Adonis [DVD]

I saw in comments that they added subtitles....wrong they haven't .Do not buy, that's twice I've wasted my money there still are no subtitles

Very sensitive and well thought out film which was quite emotional at the end. Just great honest story telling in a sensible and sympathetic way..

This film certainly is an acquired taste, and shouldn't be delved into for a quick thrill nor passed off as pretentious hokum. It can be difficult to follow at the first viewing (especially if you don't speak Japanese), but it's made so well that the language barrier goes almost unnoticed; the depiction is very well considered, and it would have been possible to convey the story without words as a result. It should be said though that the acting is also to be admired, and the lead does a good job of portraying natural and affected reactions to the madness that swirls about him, something that would have been made all the more complex without a spoken language.Despite there being plenty of eye-candy on offer, moments of exposition and just some really well performed narrative do a good job of grounding the experience, allowing you to appreciate a sense of normality when it occurs. This is interspersed, sometimes with jarring affect, with some truly harrowing scenes plus the odd arty expression that you have to assume are there to tantalise more than anything else.Obviously you could switch on subtitles and actually understand what everyone is saying but I feel that this draws you out of the intended experience of an arthouse film, as expressionism is there to convey in pictures what can be relied heavily upon through words. Films that are unable to impart story, deportment and tone through pacing, acting and editing, too often fall back on a fat script that can confuse the experience. Whilst the viewer is constantly playing catch-up with a movie that rockets forward satisfied that everything has been explained, too often the opposite has been achieved. Though there are some minor occurrences of this in Adonis, I still managed to come away from the first viewing believing that I understand the experience but moreover appreciated the tale.

We were unable to watch this DVD as, although the box states it has English subtitles, there is no menu to the DVD so you can do nothing other than FWD or RWD the disc. No subtitles meant we gave up watching the movie within 5 minutes.

I loved this film and cannot understand some of the negative reviews which I read on amazon.com. Visually it was stunning and clearly owes much to the Chinese tradition from which it has come. At the same time its images, sexual and otherwise, and its subject matter pull no punches and are not for the faint hearted, but I found nothing gratuitous here. Nor did I find it difficult to follow, despite the only limited English subtitles, and the use of flashbacks and dream-like sequences. Certainly I have seen European, gay-themed DVDs which were far more incomprehensible (the German film M/M comes to mind). It seems to be one of the few films by this director (Scud) available on European format-DVD. I managed to obtain some of his others (Permanent Residence, Utopia, Voyage) from amazon.com but they are Region 1 and I will have to watch them using my computer. However, having seen Adonis, I am looking forward very much to doing so. Ignore the reviews and watch this film. It may not be easy viewing but I for one was captivated. Its images, including the beautiful actors, will stay with me and, for me at least, it is one to watch again.

As other reviewers have said, this is a strange film with a very muddled story-line. My copy was made all the more muddled by not having subtitles. It is in Mandarin Chinese. The info on the box says this but also says subtitles are in English ....but there are no subtitles. I checked on my DVD player, which usually gives the option of turning subtitles on or off, but for this DVD there was no option, just "off". The film starts immediately, there is no menu, but once the credits finish, the trailer is then shown. As on Amazon, the trailer does have subtitles. So what happened to mine?! Maybe I was sent a copy which was not copied properly. Unfortunately, it took a while for me to watch this film and so I have gone beyond the date to return it and ask for a replacement from Amazon. So BUYER BEWARE ...watch it before the date it can be returned just in case you too are sent a copy with no subtitles.Despite this problem, I did watch the film and thought it was well made and certainly had some very attractive Chinese guys in it ...lots of eye-candy! There is quite graphic sex - no problems here for me - but, towards the end, a nasty bit of slaughter and cannibalism, which I was a little alarmed about. An interesting film but I wish I could understand it properly ...I wish it had subtitles!

Rubbish not for me will pass it on to my friend

It depends on what you like in a film. This one was about sex it has full nudity and sexual encounters mainly of males enjoying their action. An honest film but not one that I would like to see again