I loved both lead actors and their characters. But I agree with others here who didn't care for the ending. It was flat and awkward, a mistake in such an otherwise poignant film. Instead, I wish the filmmakers had closed it at the wonderful beach scene.....primal and joyous, to be remembered all their lives. But I still loved the rest. The scene when they were holding each other in the shower after the almost ritual moment of gentle healing and passion had me weeping as I saw them clinging to one another so quietly, desperately. Yes, that is love, and it can be both beautiful and heartbreaking through no fault of ours. Exquisite.
81 Reviews
Beautifully filmed but being dragged out by endless screaming match
Sir_AmirSyarif27 December 2020
'Your Name Engraved Herein' walks a fine line between sensitive narration and a strong overdramatization of events. Beautifully filmed with strong, passionate performances from the leads - Edward Chen's performance as the emotionally tortured protagonist is exceptional - but often being dragged out by its incoherent script, confused directing, and endless screaming match.
beautiful
Kirpianuscus1 April 2021
It is one of films for feel more than judge. A sort of exploration of personal experiences, honest, precise, well acted, maybe too long but graceful and correct. A film about friendship, love, apparences, reaction of the other and pure living. And, sure, about time passing. I appreciate it as a beautiful exercise to remind not only gay relations nuance but the simplicity of emotions, the traits of a specific age and the forms of acceptance more of yourself than the other. Short, a bitter beautiful film. For a part of public, for many motives, just useful. I do not exclude myself from this part.
often when u put hot twinks in a sad gay story, it gets overrated.
kxxxxxx24 December 2020
Taiwan's highest grossing lgbtq+ movie has its touching moments, but way overrated. the start was great but it gets real messy & all over the place towards the end. edward chen did an amazing job, but not so much for jing-hua tseng (birdy). his acting can be off at times & their kisses were just not believable. in contrast paul bettany's uncle frank is a way better film thats too underrated.
A Truly Wonderful Movie
kch-6579325 December 2020
It was Christmas Eve and I wanted to watch this movie and Cherry Magic. I put on the fire, made dinner and settled down to watch this film. I had to pause three times just to absorb just how raw and empathic this movie was to watch.
By the end, I was done. I couldn't manage to watch anything else. The narrative, the character development, the dialogue between the boy and the pastor, the realism and the cast are exceptional.
It's a movie that will communicate to many, that their experience and struggle through life, just to live in society, is understood and they're not alone. It reaches the soul.
By the end, I was done. I couldn't manage to watch anything else. The narrative, the character development, the dialogue between the boy and the pastor, the realism and the cast are exceptional.
It's a movie that will communicate to many, that their experience and struggle through life, just to live in society, is understood and they're not alone. It reaches the soul.
It coudl've been better
carolinalopezzzz26 December 2020
From watching the trailer, I had high expectations. So watching the movie disappointed me. Story-wise it lacked in some ways. For example, the change in the periods was not well done, could've been smoother. While watching it didn't move me, it lacked intensity, and when it was intense it was too rushed and confusing. Some characters were not well introduced and others were just so insignificant and down-played when they shouldn't have, for instance, BanBan and the priest. Maybe if they had just made it a 2 hour or more movie it could've been better. Overall it was a good movie, the first half is without a doubt superior to the last, the two main characters (young version) were the only saving point for me. The ending was not that bad. I enjoy it when it leaves something out in the open for the viewer to interpret as he wishes.
Can't stop crying. Best movie of 2020
Robbyfincha-3545411 January 2021
This movie just crushes my soul, even more so the second time I watched it. I relate to it so hard. I think there would be many others who also relate to it the same way. I wonder what my Birdy was thinking when he watched this movie. And did he recognise his role, that he was the Birdy in our relationship? Even worse, I wonder if it causes him regret.
It is an amazing movie, and speaks to the experience so many people had, and still have. Thank you for making it.
