Reviews of Asian BL Series

33 TRĂNG MẬT BẤT ỔN (Stormy Honeymoon) - The chicken and the bean

I don't need a Shakesperean drama for good entertainment – sometimes a solid, well-written and directed BL romcom with good and handsome actors does it for me, and "Stormy Honeymoon" definitely falls into that category.

The half-hour movie is the sequel of the series "Lấp Lánh Tựa Ánh Sao Trời" (The Star Always Follow You) and deals with Dang (Ngoan Truong) and Son (Hao Dan) who have just got married after living together in the city for two years. Some of the elements that made the series so much fun to watch are missing, e.g. Dang's strict mother and lovely grandmother and all the other nice village people, and most of all the charming rural setting, as the movie focuses on Dang and Son's everyday life and a second couple I'll talk about later, so I was a little sceptical whether the movie would be as good as the series, but it actually is.

Dang and Son live in a house in the city now, and Dang is finally studying. Dang likes teasing Son because of their age gap, and Son gets jealous when Tam (Tom That Tam Duc), Dang's high school friend, enters the stage. Dang likes the lively and cute boy, but Son soon hates him, on the surface because Tam is bragging and posing all the time, but in fact because Son is afraid that Tam may steal Dang from him. Son persuades Dang, who needs to do some research on the arts, to not visit an art lesson where Tam works, but visit Mr. Khoa's (Ly Thanh Chi) pottery school instead. Unfortunately Tam works there, too, and so the two boys accidentally meet again, infuriating Son who hates Tam all the more, as the boy keeps calling him "uncle".

In my favourite scene of the show, it turns out that Tam has a secret crush on Mr. Khoa and vice versa, and while Dang becomes Tam's love doctor, Son advises Khoa, and both Dang and Son claim that they made the first step at the beginning of their relationship. Son is certain that he was the chicken and Dang the bean, whereas Dang claims it to be the other way round, and if I remember the series correctly, Dang may be a little closer to reality.

In the end, Tam and Khoa do get together, and if I may wish for one thing, it would be to see those two guys in a series or a movie of their own, because they are good actors, and damn cute, too.

What I like about the writing of the movie is the way Son and Dang's relationship is being displayed. They do have their little problems, but in contrast to many BL series that are based on the characters' inability to frankly talk to each other, Dang and Son find a way of discussing their respective expectations and fears, so this movie comes across much more mature than some Thai BL series.

Another example of their reasonable way of solving their problems is a day trip Son invites Dang to as a compensation for the honeymoon they didn't have after their wedding because Dang has to attend university, and again they take this opportunity to discuss their mutual wishes and needs.

The movie does without a lot of naked skin which sometimes is the only reason to watch mediocre BL productions. Dang and Son do have a very intense kissing scene, though, and they also talk about "doing it" several times, but when they actually "do it", Dang nods to the fourth wall, and Son throws his shirt at the camera so that their privacy remains granted.

I appreciate very much that the cast and crew show the everyday life of a gay married couple. Vietnam is one of a few Asian countries that allows gay marriage (albeit without giving gay couples the same rights as opposite sex couples), and as this way of life is still seen critically by many, especially older, Vietnamese people, it is – among other reasons – thanks to BL series and movies that the attitude of young Vietnamese people is much more open to this way of life.

All in all, "Stormy Honeymoon" is another example of RL Team's cast and crew's determination to deliver high-quality, solid entertainment, and I can only recommend the movie as it is fun to watch.

Country: Vietnamese

Duration: 33 mins.

Director: Thu Ha

Cast: Ngoan Truong, Hao Dan, Tom That Tam Duc, Ly Thanh Chi