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What if....?
According to this drama (and I did not fact check it!) our brains continue to function for 4 minutes after the oxygen supply had been cut off. What exactly happens during those 4 minutes? This drama gives us an answer.The story is not as messy as I was made to understand. It deals with what ifs: would you react differently in the same situation if you are given the opportunity. Mostly, these four minutes give time and space for the characters to grow and mature: one from being a spoiled brat who cannot say no to his friends and is overprotected by his parents and the other one who almost ruined his life looking for revenge. They become aware of their mistakes and learn from them.
There are four distinct parts of the story: 4 episodes of Great's 4 minutes(the time before the brain completely shuts down and the person dies)of a near death experience in the form of time travelling in order to mend his mistakes, followed by two and a half episodes of the real life story, one episode of the Doctor's wishful thinking 4 minutes and finally a half an hour resolution! The first part is the longest, giving us, the viewers, the same time Great needed to understand what's going on! The rest is a bit rushed and a little unsatisfying: I would have liked to see the bad guys really suffer but even though they do get punished, the hope that the society is ever going to change and get better, is not there.
I am glad I binge watched this because the suspense would have killed me - especially when at the end of the penultimate episode every good guy seems to have died: none of the bad guys but EVERY good guy!
The production value here is exceptional, it is very much evident that they tried really hard to give this drama a special feel. And feelings there are just none of the good ones: it is dark and depressing, just like the story it is trying to tell. Mind you, it is beautifully filmed and acted. The special effects are just perfect. The costumes are consistent with the running theme of a depressing and serious drama: Great is always in white and the doctor in black when not in scrubs.
The writing is original and the story is wrapped up nicely (the author seems to like Until We Meet Again a lot given the star crossed lovers' second couple storyline!) though somehow ambiguously with the main couple in a boat on a river inviting the query: are they just out on a date or are they crossing the Styx?
Another important feature, apart from the number 4 are the clocks: every time Great looks at the clock it is 11:00. No matter how much time it passes, it is always 11:00. Until he realizes that he has only 4 min left to live when the clock suddenly changes to 11:01 etc. and everything that he's been experiencing is a coma dream due to a near death experience.
And finally there are cats everywhere; black and white plushies for the leads and a black cat which caused one of the second leads to lose his sanity. There are a lot of cat food ads. The question now is: were the cats originally written in the script or were they added because of the PPL?
The society this drama describes is a cruel one: it is the weak who suffer in the hands of the rich and the powerful, the poor are not helped by the people who are supposed to be there to protect them (usually known as the police) because of the overpowering corruption. So they either bow down and suffer in silence or deal the justice themselves. Unfortunately for them, it never ends well.
The cinematography of this drama is extraordinary: from filming angles, to colour scheme (everything is gray except for the ML's red car) to geometrical sets (there are lots of circles!) and everything is important for the story. It was pretty much obvious from the first episode that the events are not taking place in the real world: the lack of colours and the number 4 showing up everywhere, as well as the strange and ominous sounding music gave the very odd impression that not everything is what it seems.
Frankly I am surprised this drama has such high ratings give the complex story and the filming style: it definitely is not one of the usual BLs. Actually I would put sci-fi as the main genre here followed by crime and psychological and then, maybe, romance where characters happen to be gay. The tone of this drama reminded me very much of 7 Days to Valentine where the storyline and production were just as dark and depressing, not very romantic. What is different here is the main actor's cult following and the abundance of NC scenes (which were, by the way, beautifully filmed). I keep seeing the comments and the reviews saying in gist: "omg, those nc scenes are hot i want more!!!" but never mention the plot or anything else that is actually important and really interesting here. The producer knows its business and how to speak to teen audience just give them hot actors making out and they are happy. Who cares about the plot? Well I do and luckily for me, they managed to strike a good balance between an engaging plot and a few soft porn scenes (not as many as I thought there would be!) so everyone's happy now!
