Through a Boy's Eyes

There is one short here which won't make you want to slit your wrists after seeing it, On the Roof is a thoroughly decent coming-of-age short about difficulty of navigating a dangerous situation wisely.

The Son is dismal, violent, and unbearably depraved. Tomboy deals with a deadly game. Bullying is the theme of Paradigm. And I can't remember what one of these stories was about.

If you want to have a relaxing, enjoyable evening, these are not the movies for you! Hit Stop after On the Roof. Not knowing what you missed is better than knowing, believe me.

So many of these collections of short films are ruined by half of them being utterly useless wastes of time. This wasn't the case here. Obviously a couple were better than others but they were all worth watching.

"El Hijo" was my favourite. The film had me shifting in my seat urging the actors to react differently in a couple of the scenes. Some might say "serves him right" at the end but it was society that twisted Pedro not his gayness.

"En la azotea" was my next best preferred film. The gang of urchins ogling a woman's breasts was true to life as was the bullying behaviour in the group. The whole episode was handled beautifully with the twist of the wrong photo at the end.

"Dentro" was the least successful inasmuch as one couldn't work out properly what was happening. However the lead actor was an absolute hunk!

"Meme pas mort" followed a group of kids playing a dangerous game that ends in tragedy. The attention was held but one couldn't see the connections between the strands in the story.

"Paradigma" made me laugh. This was an acutely observed story that was true even to the fag hag girlfriend. And even more so the difference between an older jaded man and the first flush of emotion from a lad starting out on his sexual adventures.

Perhaps these films were so good as there were no English-language ones. Anglophone gay cinema seems to have lost its way over the past few years while Spanish and Lusophone cinema prospers. Even the sole French film here had an original take on life.

A collection worth watching.

Few not very comfortable stories about acceptance, options , appearences and decisions. Questions and secrets and need to be yourself. Beautiful work of Fanny de Castro. Powerful message from Dentro, Il Hijo proposing the darkness of true to a simple soul in manner of Flaubert short story, On the roof is a sketch around familiar pieces . The risk, cruelty / revenge of child, death and love as soul of Tomboy and the need of other and friendship and, maybe something between attraction and true love as axis for Paradigm.

A circle of cases , self definitions and answers, cold and precise.