Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)

If you've seen one gay film you've seen them all... sort of. Your Name Engraved Herein does follow the typical formula for the prototypical gay romance. Young lovers in a repressed world meet, find joy together, face the backlash of their homophobic environment, resist their love (usually one more than the other) before each realizing they can't be whole without each other, yet often still ending in a tragic separation. It's played out a hundred times in gay movies in every culture and in 2020 Taiwan had a huge hit with this take on the same old story. Queer people can attest to the need to see narratives like this affirming their emotions on screen. But perhaps it does get tired after some time, and the desire to see queer stories which are as varied as heterosexual ones  becomes stronger. still, when a beautiful film like this comes along, you go with it, even if you know where it's taking you.

Your Name Engraved Herein is beautifully shot and performed. It is filmed with a lovely golden hue to most scenes that give it a sense of warmth, especially when its leads are together. The story is paced well, engaging us with the subjects arcs and delivering on the needed emotional pay off at the end. There is a sweetness to the love scenes that is powerful, evoking the kind of passion which helps express the passion between the characters, making its rather recycled story line feel honest and beautiful.

There is also the historical context that is specifically Taiwanese, and the film very effectively tells the history that this romance is set in. It handles the specifically Taiwanese queer context that helps it stand out from other films with this story. There is a reference to long time LGBTQ activist Chi Chia-wei in the film, paying homage to one of the real people who've done the work which allows a film like this to not only be made but become as popular as it was.

So in the end Your Name Engraved Herein is a lovely little film, if a bit predictable, that fits into a certain moment in queer cinematic history, and tells a beautiful love story.

Your Name Engraved Herein

Starring: Edward Chen, Tseng Jing-Hua, Fabio Grangeon, Leon Dai, Jason Wang, Mimi Shao

Director: Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu

Writers:  Yu-Ning Chu, Jie Zhan, Alcatel Wu