Love/Juice
what surprised me most about this film was the tender, intimate, and strong bond that the two leads had. i did not expect to get into their relationship this much, and at first, they were really open with each other, which was beautiful to see. lack of communication between queer individuals and toxic relationships in queer cinema have always made me frustrated since it happens a lot. it is very much real, but then again, it does not have to be that way all the time. though, throughout the end, i came to realize that they were not really good for each other either, but nevertheless, their relationship was really tender and i loved how the actresses portrayed their characters.
the film takes a dark turn. you expect it. there's unrequited love [but it's more than that though. some can argue <PERSON>'s romantic feelings for <PERSON> are not just about her loving <PERSON> but rather, it has to do with her gender dysmorphia (this one is tricky too, because we can't 100% tell if this comes from the concept of gender identity or sexuality. she cries about being a woman and says that she does not want it, but the reason for that is mostly... homophobia. “if i was a boy, it would be easier to love girls” something along these lines. but then again, i personally can see some gender identity issues that are going on as well. i don't know. 80
i'm not sure if i should read too much into this). well, this could be said about the obsession with making love part rather than the loving part. she really just loves <PERSON> purely, but her issues distort that love into something else. yeah. that "some" was me if you couldn't tell. thank you. bye], but rather than that, with the discussions on gender dysmorphia and internalized misogyny, they get very cruel to each other-also, there's a rape scene; it was handled okay, i guess, but not quite right, it could be touched on better later on, so there's that- and they come to realize they should not be together. well, one of them does, but as we see in the last scene, they grow apart. to know that this is the best option for them is comforting. they need to get on their journeys, they need to heal, to be at peace with themselves, especially chinatsu.
directing was better than i expected. it was quirky, but somehow it worked. the imaginative approach was rather... cute? my heart broke for the fishes, though. 427