Eternal Summer

Jonathan and Shane have been friends since primary school. One day the teacher told Jonathan to look after the most troublesome boy in the class, and the friendship began that way. In high school they are still inseparable. Shane plays basketball and everyone likes him; Jonathan is quiet and a good student. Then a new girl arrives. Carrie grows close to both of them. What Jonathan feels for Shane is not friendship and he tells nobody. All three are waiting for something from each other at once. Leste Chen directs. It is a Taiwanese production. The subject is a first relationship and an unspoken feeling; the film gives it not as a question of identity but as a personal constriction. Films treating this subject were increasing in Taiwanese cinema at the time and this belongs to that line. The form is calm; long takes, little music and short exchanges. The examination season and the pressure of school are inside the narrative and narrow the room the characters have. The ending is left uncertain and no character states a decision. Its limit is pace; the narrative is very slow and the plot thin. Who it is for: viewers who like Asian youth drama and quiet narratives. Who it is not for: little happens, the emotional register is suppressed, and the ending open.