Mil nubes de paz cercan el cielo, amor, jamás acabarás de ser amor

Looks like film noir and Bergman. Plays like Lynch. Amazing looking and sounding film. Pretentious? Yes. Did I understand it? Not really. Does that matter? Not a jot. A beautiful, haunting, melodic flow of images and ideas.

But without the excessive artyness, with the plot clearer and more attention to characters, or to put it another way, with a director half as good as its cinematographer, it could have been amazing all over.

Seeing all the negative comments about "A Thousand Clouds of Peace," makes me think that in order to appreciate a film like this, one has to specifically appreciate this kind of filmmaking. For this is a true, independent art-house film in the classic sense. It is a film that conveys feeling, mood, and story, not with words, but with images. and that is what film is supposed to do.

Unashamedly romantic, the film follows the character Gerardo in his search for a person who has offered promises of true love to him. When this guy fails to meet Gerardo on the bridge as promised, he begins to wander the city alone, looking for someone that he never manages to find. Instead, he encounters various strangers who have all experienced a similar disappointment in their own lives. This is a tale filled with broken people who are forever looking for love, happiness, or some human connection. The glorious black and white photography adds to the haunting and lonely atmosphere, while giving the movie a truly beautiful look. The performances are all fine, and utterly believable, especially the acting of Juan Carlos Ortuno, in the main role of Gerardo. His expressive eyes radiate a kind of genuine sadness and loneliness seldom seen even in actors with years of acting experience; and this guy is only 17 years old. If you have a good memory, "A Thousand Clouds of Peace" just might make you recall what it felt like at that age, to be in love, and feeling everything so intensely. This is truly a treat for film lovers; but don't expect a linear story with a lot of talking and exposition...film isn't about that. it's about images, and this one is filled with many that are dazzling, and unforgettable. On a side note, it is very rare to find a gay-themed film that has any artistic value, so this movie is truly a discovery. For those who prefer Hollywood mainstream productions however, you might want to skip this one altogether..

'Mil nubes de paz cercan el cielo, amor, jamas acabaras de ser amor', the Spanish title (extracted from a poem by Pasolini) of this little film from Mexico, is translated for the English language audience as 'A Thousand Clouds of Peace'. Writer/director Julian Hernandez seems to emulate Pasolini's films but has yet to reach the subtle artistry of the Italian master's genre. The film is shot in black and white, uses very little dialogue, and stresses the use of the camera (often at odds with the flow of the storyline) in presenting what appears to be a reflection on the pain of losing love.

Gerardo (Juan Carlos Ortuno) is a 17-year old lad who has apparently just been jilted by his lover Bruno (Juan Carlos Torres) who ended the only affair of Gerardo's life with a letter that plunges Gerardo into despair. Gerardo walks the streets of Mexico City, looking for signs of his lost love, pining away on a bridge, pausing to find the soundtrack recording of an old shared film, attempting unsuccessfully to kindle romance with the occasional hustler and at times meeting with physical abuse. When he is not wandering in his sadness he stays in his room yearning for what is lost and confining his needs to his solo physical dreams. He encounters old friends, both male and female, but there is no real antidote for the loss he is experiencing. And like so many tragic love stories, this one has no happy ending.

Hernandez gives evidence of a potentially potent filmmaker: certainly his subject matter and his frankness of showing frontal nudity and some frankness of contact demonstrate that he is a brave writer and director. Juan Carlos Ortuna is an inexperienced actor, but with Hernandez' guidance he manages to make us feel his plight, trust his genuine grief, and in general make us hope he finds resolution. And to accomplish that with almost no dialogue, relying only on facial and physical shots, shows promise. In Spanish with English subtitles. Grady Harp

Almost immediately after to have gained the Teddy in Berlin arrives to Mexico this film with this so long title. The director (Hernandez) who admires the Italian neorealism cinema, and in special of Pasolini (the title is the two last lines of a poem of him), and gay declared, tries to count a history of glorious love in black and white. History turns around a boy treating to understand the letter that left its lover him. The result a film with some technical faults but that yes close one: the use of different lenses, planes sequences, with few but poetic dialogs, and same the black and white one obtain that the spectator follows the fates of the protagonist. It is possible to clarify that if you have the prejudice of which here the homosexual is promiscuous you are going it to strengthen.

I nearly fell asleep during a screening of this. Of a boring story that seems to go on forever, it follows several days in the life of a male prostitute who falls in love with one of his tricks. After a heated affair, the trick leaves a long letter explaining why they cannot be together and how they must go on their separate ways.

The male prostitute then goes on a downward self-destructive spiral trying to find his "one true love", repeatedly returning to the same places they frequented, looking for more clues or signs as to where he may locate his love.

In the meanwhile, he hooks up with one ugly guy (who I thought was also a male prostitute), a gay basher, and some guy who ends up having a "three-second sexual intercourse session" with him in a back alley.

It never ceases to amaze me how films STILL portray random sex acts as scenes that can take place in a brief matter of seconds, such as in this case where the trick barely has his pants unbuckled before thrusting three times and miraculously experiencing orgasm!

All of these random encounters end with the sexual partner asking him to call them, to which he discards their telephone numbers.

There is a brief side-plot involving the main character visiting his busy mother who seems to have no time for his lifestyle. There is also another brief side-plot involving some random conversation with a young woman who has noticed him several times standing on the bridge from her window. And there is also one more brief side-plot involving him showing the letter to a male acquaintance, but the audience is not advised of his relation to this person.

None of these things really connect with each other, only to show us how lost and confused this young man really is. He seems to be living life like a ghost. There was one good scene in the entire movie that involved him rummaging through a yard sale looking for a particular record with the world's saddest song on it.

Otherwise, this movie just seems to go on forever. Filmed in black and white, it may seem very dreamlike, but sitting in the theater for nearly two hours watching this drivel will resemble something more like a nightmare!

I found the ending to be confusing as I wasn't quite sure whether the young man had died and gone to heaven? That would have been a nice pay off to end the misery that both audience and the main character had to endure in this meaningless tripe. But seeing as this is an "independent film", movies with endings like these are supposed to encourage you to "use your imagination".

For those of you who are seeking out nudity, there are only brief scenes and most of them are filmed in such a way that anything suggestive are artfully concealed within the shadows. In other words, don't waste your time with this one.

My Rating - 2 out of 10