August films / películas de agosto

Who said 11 isn’t a magical number? In August I had the opportunity to see 11 films. The gem of the month, of course, is Psycho. However, if I had to choose only 21st century productions then the award would go to Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Art of Getting By. I recommend them.

I loved Red (based on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner), and I was impatient to see the sequel. Watching Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins playing superspy games, plotting against other nations, conspiring with secret agents and shooting and killing his enemies seemed like the perfect antidote against boredom. And although Red 2 (2013) is fun and has some fine scenes, it’s not nearly as good as the first one. And that’s a shame, because with such an exceptional cast I had high expectations. 

Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) is a surreal journey through the bayous of Louisiana. Told from the point of view of a child, everything about her world feels like a dream. The poverty, the human misery and the motley crew of outcasts that inhabit ‘The Bathtub’ are surprising and fascinating. Quvenzhané Wallis does a superb job as Hushpuppy, but the filmmaker’s real achievement is making us believe everything we see, no matter how surreal or incredible it looks. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” delivers one emotional blow after another, combined with childhood innocence and oneiric fantasy.

Gavin Wiesen’s The Art of Getting By (2011) begins with Freddie Highmore, a taciturn teenager, quoting statistics about mortality rates. If everyone dies, then what is the point of worrying about what we do in life? But the boy is wrong, because what we do is important. And that’s what he learns when he falls in love with Emma Roberts, when she cheats on him with his best friend (Michael Angarano), when he’s about to be expelled from high school and when his mother tells him that they’re ruined and they’ve just lost their house. The Art of Getting By balances the most abstract existentialist thoughts with the facts of life: the first kiss, the pain and joy of falling in love, the awkwardness of having an erection at the wrong moment, the dreams of the future and the harsh reality of the present. A very impressive film.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) is an indisputable classic. I had the chance to go to the movies and see it in high definition as a part of a Hitchcock festival. Why is it a classic? Because after 53 years it continues to be one of the most intense and suspenseful stories ever. And the best part is that no matter how many parodies or homages you’ve seen, Hitchcock always finds the best way to surprise you. Janet Leigh steals thousands of dollars and flees town, but she ends up in the Bates motel (run by Anthony Perkins). And the rest… the rest is cinematographic history. The extraordinary music and the unforgettable scenes, combined with a brilliant plot, have granted Psycho a place in the list of the best films and a place in my personal Top 20. 

I’ve seen my fair share of exorcist movies… perhaps that’s one of the least interesting horror subgenres but even so I must say I enjoyed The Possession (2012). Perhaps the main difference is that this is not your typical exorcism, it’s a Jewish exorcism and the evil that possesses the body of young girl is a dibbuk, a Hebrew demon, with all the particularities that come with it. It has some frightening scenes and the story is quite solid. 

Carriers (2009), directed by David Pastor and Àlex Pastor, kept me at the edge of my seat. Sure, everyone here knows that I love zombie movies, and in a way Carriers plays with the dynamic of the living dead: there is a deadly virus that infects people, however they don’t turn into zombies: they start rotting and coughing blood. A group of young people have managed to stay alive for months. Their strategy: avoid the main roads, circumvent big towns, and keep on driving. If they stop, they’ll run out of luck. And that’s what happens when they find a man and his daughter, a little girl who has been infected. Together, they travel around a country that no longer exists, passing through cities in ruins and highways filled with destroyed cars and rotten bodies. Of course, this sort of story can’t have a happy ending, but what captivated me the most was to see how an already sad status quo evolves (or devolves) into a state of misery and despair. The struggle for survival is brutal. And that’s made evident in the final confrontation between the two protagonists (Chris Pine and Lou Taylor Pucci), two brothers at the verge of the abyss. 

Although it lasts more than two hours Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006) doesn’t have one single boring moment. From the cruel initial scene, a pestilent market in Paris and a woman trying to abort her son, to the execution of the woman and the survival of the baby. The child is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) and every person close to him dies in one way or another. He has one unique ability that places him far above mortal men: a perfect olfactory sense. Working for Dustin Hoffman he becomes obsessed with capturing the smell of young girls. When he starts killing girls and experimenting on them to retain their natural smell, everyone fears for the lives of their daughters, especially Alan Rickman. Tom Tykwer is a talented director, and Perfume may be his greatest project to date; there are some outstanding sequences (like a big orgy involving hundreds of naked actors and actresses on scene). Writer Andrew Birkin (who directed the brilliant “The Cement Garden”) proves his talent by turning Patrick Süskind’s best-selling novel into a riveting screenplay. 