It is an amazing movie, and speaks to the experience so many people had, and still have. Thank you for making it.
Marking Time
jadepietro10 January 2021
IN BRIEF: A gay love story that plays it safer than it should.
JIM'S REVIEW: (MILDLY RECOMMENDED) Martial law ended in Taiwan in 1987, but two high school students still have a rough go in this coming-out coming-of-age tale, Your Name Engraved Herein, the highest-grossing LGBTQ film ever released in that country. The love that dare not speak its name still doesn't as the film takes an excruciatingly long time to build the gay relationship between Chaig Jia-han (A-han) and Wang Bo-De (Birdy). I'm not sure if there is a cultural bias about homosexuality by the filmmakers, weak direction, or the fault of a languishing screenplay by Yu Ning Chu that dissipates the film's dramatic impact.
Except for a steamy encounter in a shower room that finally consummates the sexual bonding between the two teenagers later in the film, the relationship is more bromance than romance. Kuang-Hui Liu directs the movie with some style. But he purposely downplays the gayness issue and allows scenes to go on too long when judicious editing would have corrected the film's pacing issues.
As the conflicted A-han, Edward Chen covers a wide emotional range and he is very good in the role. Jing-Hua Tseng is fine as his immature boyfriend, although, as written, the character is a tad off-putting. Giving fine support are Fabio Grangeon as A-han's Father Confessor and Leon Dai as the older A-han.
While the film has some serious flaws in its storytelling, the film's ending does have a bittersweet vibe that makes the moviegoing experience worth viewing. (GRADE: C+)
JIM'S REVIEW: (MILDLY RECOMMENDED) Martial law ended in Taiwan in 1987, but two high school students still have a rough go in this coming-out coming-of-age tale, Your Name Engraved Herein, the highest-grossing LGBTQ film ever released in that country. The love that dare not speak its name still doesn't as the film takes an excruciatingly long time to build the gay relationship between Chaig Jia-han (A-han) and Wang Bo-De (Birdy). I'm not sure if there is a cultural bias about homosexuality by the filmmakers, weak direction, or the fault of a languishing screenplay by Yu Ning Chu that dissipates the film's dramatic impact.
Except for a steamy encounter in a shower room that finally consummates the sexual bonding between the two teenagers later in the film, the relationship is more bromance than romance. Kuang-Hui Liu directs the movie with some style. But he purposely downplays the gayness issue and allows scenes to go on too long when judicious editing would have corrected the film's pacing issues.
As the conflicted A-han, Edward Chen covers a wide emotional range and he is very good in the role. Jing-Hua Tseng is fine as his immature boyfriend, although, as written, the character is a tad off-putting. Giving fine support are Fabio Grangeon as A-han's Father Confessor and Leon Dai as the older A-han.
While the film has some serious flaws in its storytelling, the film's ending does have a bittersweet vibe that makes the moviegoing experience worth viewing. (GRADE: C+)
Such a beautiful movie
henriquezapala25 December 2020
Recommended, one of the better gay romances
nielssloos-1718613 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Taiwan 1987, Jia-Han and Birdy grow feelings for each other while the martial law has been lifted. While their attraction to each other is genuine, family pressure, society and peer pressure makes it difficult for the both. Their relationship will change their life's forever.
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie because I did not expect to be touched by it so much. The movie develops the characters really well and, although both main characters are flawed, you grow to feel for them. The movie does not explain the themes and the message clearly. Instead it uses some examples throughout such as the lifting of the martial law, a contest to make their point.
Without spoiling anything, there are a few really emotional scenes that are really emotional and sometimes hard to watch (shower scene, beach scene, phone booth scene) but so well made that they will stick in my mind for a long time.
However, the movie is not without its issues. First, the time jumps back and forth are at times confusing and are not necessary to tell a touching story. Second, the movie does seem to have multiple endings, which is not needed. As a result, the ending feels extremely long, and the final ending did feel a bit underwhelming. Finishing the movie 20 minutes earlier would have make the movie work much better.
