No se lo digas a nadie

There's a surprising use of nudity and sex (both het and homo) in a movie from Peru, even if the money was from Spain.

Good leads. Seemingly honest portrayal of the difficulty of living ones own life, instead of the one expected of you by parents, friends, and society.

It proves you can have your cake and eat it too, but at some dreadful costs.

It's a shame this movie, showcased at the February 1999 Miami Film Festival to a sold out crowd of almost 2,000, has not been distributed outside its home territory of Peru. To North Americans and Europeans, it is only another coming out story, but for Latin America, it's a break out film, based on a break out novel (Read it. Its ending is not compromised for commercial reasons as the film's ending is.)

The film has been shown in some festivals, but we don't think it had a commercial run in this country. We caught with it recently on DVD format. The movie, directed by Francisco Lombardi, is based on the novel by television personality and writer, Jaime Bayly, with an adaptation by Giovanna Pollarolo. The film is a frank account on the Peruvian society.

It's clear from the start that Joaquin is gay. He has been sheltered by his mother, against his father's wishes. As a way to initiate the young boy in a the typical Peruvian man's world, Luis Felipe, the father, decides to take him hunting, with no good results. Then, the father takes the young man to one of Lima's best house of ill repute, an experience that ends badly.

Joaquin likes Alejandra, the young college student. She feels the attraction as well, but Joaquin has an eye for attractive guys. When Gonzalo and Rocio appear at a disco, Joaquin feels attracted to the hunky young man. It's clear Gonzalo is also interested in Joaquin and thus begins their sexual involvement that will not produce the results either one expected. Gonzalo wants to keep seeing Joaquin, but wants to marry Rocio, but Joaquin, in a fit of anger confesses to the young woman her fiancé is having an affair with him and they Gonzalo leaves him.

The movie is a complex character study about the duality most of these rich young men of the upper crust of the Peruvian society and how they feel about casual gay sex. In a society dominated by the machismo, they must hide away in a married life that is a cover up for the way homosexuality is concealed.

The film is honest in the way it deals with this subject. Santiago Magill makes Joaquin credible in his appealing performance. Lucia Jimenez is also good as Alejandra, the girl that loved him. Christian Meier plays the closeted Gonzalo. Giovanni Ciccia's take on the troubled rich boy Alfonso is right. The rest of the cast does an excellent job in portraying all the upper class people in the movie.

Francisco Lombardi directed with panache this story about a taboo in that type of society.

I rented this DVD based on the strength of Santiago Magill's performance in the film: "I love you, Baby", (not to mention he's a total cutie). I was impressed with the naturalness and vitality of his acting, even though I was not too thrilled with the movie (I love you, Baby) itself. "Don't tell Anyone" is basically a coming out story that unfolds in present day Lima, Peru. Joaquin (the protagonist) is a young gay man of Spanish, not Indian, descent who is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in the face of the overbearingly machismo culture of his native land, and also the barely concealed racism of those of Spanish descent against the native Indian populace, which racism Joaquin does not share. While the ending is somewhat ambiguous, it seemed to me, even though there weren't any seashells and balloons, that Joaquin had come to some acceptance of himself and his sexuality. Also, there is one scene early on with Joaquin and a young Indian man that shows Joaquin's indifference to matters of race and caste. This is significant in that a gay man is demonstrating far more humanity and decency than any of his so-called Christian family and friends, particularly his father. But all such issues aside, if you have an interest in well-acted and written gay-themed movies, then by all means watch this one. 8\10 stars.

"No se lo digas a nadie" is a film that is showing in several theaters in Mexico City, following a trend of showing gay themed movies outside art clubs. I think it is a good reflection of what coming out is in Latin America for upper class youth, it shows the alienation that can lead to drug abuse, something that is not particular to this part of the world, as Australian movie "Head on" shows; but more tellingly, it shows the absence of a gay subculture, or at least, in such deeply class divided cultures as Peru and Mexico, the preeminence of class identity over sexual identity. It is thus not only possible but even mandatory for people with a homosexual orientation to marry within the appropriate social circle, while at the same time having homosexual encounters. I think this movie is at times excessively caricaturesque in its portrayal of machismo and its counterpart, submissiveness and religiousness in Latin American women, I felt like I was watching one of the soap operas the region is famous the world over, but on the whole I think the movie is on target in its honest portrayal of the subject.