Long before the Columbine massacre, American teens seemed to have strong homicidal tendencies. The Boys Next Door (1985), directed by Penelope Spheeris, explores the lives of two teenagers (Maxwell Caulfield and Charlie Sheen) and how, after graduation, they go on a killing spree. The two boys start with pranks, but very quickly their transgressions become more and more serious. Throughout this unusual road movie, the friendship between the kids is explored as well as their motivations. Everything Maxwell Caulfield wants is to get laid, whereas Charlie Sheen is dominated by his killing impulses. Eventually, Maxwell Caulfield manages to have sex, but Charlie Sheen, perhaps out of jealousy, kills the woman. The Boys Next Door is a mature examination of adolescence, sexuality and violence, in the frame of a cruel society. In the end, you’ll realize that a coldblooded murderer can be… the boy next door.



This time we only have 3 international productions: The Everlasting Secret Family (1988) is an Australian drama that focuses on the life of a senator and his lover, a high school boy. As the years go by, the senator gets married and has a son, but he never lets go of his male lover. This creates a rather sinister family secret. It had interesting moments, but it could’ve been much better. 



I’ve seen hundreds of weird films, but Le roi de l’évasion (2009) is too strange, even for me. I honestly had no idea what was the director’s intention. Here an obese, gay, middle-aged man decides to have sex with an underage girl. There are moments too odd and ridiculous. Probably the only thing I enjoyed about this was to see Nicolas Robin appearing on a couple of scenes.



Jörg Andreas directs Gefangen (2004), a chronicle of the hardships of life in a German jail. But even in the most awful of places, love can be found. That’s true for Marcel Schlutt, a young man who falls in love with an African American. However, the Germans inmates consider an aberration to have a white boy being sodomized by a black man, and infuriated they rape the boy.  




If you want to take a look at last month's films simply click here. 



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¿Quién dijo que 11 no es un número mágico? En agosto tuve la oportunidad de ver 11 películas. La joya del mes, por supuesto, es “Psycho”. Sin embargo, si eligiera solamente producciones del siglo XXI el premio iría para "Beasts of the Southern Wild" y "The Art of Getting By". Las recomiendo. 

Me encantó "Red" (basada en la novela gráfica de Warren Ellis y Cully Hamner), y estaba impaciente por ver la secuela. Observar a Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Brian Cox y Anthony Hopkins jugando a los súper-espías, conspirando contra otras naciones, creando intrigas con agentes secretos y disparando y matando a sus enemigos parecía el antídoto perfecto contra el aburrimiento. Y aunque "Red 2" (2013) es divertida y tiene algunas escenas buenas, no está al nivel de la primera. Y eso es una lástima, porque con un elenco tan excepcional, mis expectativas eran elevadas. 

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012) de Benh Zeitlin es una travesía surrealista por los bayous de Luisiana. Contada desde el punto de vista de una niña, todo su mundo se siente como un sueño. La pobreza, la miseria humana y el disparejo grupo de habitantes de 'La bañera' son sorprendentes y fascinantes. Quvenzhané Wallis hace un trabajo soberbio como Hushpuppy, pero el verdadero logro del cineasta es hacernos creer lo que vemos, sin importar qué tan surreal o increíble se vea. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” nos entrega un golpe emocional tras otro, combinados con la inocencia de la infancia y la fantasía onírica.

