Cuatro lunas

We are treated to four different yet interwoven stories; the common denominator being that they deal with being gay and gay relationships.

In one story we meet an elderly closeted gay poet, Joaquín (Alonso Echánove); he is married, with a seemingly happy wife and daughters. He is smitten by a young male prostitute, Gilberto (Alejandro Belmonte) he meets in a bath-house.

In a second story we get an example of a long-term (ten year) gay relationship that is starting to fall apart. Unfaithful Hugo (Antonio Velásquez) is involved in an affair with another man. His sensitive partner, Andrés (Alejandro de la Madrid) is trying his best to save their relationship.

The relationship between two young gay men is put under pressure in a third story; Leo (Gustavo Egelhaaf) is closeted and scared to reveal his sexual orientation, whilst Fito (César Ramos) does not want to remain in the closet any longer. This leads to tension.

In the fourth story a clearly gay boy, Mauricio (Gabriel Santoyo) develops a crush on his older cousin, Oliver (Sebastián Rivera). Mauricio desperately wants to get closer to Oliver, but it is a risky move; what if Oliver is straight and homophobic?

The director, Sergio Tovar Velarde, effectively highlights some of the issues faced by gays: Social pressure resulting in fear and closeted lifestyles, a swinging lifestyle and promiscuity, and how hard it is to make a long-term relationship work. Furthermore, it shows us how a homophobic and intolerant society, fueled by the church, can result in bullying and assault.

I found the acting splendid, and so too the cinematography and soundtrack, and score 'Cuatro Lunas' an excellent 8/10.

This film approaches the topics in a great way. It's fantastic that a Mexican film is finally taking this topic seriously. I think reducing the story from four moons to the 2 sides of the moon it would have been better. Two stories well developed would have been great.

Acting was good and the way it was film was nice too. It tried to avoid clichés but it fell in a few. The stories are believable and feel real. You can identify even if you are not gay.

Totally recommended to watch, I hope more film like this keep coming.

We need positive portrayal of gay people especially in Latin American films

Gay cinema has reached an epitome, by walking hand in hand with director Sergio Tovar Velarde. Four Moons ( Cuatro Luna's ) is one the most beautiful yet perfect LGBTQ feature films I have seen in years. In comparison with films like The Normal Heart or Pride it doesn't bother to tell a story of struggle for rights. Its a nice blend of relationships and the time-line of sexuality. The movie has four different layers. Each and every layers poses a different timescale of life. In one those layers the director successfully portrait the fear and curiosity of a kid who has instinct for a same sex. The second luna tells when young individuals have dilemma between his own skin, his love and family responsibility. Its eventually the most relevant in our society and time. The pride and respect can precisely enter in this situation to make a dignified decision. The third layer is address the loyalty issue of gay relationship/ marriage. It also push gay men into an another degree to ask themselves that "what is the glue for a successful relation ?" Is this sex ?? or love can handle it perfectly. Director ends the third node in a situation where society can learn why the stigma should banished and so the judgmental mentality. The most captivating chapter of the movie deals with the gay men and aging. Aging is natural law, so the sexuality. But the stigma within the homosexual community about age is prominent. How a same sex also could be a inspiration for the poetic creation is cleverly captured in this celluloid.Gay poets like Oscar Wilde to Emily Dickinson has known about their keen towards creation, but may be the first time it has been filmed the inspiration behind those. In conclusion its a journey in a time machine in a homosexual stigmatized world in search of love. Its clearly convey its message as well as teach us about the priority and balance. I preach this movie to watch if you are homosexual. I believe you won't regret.

Four gay themed plots with attractive, competent actors, and a decent script. OMG....none of the characters smoked....thank the lord. No drug fests either. But there were nude frontals and a bathhouse orgy. Nice to see masculine men displaying some hardcore emotional breakdowns, which tends to happen for two reasons....death of loved ones or the death of a romance. We find a bit of both, but mostly the latter in this film. Can't believe this was made in Mexico. Thank you.....this was free on Youtube in the USA.

The synopsis is that we have four stories that are told in a linear narrative of four very separate and very different relationships. We have two old friends who had lost contact and get reunited and it is more than friendship that is rekindled. A young boy who falls for his cousin and he knows it is wrong for him to act on his impulses but the attraction is too strong.

There is also the story of an ageing and married poet who falls for a rent boy at the local sauna and the very real story of a couple who have been together where one feels it has gone very stale and does something about it. The link to the four tales are all about love and acceptance and are all about gay relationships.

To say anymore runs the risk of revealing the plot(s). However, there is so much crammed in here and not a single frame is wasted. It is at times painful, moving, touching and even funny. I was glued to the screen after a few minutes. It is 110 minutes long but feels much shorter and is in Spanish with the odd English thrown in and the sub titles are very good. This is from director Sergio Tovar Velarde and I tried t get hold of some of his other work and sadly not available in the UK. He made this in 2014 and has not made one since. I sincerely hope he does very soon – this is simply a fantastic film that I can only commend.