Carried by a duo of magnetic actors, the film “Your Name In Full Heart” by Taiwanese Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu is the biggest success of Asian LGBT cinema of the year 2020. The film, now available on Netflix, tells the story slow evolution of an authoritarian society through a love story between two boys.
In Asia, it is already a phenomenon. Your name in the heart (in English Your Name Engraved Herein) by director Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu was released in theaters in September 2020 in Taiwan. It grossed 100 million local dollars, or nearly 3 million euros, becoming the biggest success of LGBT + Taiwanese cinema. The film received five Golden Horse Awards nominations, Taiwan’s “Caesars”. Now available on Netflix, this romantic drama has everything to become a classic of international LGBT cinema.
Lovers under martial law
We follow the story of two high school students, Jia-han and Birdy, who will become attached to each other in 1987, just before Taiwan lifts its martial law. The film explores the difficulty of admitting and coming to terms with one’s sexual orientation in a country in full transition, still far from being the most LGBT friendly country in Asia, which the island of Taiwan is today. With this beautiful love story, carried by two fascinating actors, Edward Chen (Jia-han) and Jing-Hua Tseng (Birdy), the filmmaker Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu perfectly interweaves the little story in the big one.
The production of Your name in the heart started in 2018. Before the country allowed same-sex marriage. In 2018, Taiwanese voted overwhelmingly against marriage for all. But the union of same-sex couples was finally voted on by parliament in 2019. The film perfectly captures the slow evolution of Taiwanese society, authoritarian and virilist, with regard to homosexuality.
ALSO READ: Why we can’t talk about “marriage for all” legalized in Taiwan
A true story
Beyond its sentimental dimension, Your name in the heart also pays tribute to a Taiwanese LGBT + rights activist. In a particularly harsh scene, Jia-han and Birdy discover in Taipei a young man posing in the middle of the street in a wedding dress made of condoms with a sign advocating the legalization of same-sex marriage before being violently arrested by the police.
This activist really exists, his name is Chi Chia-wei. In its annual ranking of the 100 most influential people on the planet, Times magazine published a portrait of Chia-wei signed by the President of Taiwan herself, Tsai Ing-Wen.
Taking advantage of a sublime photograph by Yao Hung-i, the film grabs the viewer’s heart with its romanticism and candor. Staring games, furtive kisses, naked swimming in the sea, making someone you love listen to a love song on the phone … Your name in the heart manages to revisit with freshness images already explored many times in the cinema.
A personal film
Several lazy critics speak of a Call me By Your Name Taiwanese. But if it is true that movie poster typo reminds a little of the one in Guadagnino’s film, Your name in the heart would rather evoke a happy meeting between Happy Together of Wong Kar-wai et Beautiful Thing by Briton Hettie MacDonald released in 1986.
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The director of Your name in the heart assumes the autobiographical dimension of his film, “My primary intention was not to make a gay movie, but to make a personal movie, he explains. The story is about my first love. And it turns out that my first love was the story of a boy who loved another boy. “
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Building on the success of his feature film, the filmmaker hopes to spark a broader discussion about the acceptance of homosexuality in Asia. “I hope viewers can understand the feelings of heartfelt affection and heartbreak of the LGBTQ community which are just as sensitive as anyone’s.”, said the director of his film. “I hope to start a discussion in Asia. My hope is to erase discrimination and heal the world with more love and acceptance. “
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Photo credit: Netflix
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