THE TIME OF FEVER – 2024 – South Korea

BLISS RATING: ★★+

“I rubbed my lips against a doorframe and was hurt by splinters.” –  Quote from The Time of Fever

Frankly, this movie, turned into a BL mini-series, presented better than it actually was. Well-acted and certainly well-crafted but it says absolutely nothing. Yet, it looks so good in the process. I kept waiting for a ‘punch line’ but it never came. These kinds of movies/series are so exasperating to watch and I for one am frankly getting tired of hiding a non-existent story under false and artificial melodrama nonsense.

This is, if you will, a prequel or spin-off to “Unintentional Love Story” between Ko Hotae (Won Tae Min) and Ji Donghee (Do Woo). They have grown up as friends since childhood and share a bond between the two of them that is unique. Hotae had been living in Seoul but after his father passed away, moved back to his hometown again, living next door to Donghee. Donghee secretly has been in love with Hotae since childhood but because of his shyness and culture, is unable and unwilling to express those feelings. He has become a serious student and wants to go on to college and thus walled himself up from the outside world. Rarely smiling and rarely interacting. Meanwhile, Hotae is less inclined to buckle down to studying and maintains this odd ‘come to me yet stay away from me’ emotional attitude towards Donghee. This becomes there obtuse and rather misguided story about a reconnection between the two of them that happens but then really honestly never does. It is all so peripheral and shallow.

This movie/series is so astonishing flawed if you seriously and objectively look at it. Here are just some of the many unanswered questions:

1. Why did Hotae move to Seoul in the first place? And why did he move back? None of that is adequately explained. Hotae seemed to have no readjustment issues nor traumas after his father’s death. I found that a bit hard to fathom. His mother also seemed like a non-existent entity in his life.
2. Donghee and Hotae talk to each other like ‘brothers’ but refuse to say anything of substance to each other. And yet refuse to call each other ‘brother’. It is so obvious they have deep seated feelings for each other and all of that is left unsaid throughout the entire series. It is not even dealt with superficially.
3. Hotae asks Donghee to teach him how to kiss and when they do, it is passionate, sensuous, and intense. And then it is never dealt with again. Both pretending as if it never happened or never meant anything, but neither could get over it and that was obvious in both. How could it not mean anything? What happened to simply being forthright for a change?
4. Donghee is beaten up by his father on his birthday with his mother passively dealing with it as if nothing happened with no understanding of why any of that took place or pretending it was no big deal. One would think this is a massive deal that needed to be dealt with not just casually. Perhaps this might have something to do with the way Donghee is? It is just not dealt with in any meaningful fashion or detail at all. None of that made sense.
5. Donghee goes off to Seoul to attend school without telling Hotae as if all of that is ok. What part of friendship, love, compassion, understanding, communication, brotherhood’, and just plain human interaction and decency did you miss being taught? That was despicable behavior.  And cruel.
6. Hotae is equally as shallow. He too cannot deal with his own inner feelings. While I know they are supposedly in high school, they sure recognize so much about each other except the fact that they are both in love with each other, both cannot remain apart from each other, and can passionately kiss each other? And he remains silent as to how he feels about Donghee?
7. The end made absolutely no sense at all. Time frame I had no idea how long it has been. Why was Donghee buying a coffee shop? Did they not talk at all in this nebulous interim?
8. Why do production companies continue to cast 31 and 28 year olds respectively in roles that were clearly meant for high schoolers? It was obvious they were not and did not even try to pretend that they were. We never got to see the clumsiness or awkwardness of teenage boys fumbling their way through emotions. And their kisses were quite passionate and intense. All I can say is that I doubt seriously that two young men relatively inexperienced in the ways of the world could kiss with that kind of passion and intensity.
9. The story goes somewhere but honestly that somewhere is nowhere. Yet, it looks so good doing so. Overall, the story is disjointed and feels incomplete and cryptic. You have a lot of ‘reading between the lines’ to get the message. But it tugs at emotional heartstrings to make the story emotionally vested.
10. It is a story about cowards. It never gets to a point because it has none. Both these protagonists are flawed and unlikeable characters and hide behind fear, society, cultural normalities, insecurities, and their own inadequacies. I could understand this if they did not understand themselves but it is clear that they did. Thus, they are cowards and afraid to face their own realities and honestly do not deserve each other. They could have said clearly and distinctly expressed in some fashion that each liked the other, but they could not even do that. There are no excuses for not at least giving each other even a hint or a modicum of understanding that each liked the other through more than a kiss that was never discussed again or flatly denied. Shame. They meant something to one another, but both failed to even connect. I am sorry I just did not get the point of this story.

Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series?   This is an exceptionally well-acted series. Both Won Tae Min as Won Tae Min and  Do Woo as Do Woo got into their roles with gusto. I do think Do Woo as Donghee got into his role with more intensity, however. He seemed greatly consumed by his inability to say what he really wanted to say but was powerless to change who he was. However, I thought his mother had a significant impact on this story. While only briefly on, Lee Eun Ju as Donghee’s mother was exceptional. We could see with her acting prowess the difficult life she had and the painful experiences she had to go through were written on her face. She conveyed more in what she did not say than what she did. But what she did say was also very powerful. She says to him there is nothing that he can say or do that would make her hate him. It was her subtle but profound way of telling her son she knew of his inclinations, and she was all right with it and would be there for him, despite her own difficulties. I found her brief encounter with Donghee to be quite profound and exemplifies a real transition for a ‘mother’ and ‘son’ to go through in life. Very memorable scene.

Certainly, this series will pull at your heartstrings but perhaps because I am old and cynical, I saw right through this ruse. Flatly this series said nothing. At least nothing of substance and again reinforced the stereotypical thinking that gay people from an early age really do not want to be gay, or will hide it for as long as they can, or are ashamed of what they are, or lack the courage to be who they are, or are terrified of their own feelings, or, or, or….  All perhaps well meaning but sending a wrong message.

Just once, I wish there could be a clear message sent, unequivocally, with a flat ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response forthcoming and let the chips fall where they may. But then what would be shown in the next six or seven next episodes. Maybe a quality story of some type?