Plainclothes Police

There is no way out, only fantasy.

"Plainclothes Police" and "Brokeback Mountain" do have many similarities, presenting the persecution of homosexuals in a homophobic social environment and the exploration of nature under the moral constraints of sexual repression.

The casting of "Plain Clothes Police" is relatively reasonable compared to "Brokeback Mountain". The actors of the fishing enforcement police are necessary to meet the character setting. Most of the castings for same-sex stories are handsome men and beautiful women, as if those with ordinary looks or bad looks are not even qualified to fall in love. The same is true for heterosexual stories. There are even lines that describe handsome men and beautiful women as "ordinary". The casting is completely inconsistent with the character setting, just like I can't believe that Yuan Quan said the classic line in the stage play "Jane Eyre": "Do you think that because I am poor, humble, ugly, and short, I have no soul and no heart? You are wrong! My soul is the same as yours, and my heart is exactly the same as yours! If God gives me a little beauty and a little wealth, I will make it difficult for you to leave me, just like it is difficult for me to leave you now." This is a problem of audio-visual art form and audience aesthetics.

The casting of Brokeback Mountain was criticized by the original author Annie Proulx. After the movie was released, many viewers followed their five senses and paid more attention to the love story, which weakened the criticism of the times. She received many fan fiction creations that arranged various new boyfriends for Ennis after Jack's death, which completely deviated from the main theme. She hoped that she had never written this story. The original focus is not the love between two men but the mental state and moral environment of homophobia in a specific era and region.

"Plain Clothes Police" is told from the male protagonist's perspective throughout, inviting the audience to enter the story and empathize with the characters to feel their psychological changes, from suppressing their nature to carefully exploring and finally awakening to facing their true selves. The police and the priest are filmed with a lot of sexual tension, although the audiovisual aspects are a bit flashy and showy.

"It'll pass." Is this a slang term exclusive to priests? It immediately reminds me of the ascetic priest in the second season of "Fleabag". Coincidentally, both of them are named Andrew. I can't help but suspect that the director did it on purpose.

There is still tomorrow: decriminalization of homosexuality.

The 1961 film "Victim"was the first English film in film history to directly mention homosexuality. There was no same-sex sex scene in the whole film. In 1967, the UK passed the Sexual Offences Act to decriminalize homosexuality. Homosexual behavior in private places by men over the age of 21 was no longer a crime. Many people believe that "Victim" promoted legislation to some extent. In the United States, it was not until 2003 in the case of Lawrence v. Texas that the Federal Supreme Court overturned the fines imposed on John Lawrence and Tyron Deviant. This ruling overturned sodomy laws (this law is mainly used to prosecute same-sex sexual behavior in the United States) across the country. Homosexuals have the right to establish their own intimate relationships without interference from state laws. At present, 67 countries still convict homosexual behavior, mainly concentrated in the Middle East, Africa and Russia. Among them, 11 countries can impose the death penalty, including Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, of which 8 are Asian countries. According to the survey, the death penalty is still being carried out against LGBTQ+ groups in Iran, northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, while the death penalty is still a legal possibility in Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The new Criminal Law of mainland China in 1997 abolished the crime of hooliganism, which is considered to be a sign of the decriminalization of homosexuality in China. The current official attitude is similar to "neither support nor oppose nor advocate", and the mainstream public opinion does not agree. The crime of hooliganism is a crime stipulated in the Criminal Law promulgated in 1979, which refers to openly defying national laws and social morality, gathering to fight, provoking trouble, insulting women or disrupting public order and other serious acts. In the 1983 crackdown campaign, the penalty was expanded to the maximum of death. After the 1997 revision, the crime of hooliganism was abolished and it was divided into the crimes of forced indecency, child molestation, gathering for promiscuity, gathering to fight, provoking trouble, etc.

The outlet of desire

When it comes to the crime of "gathering for lewdness", I think of the report in 2023 that 6 men in Hangzhou were arrested for gathering for lewdness. Many netizens expressed homophobia, while the case of 10 men and women gathering for lewdness in the same period was ignored by most media. Is it because the public is accustomed to the lewdness between men and women and therefore it has no news value? In 2009, there was a "swapping spouse" case involving 22 defendants (14 men and 8 women) that caused a huge public opinion storm. According to the prosecution's data, from the summer of 2007 to August 2009, 22 people participated in 35 gatherings through forums or QQ groups. Among them, the main culprit Ma organized or participated in 18 gatherings, and 14 were held at his home. Among them, there were only two couples, some for seeking excitement, some for improving the relationship between husband and wife, and several women had this sexual fetish. . Ma is an associate professor at a university in Nanjing, divorced and single. He believed that the activities did not constitute a gathering for lewdness and defended his innocence. The other 21 defendants all pleaded guilty, and the case was not heard in public. In the end, he was severely punished for his lack of clear awareness of the social harm and illegality of his behavior, and was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Others had a good attitude of confessing their guilt. 18 defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 1 year to 2 years and 6 months, of which 14 were given suspended sentences, and the remaining 3 defendants were exempted from criminal punishment because of their minor crimes and voluntary surrender. The number of people involved in this case set a record since the establishment of the crime of gathering for lewdness, and it was the first time that a person was sentenced to actual imprisonment for this crime. In 2006, a domestic drama "Don't Dance with Strangers"involved the issue of spouse swapping. In the past, the themes of domestic film and television dramas were more diverse than today. Li Yinhe once said that the crime of group lewdness is seriously outdated and suggested abolishing it. She said, "As far as I know, developed countries do not have the crime of group lewdness." "The earliest case of spouse swapping in China occurred in the 1980s. Four middle-aged couples, intellectuals, swapped spouses. The leader was shot, and then one was sentenced to life imprisonment and another to 15 years in prison."

