampil sebagai adegan terbaik yang menguras emosi. Penggunaan teknik close up pada Dialog A-Han dan Padri Olivier dan penggunaan tone kuning sangat juara membuat kita fokus pada A-Han dalam berbagi keresahan hatinya, dialog nya pun sangat-sangat alami. Penggunaan terompet dalam mengisi scoring juga bermakna, karena tokoh A-Han memegang instrumen terompet di Marching Band Sekolah.

Selain Edward Cheng, Tseng Ching Hua juga mampu mengimbangi kemampuan akting Cheng sebagai Tokoh Birdy yang slengean, Jejeran pemeran pendukung pun Tampil Apik utamanya Fabio Grangeon dan Leon Dai sebagai A-Han Dewasa.

Akhir kata, film ini menghadirkan kisah cinta terlarang dua remaja dan pendewasaan diri dengan indah dan merobek hati, interaksi kedua pemeran utama membuat kita dengan mudah menaruh hati dan berharap mereka berakhir bahagia.

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The trailer for the film lured me to the highest level of expectation. Despite the fact that the story is quite deep, I was a little less impressed by the overall tone of the film, perhaps due to the slightly scattered processing. Both actors of the characters at a young age were very likeable, and I was impressed by Edward Chen (A-han) as an actor, who I trusted the most. At his young age, A-han lived in Taiwan's gay dark ages, yet he fought for his own feelings and became one of those who lost his own happiness because of it, and that's what I appreciate most about this movie. But it must be said that during that time, Taiwan has taken a big step forward in the tolerance of men who like men...


Trailer k filmu mě navnadil na nejvyšší míru očekávání. Přesto, že příběh je dosti hluboký, celkové vyznění snímku na mě zapůsobilo o trošku méně, možná i kvůli mírné roztěkanosti zpracování. Oba herci postav v mladém věku byli moc sympatičtí a herecky na mě zapůsobil Edward Chen (A-han), kterému jsem nejvíce vše věřil. Ve svém mladém věku žil A-han v taiwanské temné době homosexuálů, přesto bojoval za své vlastní city a stal se jedním z těch, kteří proto přišli o své vlastní štěstí, a to si na tomto filmu cením nejvíce. Nutno ale říci, že Taiwan za tu dobu udělal velký krok kupředu v toleranci mužů, co mají rádi muže...

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Un film touchant

Ce film est très touchant. Il nous montre l'histoire de deux hommes qui s'aiment mais ça n'est pas accepté dans la société. On voit par quoi ils passent, ça retrace tout leur parcours de l'université à l'âge adulte. A un moment donné, l'un s'est marié à une femme et ils ont eu un enfant ensemble ; il redoutait sans doute ce que le monde aurait pensé si il aurait vécu avec cet homme. L'autre, a vécu un moment sans plus jamais le revoir mais ne l'a jamais oublié et n'a jamais cessé de l'aimer. Et puis un jour, ils se sont revu.

J'ai trouvé cette histoire touchante, poignante, dure parfois, mais très belle au final.
Les acteurs sont très bons, les différents cadres sont intéressants, l'époque (les années 80) m'a bien plu, et au final, qu'ils soient homos ou non, le principal c'est leur amour véritable. C'est vraiment un très beau film.

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Indeed, your name is engraved deep within

why am I crying?
Oh, such a sad but bittersweet end.
Would definitely rewatch it in far future (if im alive).
This film was a good memory.
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... BIG SHOUTOUT TO THE ACTORS, DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS & TEAM.

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don't watch with close minded people the first time you watch it.

How can they be gay at such a time. How can they defy the church and society. Why would they defy that. How can people not understand that it's not a disease? How could you not believe such love? Why would they want to be gay at such time? How can people say it's not real? these are the type of questions that ran through my mind during the credits. If by then, you still think their emotions aren't real, they you might just be a dense idiot. Hell might just be a wonderful place if it accepts such love.

The acting was really great, the actors are so talented(except maybe the western extras. no offense).

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Gay people having a sad story once again

Coming into this film I knew that it’s not going to be some wholesome movie where two gay guys fall for each other and live a happy life. So a story between these two ensues and it’s extremely sad, and it delivers it well!

Though I was confused sometimes if Birdy was gay at all or not, he just seemed to be a lil too comfortable with his friends (it’s confirmed he’s gay later though).

The movie wasn’t anything special in my opinion, I’ve seen plenty stories where two guys are in an environment where they can’t be who they are so an angsty romance story starts between them.

However the movie is really beautiful and well done in showing their love story. The one thing I liked most is how music is what connected them most and their song in the movie is actually the title of the movie (or just a lyric i’m not sure) but the song is beautiful and i’m definitely adding it to my spotify playlist.

I also appreciate how they made a timeskip and made their older versions reunite, it makes me hope that they continued their love- maybe not since they were hesitant with each other but I think in the end they did try again. Love never expires and i’m sure both of them were waiting to find each other again even after all the years that passed.

Anyway the story is really beautiful, I unfortunately have a very short time span so I kept pausing and stopping the movie which led me to finish it in 2 days so I couldn’t exactly bond with the characters on the level where I would cry on their sad scenes but watching the sad scenes I kept thinking to myself how hard I would cry if only I had connected to them better. Their sad scenes really do tug on your heartstrings.

So sad how love in different forms isn’t accepted. Beautiful film.

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It's just beautiful

Love the storyline, love how it's presented, acting is great, camera work is even better and the chemistry between the main characters is very unique but I gotta add one more thing: the lack of all the "beauty filters" in this series is just beautiful and you don't get to see it in many series (especially these days) which is upsetting. So glad I found this one cause I just started getting tired of all those "sugary sweet" looking series with heavy filters on them so that that the actors look "cuter".. idk it's just nice to see some skin texture, you know? not anime like glossy blurry skin 😭

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