Actually, this drama should be watched just for its cinematography if nothing else! In conclusion, this is a difficult but a beautiful and a satisfying watch. Not for the fans of fluffy bls though....
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could have been a 10/10
Overall: although I enjoyed the beginning, things unraveled for me. 8 episodes about 1 hour each. Aired on GagaOOLala uncut: https://gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4688/4minutes-2024 (except Thailand, Japan, Korea); iQIYI uncut https://www.iq.com/album/4minutes-sultrier-version-2024-1zc6sune8fl?lang=en_us and cut version https://www.iq.com/album/4minutes-2024-1h7yndte6zx?lang=en_us (Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom and United States); Viu with some countries having the cut version (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Myanmar, Singapore); Rakuten TV in Japan and Heavenly in South Korea. The cut version has NSFW shortened/cut and also cuts out some plot as well.Content Warnings: most content warnings, it has some very dark/graphic parts in it
What I Liked
- mystery element
- grey characters
- use of the number 4 or things adding up to 4
- production value* (includes cinematography, use of color as symbolism, props to represent things)
Room For Improvement
- not a fan of a flash forward (or back) as a hook for a series
- there were too many characters/plot to fully develop them all, also pacing
- misleading trailer, it felt that a different character is the main lead instead of a character people were led to believe
- tricking the audience, not a fan of how that was done
- sweet moments that didn't actually happen
- cliched plot stuff
- no reason why a character had a girlfriend, I couldn't support a romance because it was built to not be a romance
- cringey guitar playing/serenading
- the intimate scenes were needed but they did not need to be that explicit/I didn't need to glimpse an actor's body part when walking around
- *many scenes were too dark to see the actors' faces or even what was happening, even for scenes at night they need to put light on their faces
- nonsense stuff: I can't comment on all of the medical things and their realism, but I highly doubt any surgeon would spin his medical implements before/during a surgery, that seemed to be a ton of papers for a small clipboard in ep 1, an investigator who didn't wear gloves at a crime scene, in ep 4 a character oddly didn't wear a mask when he should have
- Be On Cloud decided to sell it to a company where it is only airing in 8 countries (and perhaps 2 more) and then had the gall to not respond anywhere to questions about the remaining 180+ countries but instead posted about how to only watch it via official channels, I don't mind companies needing money to get things made but they should have been clear about where and the why (update: after 5 weeks they had an actual international release and the reason was likely money/maybe they couldn't say their whole release plan due to a contract but it still was bad to not have an official platform for 180+ countries for 5 weeks)
Note About an Actor's Age (I didn't take off points for this but as an fyi 1 actor was likely 17 when he filmed several very explicit scenes, age of majority in Thailand is 20)
- it's valid to feel uncomfortable with a 17 year old actor doing explicit scenes and to not watch this series
- it's valid to feel fine with a 17 year old actor who voluntarily agreed to do explicit scenes (and had his parents' permission) and watch/enjoy this series
- everyone gets to make that decision for themselves, I hold no judgement either way for this example, personally I am watching the series but I'm not re-watching that actor's NC scenes
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Totally Confusing ?
this is very confusing series but that is also the highlight of the series. it is like we are trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together. like I thought like till the episode, yeah a normal love drama. then I like wth is happening. it took me an hour after episode 6 to understand what was going on. then when the 4 minutes of Tyme came, I was again damn confusedđ€. but it was interesting at the same time. like it is a perfect mix, like toxicity, romance, crime, thrilling and also sci-fi. I like it. but i don't recommend it for people who are new to bl. they'll be like wtf is going on. but my personal opinion, I love it.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Brume fascinante en 4 temps...
