Mil nubes

Wow! Is Mexican film making coming along! Mil Nubes de Paz is one of the most interesting and enjoyable "arthouse style" films I've seen in a long time. The black & white cinematography is perfect, reminiscent of classic 1930's Hollywood films. The facial closeup shots and facial expressions reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman and early Pedro Almodovar.

Mil Nubes de Paz is a stark film about a gay young man looking for love on the streets of Mexico City. It is beautifully told, the flow of imagery at least as important as the dialog in telling the story. I watched on the DVD release from Strand Releasing, with digital transfer approved by the Director. Highly recommended!

Great, amazing movie. Gerardo , a gay teenager, walks Mexico City in search of a little bit of understanding out from people who have already forgotten how to be nice and human with the rest of their species, superb editing and an amazing direction makes this one a must see.

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..

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

A very, very, very slow-moving, aimless movie about a distressed, drifting young man. Not sure who was more lost - the flat characters or the audience, nearly half of whom walked out.

Attempting artiness with black & white and clever camera angles, the movie disappointed - became even more ridiculous - as the acting was poor and the plot and lines almost non-existent. Very little music or anything to speak of. The best scene in the movie was when Gerardo is trying to find a song that keeps running through his head. He goes to a used record store to buy it for his lover and has to sing the song for two sales clerks before they find the album. Cute scene gave promise, but it went downhill from there. The rest of the movie lacks art, charm, meaning... If it's about emptiness, it works I guess because it's empty. Wasted two hours.