Ernesto

Incredibly boring and one of the WORST movies I've seen. Ernesto is cute (that's about it) ...he can't seem to figure out whether he likes boys or girls (that seems to be the entire plot)!! Half of the movie has no sound and weird artsy-fartsy filming. No story, nothing really happens, nothing develops and nothing is resolved. Ridiculous!

I give any film I watch a chance. This one's running time was shorter than most so I switched off earlier than I usually would when I begin to realise further time wasted is hopeless. So this film got, undeservedly, 15 minutes of my precious time.

What's the matter with it? It's "arty". Nothing wrong with that as long as the artiness is making a point or is exploring interesting avenues and novel ways of expression. This film was irritating arty, artiness for its own sake.

The actors were not making any sort of good fist of things. There was no chemistry at all between Ernesto and the first female lead. Kisses and lovemaking scenes were desultory and the actors clearly had no rapport. The first male lover Ernesto had was the same; no passion, no vim, no attraction in the coupling.

Between these scenes the actors were portrayed in poses on a train or in a stadium or against a wall not speaking but their lines were being overdubbed having been recited by them elsewhere in a studio probably and not in synch with any action on the screen. I'm sure someone thought that would be a wizard jape and a critical success. It's not. It's just fake and extremely annoying.

In between this nonsense they were appearing in a play reading lines that may have pertained to their own relationship. In another segment they appeared in a set scene with a load of good looking lads and girls arranged in a circle whom Ernesto touched up.

That's where I tuned out. There is no plot as the summary makes clear. I don't mind that as long as the subject matter is interesting and convincing. It wasn't.

Ernesto, played by Frederico Russo, is a beautiful Italian boy without doubt and was the only reason I stuck with this movie. His eyes constantly draw you in and you patiently wait for something to happen, but it never does. There's no discerning plot and it's way too artsy for its own good. The dialogue and scenes are almost as if someone took a razor to the footage then spliced them together randomly.

It takes a little to get into but once I realized how the story was being divided I could understand what the director was trying to portray. Ernesto is a young man trying to figure himself out. He is obviously conflicted in who is attracted to. Each time he finds attraction to a woman it ultimately results in the reminder of what he feels for men at the same time. Something many of us can probably relate to. It's the story of internal struggles and how he must navigate through life to find what and who he truly is. The movie is subtitled and has an artistic flare to it, which at times is distracting, however overall I feel it was relatable and worth the watch.

Worked well for me, bringing me into a deeply sad place in my payche, a place that never realized the joy and excitement of youth beyond dreaming about living it. Ernesto is in a place of confusion, maybe regret, and I want to comfort him, but who do I think I am?

All of the actors were on point, all of them beautiful and earnest and mysterious, some embodying characters weary beyond their years, or magically spontaneous in moments of raw experience. Oh, to fall through those experiences, those people. What is it too be young and stepping into adulthood? Can I try again? Do I honestly want to?