Est-ce que je peux dire que j'ai (dĂ©sespĂ©rĂ©ment) aimĂ© 4 Minutes ? J'espĂšre, parce que c'est le cas. Ătonnamment, j'Ă©tais dans un brouillard la plupart du temps, mais il y avait une fascination qui se dĂ©gageait de là ⊠J'Ă©tais hantĂ©e par l'histoire.Le casting Ă©tait exceptionnel ! HonnĂȘtement, Bible Wichapas Sumettikul devait avoir une pression assez importante. Il devait faire oublier son ancien personnage, Vegas. Cela n'a pas dĂ» ĂȘtre facile, mais il a su s'approprier son personnage de la meilleure des façons. C'Ă©tait un personnage curieux, parfois hĂ©sitant, mais avec une certaine attraction. Bible Ă©tait superbe.
Je suis désolée pour Build qui devait incarner le rÎle, mais je suis plus qu'enchantée d'avoir découvert Jes Jespipat Tilapornputt en tant que Tyme. Et cela au point de me donner envie de découvrir la version thaïlandaise de "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?". S'il manque un chouïa d'expressions, je l'ai trouvé entraßnant et plutÎt convaincant en tant que médecin.
Bien sûr, Fuaiz Thanawat Shinawatra ne fait que confirmer son talent aprÚs DFF dans le rÎle de Tonkla. Et bon sang, quel personnage ! Et quelle interprétation ! Il n'a que 18 ans, mais il n'a rien à envier aux plus ùgés, au contraire, il pourrait presque leur donner une ou deux leçons (je ne plaisante qu'à moitié). Il y a eu quelques débats sur les scÚnes intimes et le fait qu'il soit jeune, mais il est majeur et surtout, c'est un acteur.
Ăvidemment, Bas Asavapatr Ponpiboon Ă©tait un bonbon pour mes yeux (crush assumĂ©). DerriĂšre son joli visage, j'aime l'acteur et son personnage. Korn Ă©tait attirant, sans jamais devenir un clichĂ© du bon gars qui passe du cĂŽtĂ© obscur. Au contraire, son personnage Ă©tait une surprise constante, tant dans ses gestes que ses Ă©motions. Tonkla et Korn m'ont malmenĂ© jusqu'au bout et j'Ă©tais toujours lĂ pour en redemander.
Pour finir, la moustache ça change un homme. JJay Patiphan Fueangfunuwat Ă©tait superbe dans la peau de Win, le flic qui mĂšne son enquĂȘte et doit accuser quelques corruptions au passage et avec un pantalon. Je l'avais trouvĂ© intĂ©ressant dans DFF, cela dit, il n'est que meilleur ici.
Le reste du casting Ă©tait tout aussi bon. Quelques caricatures ici et lĂ , mais rien qui ne vaille la peine de s'offusquer non plus.
Les romances ne sont pas un quota Ă remplir, Be On Cloud semble l'avoir compris. PlutĂŽt que de nous vendre des scĂšnes sans Ăąme, les romances alimentent l'histoire et explorent les sentiments des personnages. Le sexy Ă©tant la cerise sur le gĂąteau.
D'ailleurs, une des choses que Be On Cloud semble faire diffĂ©remment, ce sont les couples. Fuaiz et JJay Ă©taient gĂ©niaux dans DFF, n'est-ce pas ? Et bien ici, ils sont tout aussi bons, tout le monde s'attend Ă ce que le ship file droit devant, et pourtant⊠J'apprĂ©cie ce changement. MĂȘme si l'idĂ©e de "couple d'Ă©cran" ne me rebute pas complĂštement, j'apprĂ©cie de voir les acteurs avec des partenaires diffĂ©rents, cela apporte de la nouveautĂ© et de la surprise. On sort des prĂ©-requis du BL thaĂŻlandais depuis ces quatre derniĂšres annĂ©es.
L'histoire est un épais brouillard du début à la fin. Je n'ai pas voulu revoir le drama tout de suite, mais dans quelques semaines/mois, je le ferais pour qu'il répondre à certaines questions encore en suspens. En réalité, c'est assez surprenant de voir que ce que j'avais reproché à Absolute Zero ne m'a pas dérangé ici, au contraire ! Ce brouillard dégageait une sorte de fascination. Pour moi, l'histoire repose sur des réalités alternatives, couplées aux quatre nobles vérités bouddhiste. Le cycle se répÚte, malgré une confusion constante dans la temporalité.