"The Art of Getting By" (2011), de Gavin Wiesen, empieza con Freddie Highmore, un adolescente taciturno, citando estadísticas de la tasa de mortandad. Si todos morimos, entonces ¿qué sentido tiene preocuparse por lo que hacemos en la vida? Pero el chico se equivoca, porque lo que hacemos es importante. Y eso es lo que aprenderá cuando se enamore de Emma Roberts, cuando ella le saque la vuelta con su mejor amigo (Michael Angarano), cuando esté a punto de ser expulsado de la secundaria y cuando su madre le cuente que están arruinados y que han perdido hasta la casa. "The Art of Getting By" equilibra los pensamientos existencialistas más abstractos con los hechos de la vida: el primer beso, el dolor y el disfrute de enamorarse, la incomodidad de tener una erección en el momento equivocado, los sueños del futuro y la dura realidad del presente. Un film muy impresionante.

"Psycho" (1960), de Alfred Hitchcock, es un clásico indiscutible. Tuve la fortuna de ver la película en alta definición como parte del festival de Hitchcock de UVK Larcomar. ¿Por qué es un clásico? Porque después de 53 años sigue siendo una de las historias más intensas y con más suspenso del cine. Y la mejor parte es que no importa cuántos homenajes o  parodias hayas visto, Hitchcock siempre encuentra la manera de sorprenderte. Janet Leigh roba miles de dólares y huye, pero termina en el motel Bates (administrado por Anthony Perkins). Y el resto... el resto es historia cinematográfica. La extraordinaria música y las inolvidables escenas, combinadas con un argumento brillante, le han otorgado a "Psycho" un puesto en la lista de los mejores films y un puesto en mi top 20 personal. 

He visto muchas películas sobre exorcistas… tal vez este es el subgénero de terror que menos me interesa pero aun así debo decir que disfruté "The Possession" (2012). Tal vez la diferencia principal es que este no es el típico exorcismo, es un exorcismo judío y la maldad que ha poseído el cuerpo de una niña es un dibbuk, un demonio hebreo, con todas las particularidades que esto implica. Tiene escenas que dan miedo y la historia es bastante sólida. 

"Carriers" (2009), dirigida por David Pastor y Àlex Pastor, me mantuvo en suspenso. Claro, todos aquí saben que me encantan las películas de zombis, y en cierto modo "Carriers" juega con la dinámica de los muertos vivientes: hay un virus mortal que infecta a la gente, sin embargo no se convierten en zombis: empiezan a podrirse y a toser sangre. Un grupo de jóvenes se las ha arreglado para permanecer con vida por meses. Su estrategia: evitas las rutas principales, rodear los pueblos grandes y seguir manejando. Si se detienen, se les acabará la suerte. Y eso es lo que pasa cuando encuentran a un hombre y su hija, una niña que ha sido infectada. Juntos viajan por un país que ya no existe, pasando por ciudades en ruinas y carreteras llenas de carros destrozados y cadáveres putrefactos. Por supuesto, este tipo de historia no puede tener un final feliz, pero que lo que más me cautivó fue ver cómo un status quo de por sí triste evoluciona (o involuciona) hacia un estado de miseria y desesperación. La lucha por sobrevivir es brutal. Y eso es evidente en la confrontación final entre los dos protagonistas (Chris Pine y Lou Taylor Pucci), dos hermanos al borde del abismo.

my drawing: from pencils to inks /
mi dibujo: del lápiz a la tinta

Aunque dura más de dos horas "Perfume: Story of a Murderer" (2006) no tiene un sólo momento aburrido. Desde la cruel escena inicial, un pestilente mercado en París y una mujer intentando abortar a su hijo, hasta la ejecución de la mujer y el rescate del bebé. El niño es Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) y la gente cercana a él muere de un modo u otro. Él tiene una habilidad única que lo hace superior al común de los mortales: un sentido olfatorio perfecto. Al trabajar para Dustin Hoffman se obsesiona con capturar el olor de las chicas jóvenes. Cuando empieza a matar jovencitas y experimentar con ellas para retener su aroma natural, todos temen por las vidas de sus hijas, especialmente Alan Rickman. Tom Tykwer es un director talentoso, y "Perfume" es uno de sus mejores proyectos a la fecha; hay algunas secuencias notables (como la gran orgía que involucra a cientos de actores y actrices desnudos en escena). El escritor Andrew Birkin (quien dirigió la brillante “The Cement Garden”) demuestra su talento al convertir la exitosa novela de Patrick Süskind en un cautivador guión.

