Describing the film as a "touching, simple Taiwanese drama," entertainment correspondent Teo Bugbee wrote a review of "Your Name Engraved Herein (刻在你心底的名字)," which was published by the New York Times on Dec. 24.
"Your Name Engraved Herein" was first released in theaters in Taiwan last September. A box office hit, it has grossed over NT$100 million (approx. $3.5 million), making it the highest-grossing LGBT-related film in Taiwanese film history.
The film was directed by Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu (柳廣輝), who based the plot on the struggles he experienced back in high school, shortly after martial law was lifted in the 1980s.
The plot follows the lives of two high school friends Jia-han and Birdy, played by Tseng Jing-hua (曾敬驊) and Edward Chen (陳昊森), who navigated between friendship and mutual adoration until a female classmate showed up and served as a catalyst for change in their relationship.
Same-sex relationships were taboo back in the '80s. The characters underwent a difficult process of coming to grips with their sexuality amid pressure from family and society.
In her review, Bugbee noted: "The director, Patrick Liu, has an eye for the way that physical desire manifests itself: the gestures of affection, the postures of people pretending not to acknowledge each other. He doesn’t rush the romance between the boys, and his patience allows the actors to develop believable chemistry."
On the other hand, Bugbee said that "lingering too long in the hot air that remains after deep sighs can feel suffocating."
She also pointed out that the film "is so wrapped up in the gravitational pull between Jia-Han and Birdy that the details of the boys' school, their families and the political circumstances surrounding them pass by in a blur."
"Your Name Engraved Herein" recently began streaming on Netflix, allowing audience the opportunity to view it from abroad.