Beaucoup le compare avec KinnPorsche. Bien que la sociĂ©tĂ© de production soit la mĂȘme, je ne lui trouve aucun point commun. Pour moi, 4 Minutes n'est pas un c/c de KP. Il possĂšde son histoire, ses personnages, son ambiance et sa propre identitĂ©.
En bref, 4 Minutes n'est pas au goût de tous, mais il est un projet rafraßchissant dans le BL avec son scénario brumeux, mais intrigant. Il le doit également à son excellent casting, sa photographie soignée et son ambiance maßtrisée. Sans aucun doute l'un des meilleurs drames de 2024.
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Great Tyme Continuum (With no added sultriness)
Hello, I'm Great! No, I donât mean I'm doing great (have you seen the show?), but that I am Great! Ummm⊠no, I'm not saying I'm a great person (have you seen the show?), but my name is Great! Oh⊠I give up. Iâm the crazy cat lady. Happy?Anyway, what did you make of me and my story? Wasnât it fun? Admittedly, it isnât fun to die Tyme and Tyme again for your entertainment, but you knew I was going to live, didnât you?
Iâm grateful to my creators for putting me in one of the *greatest* bodies out there, on whose head not a strand is out of place, and whose body Adonis and Antinous would envy. They also seem to have had a big budget, which they mostly spent on interior design porn, and renting cars from the Fast and the BiCurious outlet mall. *I* have no objections. I do wish the writers had been paid more⊠Because I really donât understand who I am, and what has been happening to me. I also didnât know *how* to feel about what was happening, but fortunately, the background music was always at hand to tell me.
Since Iâm now alive â Iâm not sure, this might be a Black Mirror kind of situation â I have been lurking around the forums online to find out the truth. Iâve pretty impressed by the hard work of the âfandomâ. There are some good theories out there. But Iâm still not sure I understand. (I'm a bit thick, you see, but thickness, like size, matters.)
***Ignore the following three paragraphs if pressed for time, or to avoid "plot" details. ***
What Iâm most confused about is perspective. So, when I was going into cardiac arrest -- as were Tyme and Tonkla and everyone else whoâs ever been shot it would seem -- I had four comatose minutes during which I could see four (?) consequential moments where I could have chosen a less evil path. Fun. I love guilt-tripping. Some, including my maker, Sammon, argue that each of these moments is a pathway to an alternate ârealityâ, but my physicist friend assures me that this is not how the many-universe theory works. (There, reality splits every measurable moment, because quantum decoupling happens every measurable moment. Besides, neither the heart nor the brain are quantum systems, but... never mind.) Also, can an unconscious person see? Or hear? Or feel? Isn't that an oxymoron? I, for one, certainly don't remember any of it! Before you accuse me of being pedantic, know that Sammon prides herself on her scientific and philosophical sophistication. But the most existential question for me is this: once we do enter this liminal space, and 'choose' an alternate 'reality', what happens to the reality we leave behind? Do I die? Am I dead? Am I Bruce Willis in that movie?
Now, there is also that whole other storyline involving online gambling, TonKla, Korn, Win, and Nan. I know you didn't care for any of it, but bear with me. Did *I* see that too? Did Tyme? Or were their storylines alone real all the time? Are my parents good or bad? If good, why did I see what I did? If bad, why did Tyme see what he did? Fine, let's allow that my perspective and that of an omniscient narrator can co-exist. But then, didnât TonKlaâs dead brother show up at one random point? More confusingly, if the four minutes represent opportunities where deaths could have been prevented, didnât other deaths happen anyway? Are some lives more worth than others? I mean, I know my beautiful body is worth more than Tymeâs grandmotherâs life, or that bastard TonKla's, but still⊠Am I the asshole? Or is the universe fatalistic all the same, and our subjunctive possibilities mere hallucinations? If so, whatâs the fucking point of all this?
