Cola de Mono

Two brothers "Vicente" (Santiago Rodríguez Costabal) and "Borja" (his real life brother Cristóbal) are gearing up with their mother "Irene" (Carmina Riego) to celebrate their first Christmas without their father. As the family assembles, the drink flows and the claustrophobic environment takes hold and the young "Borja" begins to let the badger loose a little. His hither-to repressed sexuality begins to take hold and he also makes rather a startling discovery when exploring the drawers (furniture) of his elder brother. What now ensues is a sort of uncomfortably constructed family melodrama with very little dialogue and, for me anyway, very little purpose. It has vaguely incestuous undertones - and there is plenty of nudity (active and passive) but the story and the characterisations are woefully undercooked. What drama there is seems to be contrived, repetitive and as it rumbles on there is a frankly ridiculous scene with their mother and the ending just really doesn't deliver. It is curious to see to siblings working together with some pretty honest intimacy but otherwise this is a poorly paced and rather lacklustre story, prone to stereotype, that you will instantly forget. The soundtrack isn't bad, though!

The performance by one of the young leads was great ...everyone else was "blah." This had potential, but the plot was rather far-fetched and difficult to take seriously. Ending is ruined by another ridiculous plot twist.

This movie is a hodgepodge of misguided ideas. Filled with cliches. There is not a good development to be able to connect with the characters, especially with the mother. The only good thing about the film is the music and Cristóbal Rodríguez Costabal (Borja) who made a very good performance since he is not a professional actor, the only thing that kept me captive to the film was him, since the film became endless and halfway through I wanted it to end. It shows too much Alberto Fuguet got excited with him and that's why he gave him the main character. Alberto Fuget should thank him for being the only good thing about his movie. 5/10

I was slightly misled by the cover of the dvd, which seemed to promise some sort of steamy male erotic arthouse film. Well, arthouse sure is what I got, but mostly of the dramatic kind, and so intangible that a lot of its why's and how's and where to's eluded my too simple brain.

It's, as far as I could grasp it, about a disfunctional family: an embittered, unstable and castrating mother and her two young adult sons. They all have long and cynical conversations, bicker and yell, and in the meantime try to celebrate a family christmas dinner. The boys both have gay issues: Vicente is closeted, seeking anonymous and risky sex at cruising areas and feeling guilty and despondent about it; Borja revels at home in solo gay fantasies. This leads to a clash with each other, and eventually, when the mother steps in, to a sudden violent and fatal outburst.

We later see Borja emerging in the dark underworld of gay saunas, for yet another violent act. Is it a revenge for his brother? A kinky sexual fulfillment? A reckoning with his own being gay? We never know (or I totally missed it of course).

Throughout the movie there are several scenes with graphic gay sex and nudity, and one has to praise both young actors for their courage to go along with the apparent need for realism of the director. It's a bit much and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I guess functional for the story that the makers want to tell. For the most part however, this movie is pretty slow, dramatic and talkative, so don't expect a steamy sex movie, in that respect the cover definitely is used for tittilating PR-purposes only.

"Cola de mono" does have its moments, but it is a not very good little film about two brothers coming to terms with their homosexuality, on Christmas night 1986, in Santiago de Chile, after drinking too much 'cola de mono' (a strong sort of eggnog). Sexy it is, especially in all the scenes where brother Borja appears, very well played by young actor Cristóbal Rodríguez Costabal as the intense, clever and often funny bad apple of what is left of the Díaz family. However, the melodrama went beyond my tolerance level, the more so when credibility was badly affected by an unusual accumulation of secrets, male butts and people with knives, blades and hurting things of all sorts. Other sources list 102 minutes as running time, but I saw this 98 version (with all explicit scenes) and it seemed interminable. Fans of 'queer cinema' would surely rise the rating a bit.