Mucho antes de la masacre de Columbine, los adolescentes estadounidenses parecían tener fuertes tendencias homicidas. "The Boys Next Door" (1985), dirigida por Penelope Spheeris, explora las vidas de dos adolescentes (Maxwell Caulfield y Charlie Sheen) y cómo, después de su graduación, empiezan a matar. Los dos muchachos comienzan con bromas, pero rápidamente sus trasgresiones se hacen más y más serias. A lo largo de esta inusual película de carretera, se explora la amistad entre los jovencitos así como sus motivaciones. Lo único que Maxwell Caulfield quiere es follar, mientras que Charlie Sheen es dominado por sus impulsos asesinos. Eventualmente, Maxwell Caulfield se las arregla para tener sexo, pero Charlie Sheen, tal vez por celos, mata a la mujer. "The Boys Next Door" examina con madurez la adolescencia, la sexualidad y la violencia, en el marco de una sociedad cruel. Al final, se darán cuenta que un asesino a sangre fría puede ser... el chico de la puerta de al lado.

Esta vez sólo tenemos 3 producciones internacionales: "The Everlasting Secret Family" (1988), es un drama australiano que se enfoca en la vida de un senador y su amante, un muchacho de secundaria. Conforme pasan los años, el senador se casa y tiene un hijo, pero nunca se desprende de su amante masculino. Esto crea un secreto de familia bastante siniestro. Hay momentos interesantes, pero podría haber estado mejor. 

He visto cientos de películas raras, pero "Le roi de l’évasion" (2009) es demasiado extraña, incluso para mí. Honestamente, no tengo ni idea de cuál era la intención del director. Aquí un cuarentón obeso y gay decide tener sexo con una chica menor de edad. Hay momentos demasiado raros y ridículos. Probablemente lo único que disfruté fue ver a Nicolas Robin en un par de escenas.

Jörg Andreas dirige "Gefangen" (2004), una crónica de las adversidades de la vida en una cárcel alemana. Pero incluso en el lugar más horrendo, el amor puede ser encontrado. Eso es verdad para Marcel Schlutt, un jovencito que se enamora de un negro estadounidense. Sin embargo, los alemanes encarcelados consideran que es una aberración que un chiquillo blanco sea sodomizado por un hombre negro, y furiosos violan al chico.

Mariella Agois / Giancarlo Vitor (Galería Lucía de la Puente)

The Cement Garden (1993)

Claudio Gallina

Andrew Birkin’s film has it all: intense characters, controversial situations and unusual concepts, which shouldn’t come as a surprise if we keep in mind that it’s based upon a novel by Ian McEwan. The protagonists are Jack, a 16 year-old boy and Julie, his sister, barely a couple of years older; then come the youngest sister and the youngest brother. The four of them live with their parents, in a somehow bleak house, completely isolated from other neighborhoods.

Jack spends most of his time avoiding his home duties, such as cleaning up his room, and instead devotes most of his hours in a secluded spot in which he hides a worn out adult magazine and toilet paper. His mother actually confronts him and tells him, following the pseudo-scientific approach from Victorian age (which Foucault so aptly analyzed in his History of sexuality), that his moodiness and messiness is a direct result of self-abuse, and that should he continue practicing that he would end up extenuating his body.

One afternoon, the father is pouring cement into the garden and asks Jack for help, but while the father keeps working on the garden, the young boy is in the bathroom masturbating enthusiastically, with precise visual transitions, the director manages to apprise the moment of Jack’s orgasm with the last breadth of the father, as he succumbs to a heart attack. Later on, Jack will tell to his sister “Besides... not my fault he died”, answering a question that no sibling had dared to ask up to that moment.

The absence of the father marks the downfall of the family. The mother is unable to step out of her room, depressed as she is, and order and discipline soon turns into chaos and disarray. It’s in this context that the constant taunting between Jack and Julie turns into something else. What at first begins as innocent flirtations soon brings up more tantalizing repartees. In one occasion, while Jack is on top of Julie, tickling her, she starts grabbing him in a very distinct manner and comes to an orgasm.

