Liz en Septiembre

The Venezuelan film Liz en Septiembre was shown in the U.S. with the title Liz in September (2014). It was written and directed by Fina Torres.

The film stars Patricia Velasquez as Liz--a lesbian supermodel who comes to a beach resort to celebrate her birthday. All of her friends, as well as the proprietor of the hotel, are lesbians.

By happenstance, a straight woman arrives at the hotel, and becomes the object of attention from everyone. Liz bets that she can seduce the outsider within a short time, and then sets about to do just that. As you might expect, there are problems ahead for Liz and the straight woman. The problems surface slowly--they are brought to our attention little by little.

The setting of the movie is so beautiful--as are all the actors--that the tragic moments of the film are hard to accept. The straight/lesbian situation isn't the problem. However, problems are there, and this makes the film a tragicomedy.

This is a powerful and beautiful movie. I highly recommend it. We saw it on the large screen as part of ImageOut, the excellent Rochester LGBTQ Film Festival. It won't work as well on a small screen, because some of the tropical beauty will be lost. Still, it's a great movie, and I suggest that you see it in any format that's available.

When Eva's car breaks down, she is stranded at a seaside resort, where she meets Liz. Liz and her lesbian friends are having a get-away at the beach, and Eva is the straight, married outsider. And of course, being gay is still a pretty big deal in Venezuela. It starts out as a light-hearted look at friendships, romance, and quick flings. It quickly takes a more serious turn, as one of the ladies in the group has a secret, and doesn't want the others to know. Nothing is easy in life. BEAUTIFUL scenery. Excellent choices of music throughout. There's a confusing part about halfway through the film, which is partially explained towards the end, but they leave a lot to viewer interpretation. I see the original version ran 100 minutes, but the netflix version is only 92. Wonder what was cut out; were there things in the missing eight minutes that would have explained a couple things for us? Mostly a great story. Could easily have been someone's personal experience. Directed by Fina Torres. Written by Torres and Jane Chambers. I tried to go to the "official website", but sadly the link is no longer working.

Liz en Septiembre is a wonderful movie . Amazing work of Fina Torres and all the cast . Patricia Velasquez does a phenomenal job and carries the movie so well . The theme is great . Thank you for this Extraordinary piece .It was about time that we started talking about these issues in the Latin countries . This movie will remain in history The cinematography is beautiful . Thank you Fina for taking such a risk . I loved the humor in it and how she was able to combine it with the tragedy of the situation . The right to choose is the one message I walked away with . I laughed,cried and never lots hope . All the characters are winners . It made me cheer for them . You can see how much dedication and thought was put in it . Bravo to all the team !

The writing is beautiful. You can't stop yourself from falling in love.

The chemistry between all the actresses is absolutely amazing. Can almost feel the passion emanating from Liz and Eva.

Would watch again and again, if only to remind myself that real love, real passion, exists when you least expect it.

Liz in September, in a word, is "relaxing". There's no intense action scenes, no fierce love-making, no heart-wrenching sobs. This is the brilliant blue flame, the size of a pilot light: warm, constant, and ready to start something new.

I wanted to describe how this film *felt* because what happens shouldn't be spoiled. There is a richness and layering to the characters that is well developed through "show, don't tell" techniques, which is commendable. The plot, while simple, is a HEAVILY character-driven affair and it simply wouldn't have worked without this wonderful cast. Everyone is on top of their character, and they most make the most of the handful of sets.

I find a hard time pointing out things done *wrong* in this movie, as "lesbian romantic drama" is so often shallow. There is a SINGLE moment that I think distracts from the character-focused portrait; if you don't find it, you'll probably enjoy it even more than I did!

It wasn't spectacular, nor the best of the sub-genre, but it's a delight. I wanted to hangout with these gals, even though the film had ended, just to share in the good times.

You won't regret this one.