Of course, Tyme is still in a huff about the fact that *his* perspective got half a measly episode, but mine got six! Poor TonKla, he fared even worse! While weâre at it, what in crazy cat ladyâs name was that last episode all about? I'm so confused, and I donât know why my creators were in such a hurry to wrap things up. I don't even understand why I'm still alive, and why Tyme's still alive, but not my brother. Why did he have to kill himself? Don't we all have blood on our hands? Also, who chooses these realities for us? Sammon? If so, why choose these, and not one in which my story actually makes sense? As I said, the writers should have been paid more, if they were paid at all. But then, all those âcuteâ moments between me and Tyme â it satisfied you lot, didnât it? How many of you screamed at the last shot? Good, Iâm happy for you. I'm happy for us too. Not for my brother, though.
*** Here endeth knowledge. ***
I know some of you thought my sex scenes with Tyme were a tad on the soft side. Listen, I know my body, and the fact that I was listening to Limp Bizkit all of next day is no coincidence. Tyme is a Great lover, and he bore his arse out for you: be Greatful. But I will admit, that bastard TonKla stole the show from me. Never trust a power bottom. Were you really surprised when he shot me, and revealed his face in the campest way possible? Iâd say Iâm glad heâs dead, but, Iâd still love to have had a Great Tyme with him and Win and Korn. And yes of course I'd have sex with my murderer if he's hot enough -- ask any self-respecting gay man. Besides, you all saw a flash of JJay's p-JJ, didn't you? How many times did you go back, freeze the frame, and thought to yourself, "I've become my mother"?
Oh, one last thing. Why 4 minutes, you ask? It is, apparently, the length of time it would take for consciousness to fade after the heart stops, during which, you can enter an alternate dimension, alternate reality, alternate universe, or whatever else is alternate. Thatâs what the last-minute narrator -- where the fuck did she come from? -- says. Turns out, not possible. Anoxia induces loss of consciousness in 6 seconds, and inflicts permanent brain damage within 2 minutes. (You should have seen the first draft of this review. There are parts of my brain to which I no longer have any access.) So, I can only guess that my creators were listening to Madonna on repeat on Spotify as they fell asleep (or while doing cocaine), and concluded, with Mr. Timberlake, there were only 4 minutes left to save the worldâŠ
Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: In Search of Lost Tyme
DON'T SAY: The Great Catsby
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Could have been the next KinnPorsche
I watched this with great expectations. The first episode was intriguing with the whole look into the future for 4 minutes thing. But as the series went on, it changed from intriguing to downright confusing. The 4 minutes became a blur and different realities were so mixed together that you werenât able to tell what exactly went with what. If this series had been more straightforward, it could have been on the level as KinnPorsche.But, I thought the acting was superb and I am now a bigger fan of these actors. Bible and Jes made a perfect pairing. I especially loved the âdream-likeâ sequence where they were extremely happy together. The story about Tonkla was heartbreaking and I shed a few tears for that whole situation.
But overall, the way they made it soooo confusing, I didnât really enjoy it very much and I wonât be watching it again.
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A Decent BL
This series benefits from fantastic casting. It was genuinely refreshing to watch a BL where the cast are all sufficient actors. Jes and Bible are particularly good; Jes acts with convincing subtlety and (besides an awkward Thinking Aloud moment in the first episode) Bible is similar, handling two almost distinct characters well. It's enjoyable to watch actors who have believable range beyond the common BL Uncontrollable Sobbing.What let's this series down is the writing.
The first five episodes turn out to be dream fodder for the so-far relatively bland MC. Bible does well with what he's given, but it's incredibly frustrating to invest five hours in what turns out to be a dream timeline. The MC suddenly takes an interesting turn in episode six, but odd pacing means you spend far less time in reality than the dream timeline. This is my absolute writing pet peeve. Why should I care about what's happened when at any given moment, it could turn out none of it is real?