As the mother falls deeper into depression, the fear of being discovered is diluted and thus the incestuous fantasy acquires a firm grasp on reality. As Lacan analyzed in his Antigone seminar, the death drive moves the Greek heroine towards the desire invested exclusively around the body of her deceased brother. In “The Cement Garden”, the protagonists start cajoling themselves around this death drive that disappears and leaves only a very real desire and a very real erotic drive. “My brother is what he is” would say Antigone, and in a similar way Jack will tell her sister that if people love him then they will take him as he is.

In Ancient Greece the term “autadelphos” (autos: "same"; adelphos: "sisterly," related to delphus: "womb") would mean something irreplaceable. As Antigone says in Sophocles’ play, if she would lose her children she could always get pregnant again, if she would lose her husband she could always find another man, but if she loses her brother, who could possibly replace him? They are, after all, creatures that have shared the same womb and nothing can compare to that. In a similar fashion, the passion between Jack and Julie defies all social norms and regulations. They are irreplaceable for each other, and as the house starts falling apart, they start getting closer and closer.

The absence of the father also means the absence of the nom de pere, the ultimate authority that inscribes the subject into society, that commands his offspring to occupy the male or female position in the symbolic order. Without this authority, male and female positions are interchangeable whether ideologically or practically, as it’s made evident by the authority invested upon Julie, who has the full responsibility of being in charge of the house (a role that would be traditionally ascribed to a male), or by the youngest brother’s obsession in wearing wigs and skirts, not only dressing up as a girl but also sleeping on the bed with another boy his age, pretending to be Julie and Jack. When Jack intends to stop this peculiar practices, Julie has but one answer for him: “You think that being a girl is degrading but secretly you'd love to know what is it like, wouldn't you?”, and in a very tantalizing way places a most effeminate ribbon on his brother’s neck.

Crossing all boundaries, subverting the heterosexual normative and assuming incest as something that feels natural and real, Birkin’s film announces from the very beginning a dreadful end; perhaps it would be interesting to compare the novel’s ending with the one in the film, because after all, once all is said and done, as Lacan would phrase it “…is important to note that one only has to make a conceptual shift and move the night spent with the lady from the category of pleasure to that of jouissance, given that jouissance implies precisely the acceptance of death — and there’s no need of sublimation — for the example to be ruined”.


Claudio Gallina

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Ayer en la noche se inauguraron dos nuevas muestras en la Galería Lucía de la Puente. En las salas I y II, Mariella Agois presentó “SinSecuentes”, una serie de cuadros centrados en la línea, en el rectángulo y en otras figuras de ángulos rectos. Uno de los críticos de Art Motiv comentaba que encontraba cierta similitud con la propuesta de Jorge Cabieses en su muestra Concreto (que se presentó en enero de este año en la misma galería); no obstante, como comenté brevemente con el mismo Cabieses, el interés por lo geométrico puede estar en ambos artistas, pero la forma de resolver visualmente las inquietudes de cada uno es bastante distinta.

En la sala de proyectos se presentaba “Itinerarios Nocturnos” de Giancarlo Vitor. A partir de fotografías (por ejemplo de la torre de Interbank o de una combi en movimiento), Vitor recrea la imagen en acrílico generando efectos que llaman la atención del espectador. Al haber sido profesor en Corriente Alterna, mi amigo David Rejas ya estaba familiarizado con su obra. Además de pasar un divertido rato conversando con David, también me encontré con Gabriela Ibáñez que estudió literatura conmigo en la PUCP. Por cierto, fue Gabriela quien me presentó a David hace un par de años, y ahora me encuentro más a menudo con él que con ella (de hecho, coincidimos este domingo a la hora de almuerzo en el Wa Lok de Miraflores).

Después de haber tomado varios vasos de Johnnie Walker Black Label, me encontré con José Arturo Lugón, artista y reyrrojino como yo. Nos quedamos conversando un rato y, para variar, le hablé sobre THE GATHERING. A lo largo de la noche saludé a Ramiro Llona, a Dare Dovidjenko, a Abel Bentín y a otros artistas.

