Azul y no tan rosa

A beautiful film from Venezuela. The title actually translates as "Blue and Not So Pink," but has been dumbed down to "My Straight Son." The movie is an exploration of things we wish were different and how we deal with them - be they the tragedies of life, first love, gender identity, physical appearance, bad relationships, or self-confidence. Every character offers a different element that they struggle with and their own unique solution. The film wraps it up in wonderful, believable relationships and intelligent dialogue. The plot takes you a bit all over the place, but the story never looses your attention. The actors are all uniformly brilliant and the emotion is genuine. Courageous and heartwarming, this is meaningful work and well worth anyone's time. One of my favourites.

Originally released as 'Azul y no tan Rosa' this film is set in Venezuela where we meet successful photographer Diego. He has a long term partner in Fabrizio who is a doctor and they are clearly in love. Fabrizio wants to take things to the logical next level, but Diego is not so sure. Then Diego gets a call from Spain from a his special female friend and lover whom he has a teenage son with. This is Armando and he has is already on a plane and Diego is supposed to meet him and take care of him for a while.

His arrival coincides with a tragic episode in the life of Diego and Fabrizio and puts an increased strain on what already is becoming an estranged relationship between gay father and straight son. What occurs is part coming of age, part dealing with loss and a lot of extreme emotions from unquestioning love to extreme homophobia.

This is one of those films that is unashamedly sentimental. The actors are all brilliant even when the plot stretches credulity and the coincidences start to pile up. That said I got all moist eyed watching this and was also able to laugh in places. In other words it was like a slice of real life where things are always going to get mixed up. In Spanish with good subtitles, it also features a fair bit of flesh on show; the opening credits feature a particularly erotic dance routine too. I found this an absolute joy from start to finish and that is despite the misgivings stated above. This is one film I can wholeheartedly recommend, gay themed but really a story about real love, real emotions and some great characters.

Spoiler: It made me cry (in a good way). A lovely movie with an important message about love and acceptance.

It was well acted and some of the scenery was spectacular.

A different perspective of the LGTBI world which captures the view of a situation in which reconciliation, acceptance and tolerante and self-esteem are the key to live in harmony and love with yourself and loved ones

I didn't really plan to see the film. A group of friends asked me to go and I agreed, so my expectations were really low. The movie ended up surprising me.

Azul y no tan Rosa might be one of the best Venezuelan films ever made. The story may be a bit too melodramatic, but it says a lot about tolerance and family relationships. The acting, even though not great, is decent. There are laughs, tender moments, sad moments and the movie is really nice to look at because of the locations.

I recommend this movie to anyone who thinks Venezuelan cinema is trash (which is not). It won the Goya Award for best Ibero-American Film, which represented a big win for Venezuela too.