Overall a great movie which is by far one of the better gay romance movies out there.
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie because I did not expect to be touched by it so much. The movie develops the characters really well and, although both main characters are flawed, you grow to feel for them. The movie does not explain the themes and the message clearly. Instead it uses some examples throughout such as the lifting of the martial law, a contest to make their point.
Without spoiling anything, there are a few really emotional scenes that are really emotional and sometimes hard to watch (shower scene, beach scene, phone booth scene) but so well made that they will stick in my mind for a long time.
However, the movie is not without its issues. First, the time jumps back and forth are at times confusing and are not necessary to tell a touching story. Second, the movie does seem to have multiple endings, which is not needed. As a result, the ending feels extremely long, and the final ending did feel a bit underwhelming. Finishing the movie 20 minutes earlier would have make the movie work much better.
Overall a great movie which is by far one of the better gay romance movies out there.
So beautiful
capri_joe25 December 2020
Cinema Omnivore - Your Name Engraved Herein (2020) 7.0/10
lasttimeisaw30 July 2021
"Female roles take a backseat here, Mimi Shao's Banban is a cavalier gooseberry who has no distinction of her own, and the two actors who play A-Han and Birdy in their late 40s, Leon Dai and Jason Wong, are whimsical casting decisions. Bolstered by its arousing eponymous theme song, YOUR NAME ENGRAVE HEREIN risks of erring on the side of melodramatics, but the earnestness of its message and performances makes it a grand crowdpleaser, and it is not a small miracle in terms of queer subject's visibility and normalization in the mainstream cinema, at least in Taiwan, hope springs eternal."
read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.
read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.
A Narrative Nightmare
Neon_Gold3 January 2021
I found this movie really hard to get a grasp on.
It was just so scattered and patchy. I don't know if it was the edition for the screenplay but at time it genuinely felt like I had black-out and missed chunks of the film. Things seem to happen for no apparent reason and friendships spring up from one scene to the other. It was really confusing. At some points in the movie I was genuinely like "what is happening". It was so frenetic.
That doesn't mean it was all bad. Edward Chen Was really great in his role. I thought you could really feel what he was feeling and he really took you with this character.
The script is really up and down. There is a good story here somewhere but it was just so tangled up in its self and nothing was fleshed out. I am also over the boarding school setting for films like this. I think we should let that one lay for a while.
I was hoping it would be really fantastic and it wasn't. The cinematography is pretty good and there are some harrowing scenes that really can get you emotional but I think it missed the mark.
It was just so scattered and patchy. I don't know if it was the edition for the screenplay but at time it genuinely felt like I had black-out and missed chunks of the film. Things seem to happen for no apparent reason and friendships spring up from one scene to the other. It was really confusing. At some points in the movie I was genuinely like "what is happening". It was so frenetic.
That doesn't mean it was all bad. Edward Chen Was really great in his role. I thought you could really feel what he was feeling and he really took you with this character.
The script is really up and down. There is a good story here somewhere but it was just so tangled up in its self and nothing was fleshed out. I am also over the boarding school setting for films like this. I think we should let that one lay for a while.
I was hoping it would be really fantastic and it wasn't. The cinematography is pretty good and there are some harrowing scenes that really can get you emotional but I think it missed the mark.
Another gay movie with no happy ending, how original
sisubalan16 August 2022
Kinda like it, kinda dont. Not a fan of how every lgbtq+ represented movies specifically gay/lesbian movies always ended up with a tragically bad endings. Just why? Big fan of all the unfamiliar faces especiall the lead actors, great sound scores and plot wise just meh. Just being bitter on the anti-climatic 3rd act and terrible ending. Boring start then slowly gets interesting, then things just get messier. The best part of this movie was the ending song. Recommended.