I'd have loved to spend a lot more time in the reality timeline. If the pacing was more balanced, I might have found the twist charming. Unfortunately, I found it poorly executed. A shame, as the reality timeline had a lot of interesting potential. Initial episodes had some good twisty moments (like Dome's death) but they really needed to happen in episode 2 so we could get on with the real plot.
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4MINUTÆS
I have watched tons of bls the last few years and I know very well how they have evolved. When they first started, bls had very similar settings and plots. Most of them took place in universities or high schools, that's how the engineer faculty joke came to be.At some point, bl series started gaining tons of viewers and attention and companies started -as expected- to invest more and more in this particular "genre". As a result, from characters that were usually high schoolers and university students, we started watching on our screen so many different main leads. From doctors and office workers to supernatural entities and mafia bosses.
The thing is that in the majority of these series, no matter how entertaining or well made they may be, the plot felt more like a background that was there just to envelop the main characters and their romance. It felt like the writers were not actually ready to create a well written and logical plot, since it was out of their comfort zone.
And here comes 4minutes. To get this out of the way, this series is not perfect, but I can clearly see it is an earnest effort to make a unique drama that deviates from the usual tropes.
4minutes has amazing directing and cinematography. In simple words, it is visually stunning. It has an immaculate dark atmosphere, good music and good acting. Of course, since this is the "sultrier" version there are quite a few explicit scenes that are also pretty well done -but not for the faint-hearted-. The chemistry between the characters is good and their love stories are also good (enough).
And here comes the usual black sheep; the plot. 4minutes has an actually well written, intricate and complicated plot. Or to be more precise, that's what they want the audience to believe. The plot itself is not that complicated and until the end it is easy to put all the pieces in the correct place. Things are getting clearer and clearer with each episode. But because the concept is special and because of some directing choices, the plot seems to be much more confusing and complex than it is in reality and I am saying this as positively as possible.
4minutes has a quite unique plot compared to many series (and not only bls). It has flawed characters that don't feel like the typical "toxic" ones we usually watch and enjoy (to hate). It is one of the few times that despite the love stories and the (many) gay main leads, I could feel that the plot was actually more important than the romance. That it was there to serve a purpose, something that is obvious from the viewers themselves. People were not talking that much of the romantic relationship between the mains and the good looking cast. They were making theories about the plot, they were trying to solve it like a riddle. And that is what makes 4minutes a great -pun intended- series, despite its flaws.
And what are those flaws? Some of the acting performances here and there could have been better and some plot points could have been developed in a different manner.
However, the thing that actually bothered me the most has to do with the emotional aspect of the series. I just didn't feel for the characters and their stories. I think that this is the biggest flaw of 4minutes. I could acknowledge that I was watching something well made, but emotionally wise, it didn't move me, it didn't make me gasp. I wanted that something more. I wanted to feel for the characters and for their relationships more than I did.
All in all, despite the negative aspects, 4minutes was definitely worth the watch and it felt like a huge breath of fresh air. It doesn't follow the formula we have seen again and again during the past few years and it was a memorable enough watch that differentiated itself from everything else, putting the plot, and not the romance, in the foreground.
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Perfect production but messy story
This BL was highly anticipated by many. BOC, Bible, Jes. This is a potentially golden combination. And it started off just as promising. Many different storylines that we could see were related, but how exactly was a big question. A lot of questions got answered from around ep. 4. but a lot still remained obscure. What exactly did these 4 minutes mean? and what was real? Because apparently some events were fictional? Ep. 5 and 6 gave us answers. But for me, those were not really the ones we were looking for and even more questions were raised. Who died? And if they did, who killed them? Tha last two eps. wrapped it all up. But not in a neat little package and we are still left with why's how's and who's. Should we have seen some bigger picture? I did not find it if it was there.Overall the acting is superb, as is the production. Perfect lighting.coloring and stages. Big love here. As for the other parts of the show, like consistency, story, music.... theres still some to be desired. It felt like there were parts of the story missing. Not as much essential parts, but still important "setting the scene" parts. We are thrown into one scene after another and are left to our own devices to connect them all. Which coukld have worked out great, but I still felt like we were looking at an unfinished product.
