A escondidas

I began watching this little known film only because of its gay love story, not expecting it to be anything remarkable. It is not, but I was quite surprised to find a decently good story with a handful of talented young debuting actors that made a great impression on me and left me rooting for the two main characters. Being shot in a semi-documentary style and entirely on location, it gives the story a feel of authenticity, and the youngsters are so natural before the camera, so Spanish-teenage in the way they speak, joke, horseplay, swear, talk dirty and quarrel that it took me back to my own teenage years. The only fault that I find is that the two main characters are supposed to be 14-16 years old, but it is pretty obvious that the actors are at least 18-19 and that can't fool anyone, come on. The age of consent in Spain currently is 14 years both for straight and gay sex, but it looks like the filmmaker was afraid of stepping over the PC-crap line or something had he used actors of that age. There is no sex scenes at all in this film, only a few harmless kiss shots. In the 1964 French film "Les Amities Particulieres" (This Special Friendship), a 17-18 year-old boarding school senior pupil falls in love with a cherubic 12-year-old junior. And Didier Haudepin was only 13 when he made the film. We are moving backwards.

When you have a fantastic script, a serious director and the perfect cast it's almost impossible not to make a good film. Well, with A Escondidas (Hidden Away... not the best translation) Director Mikel Rueda set a new standard.

The story is overwhelming in a subtle, almost muted sense, but overwhelming anyway. The sound landscapes, the colours, the music, and some almost illogical sequences push the audience into a roller-coaster of unnerving feelings and cast a deep shadow not seen but felt throughout the journey of the film.

That journey will leave scars, that may heal someday with love.

It's a journey of self-discovery, of life, of hate, of love. The characters will get you to places you don't want to go, but you have to, you simply can't shake the grip of their hands... they want to show you what's going on inside them.

Some scenes are masterful pieces of acting. There will be a moment in which your heart will explode with emotions and that can't be helped, nor undone. You'll be smitten. You'll be pulled in a world you don't want to know anything about, yet -you will.

Calling these young actors superb is not an overstatement. It's exactly what they are. Maybe the most beautiful thing is revealing what's happening inside your soul through your eyes, and these kids did it without flinching. Not only believable, they are real.

Carrying most of the weight of the film is Germán Alcarazu when he was 15 playing the part of Rafa . Pairing with best friend Guille (Joseba Ugalde) and new Moroccan friend Ibra (Adil Koukouh), he's our guide. Their friends will show us what denial and real love are about.

Since my intention is not to reveal the story, please watch the film. You'll be rewarded with pure magic.

Do you have a good friend who goes far? The (secret) feelings left behind.

My biggest stumbling block while watching this movie is the inconsistency in frame rate, sometimes it's too fast, jumps to another scene suddenly, and the transitions are sometimes too rough. And there is the use of flashbacks that get in the way of understanding the flow of events.

Now let's talk about its greatness. It's a very seldom chosen topic, so it's great. This film portrays illegal immigrants very well. I think this film is more about good friends who care about you, make you comfortable, than gay love story. Nevertheless, the film can still be classified as a gay romance. Rafa-Ibra bond is relatively small (compared to other gay movie) but it has a deep meaningful impact. This is a film about life's struggles, self-discovery, adolescence and all that comes with it, for better or for worse. For me, Rafa's friend Guille (if I'm not wrong) stole the show by giving Rafa money in the last scene. It's a great movie for teenagers to accept themselves and others as they are.

In the world heavily dominated by film works coming from English- speaking countries, it is, from time to time, interesting to get the feel what's going on in other areas. Spain is certainly not an unknown country regarding films, but most of its directors are too sophisticated for me. The advanced information I obtained regarding A escondidas and its "normal" duration made me dedicate the time to it.

Coming of age and out in a country with a high number of not-like- minded immigrant and refugee communities should be a basis for an intense and versatile story where different aspects of human values and understanding can be disclosed in catchy ways. In my opinion, the filmmakers here have not exploited their options in full: the tune and aims are set forth too plainly, and there are discrepancies between the pace and the use of flashbacks, often disturbing to comprehend the course of events. The choice of young actors is great, but there is a limited development of characters, many interesting benchmarks remain in-process until the end.

But as I mentioned, I am not among the target audience, and for certain juveniles, it is apparently a good work to follow. However, the possible audience could be limited by the fact that it has been proclaimed as a LGBT film, although it is far from being a primary topic and mode of expression here.

A film so beautiful and sincere that made me cry and recall those days of innocence. Don't we need a sequel to tell us how to overcome barriers in life with love and courage? You should not miss this film gays or straights. The movie tells us lot more than a love story if you care about to have a better world. There is lot more areas we need to make effort to improve but first of all to work on ourselves to be a better global individual.