"Plain Clothes Police" directed by Carmen Amy is set against the backdrop of the persecution of the gay community in the 1990s. Through a prismatic non-linear narrative, it weaves forbidden love and identity crisis into a tense artistic puzzle. The film abandons traditional linear time and uses VHS quality to create the graininess of private videos in the 1990s. The light and shadow reflected by the bathroom glass and the intertwined images of greenhouse plants are metaphors for the character's torn state between surveillance and desire.

The dual male protagonist setting breaks through the power game of conventional police and gangster films and instead digs deep into the emotional vortex of individuals. The plainclothes policeman played by Tom Bryce struggles between law enforcement and humanity. His pupil trembles when he stares at the camera, which becomes a perfect footnote to Deleuze's "crystal-image" theory-each gaze projection splits multiple time and space: the cold light of the monitor, the warm tones of the videotape, and the blurred edges of memory flashbacks.

The target of the trap, played by Russell Tovey, walks on the edge of the power structure in an ambiguous manner. In the confrontation scene between the two in the bathroom, the one-way glass and the surveillance camera form a double voyeurism, compressing gender politics and law enforcement ethics into a tight knot.

The open treatment at the end of the film is particularly exquisite: when the police mistakenly identify the target and raise their guns, the prism effect reflects countless possibilities from a single event - law enforcement violence, identity awakening, and system collapse. This unresolved tension is just like the survival state of the LGBTQ+ community in the undercurrent in the 1990s. Amy wraps contemporary issues with retro aesthetics, reflects institutional violence in the cracks of forbidden love, and finally transforms police uniforms and erotic symbols into fluid identity carriers, completing the deconstruction and reshaping of genre films.

In fact, some people think that it is normal for the editing to be chaotic. The director uses handheld DV images and various noises that are strongly associated with personal memories to create an anxiety experience that may only be fully understood by people who have experienced anxiety attacks.

Every time the screen switches to the DV state, Lucas actually feels that he is being stared at and observed. There is a mixture of guilt for the target of the trap, fear of the surrounding society that may discover him at any time, and the touch of being treated gently by Emily and Andrew, but there is no doubt that he is anxious.

When a person cannot accept his identity and suppress his desire for love, everything will make him panic and anxious. The corridor of the cinema, the greenhouse and the back seat of the car he shared with Andrew were the few moments of self-acceptance for him. He had already regarded Andrew's side as his own San Francisco until he found out that he almost ruined his life.

I was still eating sugar when I watched it for the first time, and the outburst at the end was just felt shitty. Until the second time I watched it, I burst into tears during the intimate scenes and conflict scenes. Every time Lucas's anxiety dragged me back to junior high school, the period when my mind could not get a moment of peace because of sexual orientation identification and secret love for straight men. Inferiority, shame, fear, I felt like everyone was staring at me.

Lucas is a policeman, stinging for law enforcement. Andrew is a priest. But when they met, they used pseudonyms. Lucas fell in love with Andrew during the era of homosexuality is a sin, and he also faced an identity crisis.

First of all, I think the duplication rate of the Polish movie Hiacynt is as high as 50%, and there is also East Palace, West Palace. I feel that there are many movies of the same type. The intersection of identity, social norms, and work ethics has caused Lucas to have a crisis, and Andrew has already experienced this crisis and is accepting it.

The latter has a wife and children, while the former has just broken up with his girlfriend and is struggling whether to tell his mother. In fact, I think the movie is quite average, and Russell played the gay role really well. Very handsome.

Every flicker of Bryce's eyes and subtle gestures reveal the depth of his inner conflict. Lucas's indecisive interactions with Andrew highlight Bryce's ability to shift from a state of panic to one of tenderness, showing a striking character evolution.

The contrast in his actions effectively conveys the duality of fear and desire as he navigates a world that threatens his life. Amy does a brilliant job capturing this visual story, highlighted by close-ups and carefully integrated VHS footage that enrich our understanding of Lucas's experiences and memories.

The complexity of Lucas' character – his desires, fears, and the weight of his choices – is carefully portrayed, allowing the audience to engage with the storyline rather than enjoy it superficially. Additionally, Plainclothes also explores toxic masculinity and homophobia through Lucas' interactions with his peers and family, particularly with the complexity introduced by his uncle (Gab Fazio).

While tension permeates much of the story, the film also contains genuine moments of intimacy and emotion, capturing the joy of romance amidst difficulties. The chemistry between Bryce and Tovey fosters a palpable connection that advances the story and creates a compelling balance to the more poignant elements.