El viernes de la semana pasada estuve en la inauguración de la muestra de Mavi Reyes en Bruno Gallery. Si no han ido, les recomiendo que vayan. Allí me encontré con Gabriel Alayza y con Renzo Núñez Melgar, con quien me quedé conversando hasta el final. Finalmente, incluyo dos cuadros del artista Claudio Gallina y un par de viñetas de la historia que estoy dibujando para el quinto volumen de THE GATHERING.

Films (May) / Películas (mayo)

I didn’t have much time this month… So basically I only saw half a dozen films and, of course, a lot of short films. Let’s start with A Perfect Getaway (2009), a thriller with a very promising beginning but ultimately a bit of a forced ending. The Company of Wolves (1984) is a back to the basics approach on fairy tales, with a special emphasis on sexuality, rape and sexual awakening. Dorian Blues (2004) is a great comedy that follows the life of high school student Dorian and his conservative and traditional family.

The Cement Garden (1993) is a dramatic film based on Ian McEwan’s novel. Dark humor, decay and ominous moments find a most poetic expression thanks to director Andrew Birkin. For a more in depth analysis please check out my review on IMDB and, as usual, if you consider it useful vote for it here.   
Other films of interest were District 9 (2009), a very compelling sci-fi metaphor that should make us think of the apartheid and other discriminatory practices. El último verano de la Boyita (2009), is an interesting film from Argentina that deals with cross-dressing, transsexual characters and gender issues.

And now onto the short films: That thing we do (2003), is a Canadian production that confronts the life of a homosexual man with a young boy who is just starting to discover his own sexuality. Trevor (1994) tells the story of a young boy that doesn’t want to be labeled as gay, even though at times he displays a very effeminate behavior. Death in Venice, CA (1994) is a homage to the classic Visconti’s film (which I wrote a review on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067445/usercomments?start=10) although it combines also elements from Lolita.

From Ireland comes Stand up – don’t stand for homophobic bullying (2011), a short but optimistic take on a very serious problem. Follow you follow me (1979) tells the story of best friends Peter and Joseph, two boys that go to the same high school and see each other often after class… until parental pressure puts the friendship on the brink of collapse. For a more in depth analysis please check out my review on IMDB (it’ll be easy to find because it’s the only review for this short film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229394/usercomments

Clu Gulager’s A Day with the Boys (1969) is a fierce exploration of childhood amorality and unbridled violence; this is a strong, original short film that remains as powerful as it was after four decades.

Pascal-Alex Vincent’s Candy Boy (2007), a French animated film tackles on environmental issues and orphan boys. Twoyoungmen, UT (2009) expresses the need for male companionship (John Cameron Mitchell and Tom Kalin appear in the credits in the “thanks to” section). Blokes (2010), from Chile, is an extraordinary story about masturbatory fantasies, sexual awakening and prying mothers. David (2005) focuses on a young mute boy as he runs into an unemployed albeit horny Mexican man. Sweat (2008) is set in a bath house, and explores briefly the protagonist’s need for adventures.

Heiko (2008) is production from Portugal that dares to take bondage and fetishism to the ultimate conclusion. Postmortem (2004) deals with old romantic flames. Braedrabylta (2007), from Iceland, depicts a cold and devastating reality, devoid of any real passion or joy, in this setting, two professional wrestlers must decide what comes first: wrestling or love. Vandalen (2008) ventures into the world of graffiti and the complicated relationship between two graffiti artists.

Love (2008), from Sweden, is centered on a college student named Love: he feels ashamed of being a virgin at 22; at the same time, Sebastian, married with a woman, feels the need to circumnavigate his heterosexual position by engaging into homosexual intercourse. Once the two of them meet, problems arise. For a more in depth analysis please check out my review on IMDB and, as usual, if you consider it useful vote for it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1494794/usercomments

Shakespeare’s Sonnets is a take on college and the friendship between two students. Pascal-Alex Vincent’s En Colo (2010) shares an anecdotic episode: the first kiss; although in this case it’ll be a boy on boy kiss. Pascal-Alex Vincent also directs Far West (2003), examines family dynamics as a young gay lad visits his grandfather in a rural French town. Finally, Go Go Reject is a funny comedy about dancing and body types. I also saw other short films such as Twenty-Two, Lilo Wanders, All you can eat, The Toe Heel Polka and On Earth as it is in Heaven.

