O Porteiro do Dia

It is more the film of photography than a film proposing a real story. Two men, very different, in sex scenes, naked in bad, in short dialogues, defined by different social status and perspectives about life. Nice but not more because, except pretextes to present the activity of a naturalist or the clash between two guys , nothing more. The acting is only a sketch, the nudity only consolation. So, all reduced at images.

This movie deals with various fetishes. First of all, we have an out-of-the-closet, quite effeminate, gay man who not only desires an older, theoretically heterosexual, rough man but also "converts" him - to the point that this man bottoms during sex. There is, also, the fetish of sexual intercourse with employees, something relatively common in Brazilian gay culture. The film explores such desires and sets them against the background of the raw reality of a large city in the Brazilian Northeast, Recife, culturally rich but economically poor and socially uneven.

"O Porteiro do Dia" ("The Day Porter") plays out like those kind of dreamy/lustful wishful thinking where anything thought to be impossible or way too complicated can happen, and that's the dilema faced by Marcelo (Carlos Eduardo Ferraz), a sound man who develops a huge crush on the doorman of his building (Edilson Siva) who covers the morning shift and they're all polite to one another. So, why not giving a try, even if the other man isn't gay? Tough but it can happen, and happens sometimes.

It's amazingly cute, insanely hot and bravely well acted by the duo. Don't expect the typical short film experience, it goes near the extremes of a softcore (and a great one, I must say) where nudity is a constant and normal thing, and the camera allows such exploration of the bodies, its movements and connections. But outside of those most expected parts, I was more hooked by the conquest, the seduction, the earlier moments. It doesn't stay with the longing and it goes to subtle gestures that indicate things are heating up in a lovely manner. Obvious that my favorite scene is when they're riding on the bike with the doorman conducting it as the other man stays up front just enjoying the night breeze, and as soundtrack the sweet rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Ordinary Pain" known here as "Pé na Tábua", a hit track by Marina Lima. Simply beautiful moment.

While treating the theme of (appearently) impossible dreams becoming true the short works a great deal, it's very positive in dealing in those and also some solitary moments from Marcelo, where there are plenty of inner reflections directed at us as in understanding what will go on between both men; but on the other hand the party at the building was completely unrealistic, a series of confusions would happen given the nature of Marcelo's friends in the place. It distracts a little from the story and it felt included just to give a sort of breaking point between the different men in the relationship.

Apart from that distraction, the short is one of the most fascinating and curious experiences I ever seen, allowing to see life in a dreamy perspective that certain things can happen. All good things to those who wait. 9/10.

Very little story, and too long for it. Although well acted and filmed, this short film from Pernambuco is not much more than gay sofcore.