Maybe it was my expectations that were too high, or maybe it was BOC's ambitions that were too high?
I did also spot some references to KinnPorsche. More subtle, like in some shots, but also very in your face like the song "Why Don't You Stay" by Jeff Satur (but here not sung by Jeff Satur).
I will rewatch this at some point and maybe then I will adjust my review.
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Imperfectly enjoyable
Not everything has to be top notch for you to enjoy a viewing experience. It wasnât a perfect watch and nothing about this was truly unique or outstandingly mind-blowing, from the premise to the acting to its characters, but I have to say that this show felt unique to me from the get go. Iâm canât pinpoint it, though it may be that Iâm still pretty new to BLs and Asian dramas in general, so it could be that this being more focused on a openly complicated plot, it having THAT much steam and romance not being the star of the show surprised me when compared to the other stuff that Iâve seen so far. But mostly, I felt like the people behind it had clear intentions and ideas going in, in ways making me think that, while wanting to try something new, they still didnât do shit without a clear motive behind every shot or line of dialogue. Itâs extremely admirable to me and I can honestly say there wasnât a single second in this where I felt bored watching it. Of course this doesnât mean that they were actually successful in making the product I KNOW they wanted to make. I do think there are a few issues that they need to fix going in into the sequel to make up for a confusing start. Before naming a few of them, I just want to be clear that by âconfusingâ I donât necessarily mean the mystery behind the plot, and that Iâm only critiquing the show out of genuine passion and excitement for whatâs to come. Whatâs confusing to me is the script. I can see the ideas, I can see the potential, but then maybe the inexperience or the fact that they wouldnât/couldnât make this a couple more episodes long, there were moments where a scene would feel incohesive with the the previous or the next, as if they had to skip some content for them to be able to cram everything in an 8-hour long product. Mind you, I finished the last episode without feeling like I just wasted my time, so Iâm sure they did the best they could with what they had. But then again, if the writing was somehow better, it would have benefited everything in here, especially with the characters. The main characters had some pretty fucked up things happening to them both in their backstories and their present, but with it being so plot-heavy and the writing having to make sure they didnât leave anything important out, the character development itself suffered. Which leaves me feeling like they HAVE developed, but unfortunately I donât get to see it in a satisfying way. That also means that, if the writing isnât completely there, then the acting performance also suffers. The only case I felt where a character had a pretty much good arc is Korn, which felt pretty linear. The script did help the actor immensely with a pretty straightforward arc for him, and Bas is already a talent on his own, probably the best one out of the cast if I only have to judge from what you see in this series. That can partially be said for the actor and character of Ton Kla as well. I also KNOW Jes and Bible to be very good and expressive actors, and I did enjoy their performances, but unfortunately scenes werenât written for them to shine and show their acting abilities.In conclusion, yes, in a way this does feel like kind of a missed opportunity and thereâs definitely some big room for improvement. But at the same time, this had remarkable photography, a pretty thrilling pacing, interesting ideas left and right and I had the best time watching, trying to guess all the possibilities and ways they story could go. I know it looks like Iâm kinda bashing it, but I assure you, bullying is how I flirt. And I flirted a LOT with this BL. DEFINITELY worth a watch.
(EDIT: also, someone just reminded of the insane amount of ISDIN ads that were thrown left and right, it really did send me through the roof every time the camera sat for a few seconds on a bottle of sunscreen đthough on a serious note, it surely aligns with my idea that unfortunately the people behind it needed the funding, so good on them if that helped with the production side of things!)
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What happened VS What could have happened
The concept is quite brilliant, but the execution could certainly have been better.The "explanation" for the bewildering scenes for many of the episode is basically that, for people whose brains are oxygen-deprived and they are on the brink of death or in a coma, they hallucinate about what their lives could have been had they done something different.
