Your Name Engraved Herein

A film set in a boys' school in Taiwan in 1987. Jia-han and Birdy study at the same school and become attached to each other. The timing matters: that year the martial law that had lasted thirty-eight years was lifted. Society is entering a new period, while the school, the church and the family still run on the old rules. The same year the school goes co-educational and girls arrive in the classes. Birdy begins to take an interest in a girl; how much of it is real and how much escape, the film leaves unclear. The second half takes place years later and shows what became of them. Taiwan's own transformation sits behind it: the end of martial law, demonstrations in the street, and a society in which homosexuality was never discussed. By the time the film appeared Taiwan had become the first country in Asia to recognise same-sex marriage; so the distance between the story and the present is part of the film. Liu Kuang-Hui directed. Edward Chen and Tseng Jing-hua lead. It was a large commercial success in Taiwan and became the country's most-watched film on a gay theme; it won at the Golden Horse Awards for cinematography and original song. An affecting example for anyone who likes youth drama and period storytelling. For a viewer looking for restraint, the film raises the feeling openly and increases it considerably in the final section.