A love movie worth watching
livingwithchirst19 September 2020
32 years ago and now, there have been big changes for the LGBT community in Taiwan.
The movie still successfully builds a romantic school memory - a strong point of Taiwanese films, combined with history and love. In which, a nostalgic love, a troubled love gives you an indestructible tension. A love movie worth watching.
Deep love is simple but hard
thomascamschool27 October 2020
In a oppressive era, not everyone was allowed to express or stand up for their own love, so as the characters in this film. Based on a real story from the directer and compared to modern days, the film showed that in one is able to have a chance and bravery to love anyone if he/she is truly important regardless gender or some unfair values of the society.
Interesting
faer_kr24 December 2020
A drama from Taiwan.
LGBTQ
It is about some friends in a boarding school where one falls in love with the other causing the friendship to gradually change, while they face situations typical of the time.
Quality.
Entertaining
Talk about the harsh exodus of homosexuality at puberty and loving someone and never having the courage to tell them.
About the decisions we make in life not to be judged or labeled by others.
About wanting to be the same as others and really being yourself.
He handles the religious point of view in an interesting way.
Mainly talks about how sometimes we want to force someone to love us or forcing things to happen.
The time well recreated.
Some performances are not enough and for some moments they lack expression to get to touch certain emotions, but in general what they want to convey is achieved.
Told in times and reaching the present.
Although some scenes can feel long, the truth is that they make a lot of sense to the reactions that human beings can have about love.
If you ever fell in love with your best friend, you are going to love this movie.
With light and well-managed sex scenes, as well as nudes.
Beautiful Story
phyominkhine24 December 2020
Jumping time line and inconsistent
ghiblilover-0866427 December 2020
The first part of the film was good but lacked characters background, we didn't even see the two teens build a proper bond it's just went from 0 to 10. Also it was very one sided Chang Jia-han was very forward while birdy didn't seem to engage at all. What kind off throws you off at the end of the film is the priest part (it was not needed nor did I care) . The priest scenes frustrated me a bit as they were too long and should have focused more on the two teens rather then over doing it with the confession scene but I understand that religion played a part in this but it was far too long! Over all I think the actors did a very good job especially the guy playing Chang Jia-han. I would say its worth a watch but wasn't moving at all.... It's slightly disappointing as some of the scenes had the opportunity to be so moving but didn't due to lack of consistency and jumping for day to day.
THE BESTTT!!!!
florrcress26 December 2020
Best LGBT movie I have ever seen!
jaredtalbeaux25 December 2020
Great movie.
stefanyrjunges7 January 2021
A beautiful movie from Taiwan
trhowever4 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The movie is so beautiful and touching. As they passed the law for the same-gender marriage, I always thought they've been fairly open and "tolerating" in Taiwan all the time. Only until this movie shows us how it was just less than half a century ago. The movie has done a brilliant job at showing how the two boys loved each other and how they had to hide this feeling from the outside world. How can one blame Birdy when he tried to "correct" and protect Jia Han for homosexuality was still a sin at that time? I like the ending very much though.
Promising story falls flat
sleepyhowie1 October 2020
This film has a promising storyline featuring two talented young actors but ultimately falls flat due to an incoherent screenplay that implies more than it actually portrays. We are introduced to a number of disconnected scenes that spotlights sporadic moments in the protagonists' relationship without really being able to see that relationship develop; we are told of the characters' longing and suppression of their feelings with nothing to help us really believe it. The film spends way too much time during its first arc to emphasize the conservative time period during which it takes place, but does not fully flesh out the implications or provide a strong contrast to the present, though perhaps the director thought it unnecessary as viewers are already aware of the changes outside of the film. Many scenes serves no real purpose other than to be reminiscent of 2006's "Eternal Summer" or "Call Me By Your Name." Over the past two decades, Taiwan has seen no shortage of mainstream LGBTQ films, some are groundbreaking, while others, like this film, are unoriginal at best and easily forgettable.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
