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| Fito and Leo |
It is sad that the great majority of gay-themed films that
come my way fall in the space between disappointing and just plain
wretched. It’s obvious gays are hungry
to see themselves represented on the screen and will watch paint dry, as long
as they are convinced there is a gay theme in there somewhere. How else can one explain the run of gay films
that come down the pike, one more amateurish, maudlin and trite than the
next? Click on the gay and lesbian
category in Netflix, if you don’t believe me, and just look how many of them
have a one or a two-star rating.
All the more reason to celebrate when the occasional gem shows up. A friend had just come across a Mexican film
called Cuatro Lunas (Four Moons), and urged me to
have a look. It made my day.
Cuatro Lunas, strictly speaking, refers to four phases of the
moon: the new moon, moon waxing (rising), full moon, and moon waning
(falling). Each phase is used to
characterize one of four gay relationships in the film. The new moon is Mauricio, an
eleven-year-old boy discovering sexual desire for a male cousin who rejects him
and later bullies him. Moon rising is
the story of Fito and Leo, two old friends from a small town who find each
other in Mexico City, discover a sexual attraction for each other, and have to contend with the difference in the pace of each other’s coming out. Moon
waning is a couple, Hugo and Andrés, who have been together for ten years, and
are challenged when one of them begins to stray. And the full moon is the story of Joaquín, an elderly family man of considerable
social standing, a poet and university professor who finds himself attracted to
Gilberto, a male prostitute.
The four stories do not overlap, but they are narrated simultaneously,
allowing for some tension to build as the scene shifts from one to the
other. Collectively, they lay out four
distinct faces of the experience of being same-sex attracted in Mexico
today. Each character is fighting
homophobia, sometimes external and harsh, sometimes internal and even
harsher. The stories are told not from a
sociological perspective, however. Each
one is a very personal narrative and it
is a testament to the writing of Sergio Tovar Velarde, who also directed the
film, that you quickly find yourself rooting for each character in turn. Their stories are told with warmth and a
gentle touch and, despite some ugly reality, you are left with the sense that
things will work out.
Cuatro Lunas is Tovar Velarde’s second feature film. Although it was not immediately picked up in
Mexico, it made it to the screen ultimately with the aid of American and
Canadian (Quebec) support and has already begun the rounds of gay film
festivals, at Ft. Lauderdale and San Diego. The film will open the Latin and
Queer Art and Film Festival in Los Angeles, this Friday, April 17th. One reviewer described Tovar Velarde’s work as “an outstanding analysis
of the human soul of his generation, a sublime compendium of the new laws of
desire of the 21st century.”
There are missteps in the plot line.
Problems are resolved a bit too quickly to be believable. And Andrés’ tears get a bit too close for
comfort to soap opera. But the film has
so much heart you are inclined to forgive those sins and much more. And, ultimately, it's the honesty of the
story-telling that makes you sit up at times in astonishment. Some moments are agonizing, as when Mauricio
takes his eleven-year-old homosexuality to a priest in confession only to be
dismissed out of hand. And some are
downright hilarious, like watching two straight men learning how to “do the gay
thing.”
Another feature of the film which lifts it out of the amateur category,
besides the honest story-telling and some very credible acting, is the theme
music provided by two Argentine musicians and their now quite successful group called the Paté de Fuá (as in foie gras), which they formed after emigrating to Mexico. Their music is a
mix of tarantelas, Dixieland, tango and
jazz. Their theme song, Cuatro
Lunas, is available
here, on YouTube, the words to which follow:
No sé si he de mirar al firmamento;
yo vivo entre la tierra y las estrellas.
No sé cómo escapar de lo que siento,
mi amor,
no sé cómo dejar atrás tu huella.
Me quema el corazón a fuego lento
la triste realidad de no tenerte.
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| Paté de Fuá |
Lucho con la culpa y el tormento al pensar
que moriré queriéndote amar.
Luna de pena,
nueva y creciente.
Luna valiente,
menguante y llena.
Cuatro lunas,
cuatro lunas.
No habrá una noche igual,
no habrá ninguna.
Será que de vivir mirando al cielo
mi corazón se pierde en lo lejano.
Será que cada noche en mi desvelo,
mi amor,
me alejo para no soltar tu mano
“Dibújame un cordero”, me dijiste
haciendome cosquillas en la boca.
Tus labios me provocan otra forma de ser.
Ya no seré el amado de ayer.
Luna de pena
nueva y creciente
Luna valiente
Menguante y llena
Cuatro lunas
Cuatro lunas
No habrá una noche igual
no habrá ninguna.
And if you get hooked on Paté de Fuá, as I did, try these, as well:
and you'll find many more on YouTube.
picture credits:
1. Fito and Leo (César Ramos and Gustavo Egelhaaf) from YouTube video trailer
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