At the start of the series, Great sees himself knocking a woman down with his car and driving off. When the vision ends, he drives and knocks someone down without driving off irresponsibly, changing the course of events. Eventually, however, it turns out that Great does not see 4 minutes into the future at all. The series of events happening following the hit-and-run is the reality whereas the other series of events is just something that goes on in his mind when he is in danger of dying.
Some find it highly unsatisfactory that so much of the series feature the "hallucinations" rather than the reality. To me, it is fine as the hallucinations reveal their most deep-seated desires and make the reality especially poignant when it is revealed. Nonetheless, I think there are issues. Since what we are seeing isn't premised on traveling back in time to fix the past or predicting the future to change something for the better, what we are seeing is what *could* have happened rather than what *would* have happened. In other words, the alternative story just a story spun by the dying brains of the characters rather than a definite course of events. This does compromise the emotive quality of the series.
It also seems to me that the "explanation" doesn't really explain things. At one point, we are led to think that Tonkla senses the presence of his brother, who has been killed. But, based on the explanation, this makes no sense whether we are watching the reality or Great's imagined series of events. The two do not mix unless Great's imagination can invade the reality that Tonkla experiences. Furthermore, it is quite confusing that when Great supposedly sees four minutes into the future, there are glances of himself being intimate with Time that happen way after the four minutes. The visions seem to be simply planted there to intrigue viewers and perhaps titillate them with glimpses of sex scenes. I also feel that, in the "hallucinated" series of events, there are scenes that Great wouldn't be imagining simply because they do not involve him (e.g. Time at the hospital overhearing what his colleagues say about his relationship with another doctor) and are not quite relevant to the alternative reality that his dying brain so badly wants.
When it comes to the BL, the relationship between Great and Time in the real version of events isn't developed well. We do not see enough of how Time's feelings for Great develop and see more of him being obsessed with avenging his parents who were killed. As for the other BL couple (three characters, actually), Tonkla/Korn or Tonkla/Win, there are just many sex scenes without emotional intensity. The story seems to vacillate between showing Korn as someone who deeply loves Tonkla and showing him as someone who does not truly care about him. Tonkla's apparent preoccupation with wanting to have unprotected sex seems nonsensical and added in just for dirty talk even though one might come up with some labored explanation for it. Win is interesting but lacks development--the final episode is a little too rushed for a series that seems to take its time to reveal things to us.
Ultimately, the freshness of the concept and the way the series pushes boundaries in depicting sex and nudity in BLs may garner this series a lot of attention, but it is unlikely remembered as a classic that is executed with finesse in every way.
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Omg
The quality of this production is excellent! Everything is clicking: OST, acting, and intimate scenes. The visuals flow with a professional quality. I'm watching the "sultier" version. In episode one the scene with Korn was hot! On a more personal level...KinnPorcshe escalated the type of sex scenes portrayed in bl series and I think 4 minutes will do the same. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the explicit nature of Korn's scene and the passion portrayed. But, at what level does bl cross over into pornography? Is it pornography with an actual plot, great acting and human emotions or is it an explicit bl on a different level? Just asking? I'm still enjoying it and am definitely watching the rest of this series.After completion:
The production was significantly superior to many bl's. The cinematography, the acting, the music...everything. The only negative was the time skipping. That really got confusing. It felt like the story didn't completely flesh out. I think if I rewatch it I'll probably pull more of the subtle elements of the story together better. Bible and Jes as a couple was a definite winner. I'll always be disappointed that Build was treated so badly and had his career ruined by that mental shank he dated. BOC, however, recovered the pairing with Bible and Jes. Bible seems like an awesome person and I hope the very best for his future. (Had to throw my 2 cents in about the whole Build fiasco.). As I stated, I'll wait a couple weeks then binge watch "4Minutes" again. I definitely think I'll enjoy it more since I know the overall story of the script now.
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