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En todo mayo solamente he visto media docena de películas... y muchos cortometrajes. Así que empecemos con A Perfect Getaway (2009), producción con un inicio prometedor pero un final un tanto forzado. The Company of Wolves (1984) toma una conocida fábula infantil y la narra tal como fue escrita originalmente, haciendo especial énfasis en el despertar sexual de la protagonista y en la amenaza de violación. Dorian Blues (2004) es una ingeniosa comedia sobre la vida de un estudiante de secundaria y su conservadora y tradicional familia.

The Cement Garden (1993) de Andrew Birkin, se basa en la novela de Ian McEwan. El humor oscuro, la decadencia y los momentos ominosos son expresados poéticamente gracias al talento del director. Para un comentario más elaborado por favor revisan mi reseña en IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106535/usercomments?start=10 y si pueden voten por ella.

Otras películas interesantes fueron District 9 (2009) una impactante metáfora de ciencia ficción que nos hace reflexionar sobre el apartheid y otras prácticas discriminatorias. El último verano de la Boyita (2009) es una cinta argentina que maneja temas como el travestismo, la transexualidad y los problemas de género.

Y ahora vamos con los cortometrajes: That thing we do (2003) es una producción canadiense que reúne a un homosexual adulto y a un niño que empieza a descubrir su sexualidad. Trevor (1994) narra las experiencias de un chiquillo que no quiere ser etiquetado como gay, aunque sus gestos afeminados terminan por traicionarlo. Death in Venice, CA (1994) es un homenaje a la obra clásica de Visconti (pueden leer una reseña en http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067445/usercomments?start=10) aunque también combina elementos de Lolita.

Desde Irlanda llega Stand up – don’t stand for homophobic bullying (2011) una apuesta optimista para un serio problema actual. Follow you follow me (1979) resume la amistad entre Peter y Joseph, dos chicos de colegio que están juntos todo el tiempo hasta que sus padres deciden que no deben verse más. Pueden encontrar mi reseña en IMDB fácilmente porque es la única que ha sido escrita sobre este cortometraje: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229394/usercomments 
 A Day with the Boys (1969) de Clu Gulager es una feroz exploración de la amoralidad infantil y de la violencia sin límites: este original cortometraje, es tan impactante hoy como hace cuatro décadas.

Candy Boy (2007) de Pascal-Alex Vincent (animación francesa) dedica su atención a problemas ecológicos y a niños huérfanos. Twoyoungmen, UT (2009) expresa la necesidad de buscar compañía masculina (John Cameron Mitchell y Tom Kalin aparecen en los créditos). Blokes (2010), de Chile, es una extraordinaria historia sobre fantasías masturbatorias, despertar sexual y madres invasivas. David (2005) se enfoca en un chico mudo que conoce a un mexicano desempleado. Sweat (2008) explora la necesidad de aventuras del protagonista en un sauna.

Heiko (2008), cortometraje portugués, se a treve a llevar la dominación y el fetichismo hasta el extremo. Braedrabylta (2007) es una fría y devastadora mirada a la realidad de Islandia; dos luchadores profesionales deben decidir qué es más importante: la lucha libre o el amor libre. Vandalen (2008) se aventura en el mundo del graffiti y en la relación conflictiva entre dos grafiteros.

Love (2008), de Suecia, se centra en un joven estudiante universitario llamado Love, quien avergonzado de ser virgen a los 22 años aceptará pasar la noche con un hombre un tanto siniestro. Pueden leer más en IMDB y votar por mi reseña: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1494794/usercomments

Shakespeare’s Sonnets aborda la amistad entre dos alumnos de una universidad. En Colo (2010) de Pascal-Alex Vincent presenta una anécdota sobre el primer beso, aunque aquí se trata de un beso entre dos chicos. Pascal-Alex Vincent también dirige Far West (2003), un relato sobre dinámicas familiares protagonizado por un adolescente gay que visita a su abuelo en un pueblo rural de Francia. Go Go Reject es una divertida comedia sobre baile. También vi otros cortometrajes como Twenty-Two, Lilo Wanders, All you can eat, The Toe Heel Polka y On Earth as it is in Heaven.