Fim de Século

As I started to watch, I rapidly got bored with the street scenes but stuck with the film and came to realise that these were integral to the structure and direction of the screenplay. I then became apprehensive that this would turn into a Spanish-language version of the dreadful "Weekend" but let me say straightaway that this film is in a different and far better league than that farrago of pretension.

The dialogue was sharp, witty and captivating. The stories of the two guys were interesting and as the film moved unobtrusively into the past to tell their backstory things from the present day started to fall into place.

It was disconcerting at first that the same actors were playing their younger selves with no more than a change of clothing style, indeed grey hairs could be glimpsed sometimes in their beards as they talked together for the first time.

The story moved again to the future or the present day, but what present day? Had this all been an elaborate role play? Was everything in the imagination? Or was the final scene the true situation?

This is one of the few films I'll watch again in a few months time to see what else I can surmise about it. In the meantime, it has still got me thinking.

This wonderful film unwinds backward and forward to tell about a relationship between two men and the people around them. Time twists and turns as what seemed real at the time fades from memory then re-emerges in present time. A little hard to write about. You have to see it to take it all in. I have seen it more than a few times and did not get tired of watching. The cast is wonderful and the chemisty between the men is right at ever turn. Hot or cool or in between. The photography is part of the cast and plays an important role. Barcelona. Gorgeous. OK. Go see it. Write your own review.

In my humble discernment, the key to making sense of this movie and of its many twists and turns of time and the many ambiguities of the story lines, is that much of the story happens in Ocho's imagination.. If we assume the long, plodding initial scenes depicting Ocho's arrival in Barcelona are real, of his reacting to solitude and loneliness by listlessly wandering the streets, staring vacantly at nothing in particular, until he notices Javi in the plaza below and then later at the beach. At that point the story picks up and grows increasingly intricate and complicated. The ambiguity of the story, however, questions how much of the story actually happened and how much is just Ocho's imagination, just a continuation of his introspective mind through the preceding opening scenes up to that point. How much of the story is actual history and how much is fantasy? It's no surprise that Ocho's and Javi's appearance didn't change during 20 years, if in fact 20 years never went by except in Ocho's mind. Whether the details of the story are real or fantasized, this film tells a true story of the odyssey of a heart as a lonely hunter in quest of a loving human connection. A beautiful film.

How would your life be different if you took a different relationship path? That's what gets explored in this poignant film.

The director and cinematographer use long, beautiful (and mostly silent) visual narratives to create a sense of isolation for the main character who has recently ended a 20 year relationship.

Using flashback/flashforward scenes, the film explores what happens when two men meet again after a hook up that took place 20 years prior.

It would be easy to criticize this first full-feature directorial effort. Not everything in this movie succeeds by a long-shot. The criticism that it's too slow and boring certainly applies to the first 15-20 minutes. It's rare when an 84-minute film should be cut by at least 5-7.

But the criticism that this is a "gay movie" is TOTALLY off-base. What makes this film worth watching is the enigmatic, non-linear story about love, partnership, loneliness, and the passage of time. The fact that the two principals are gay is actually irrelevant to who they are as people, and what "Ocho," the main character, is looking for.

Whether you leave the theater thinking wondering what is the true story (I must say no more), or thinking that it's all just a metaphor, the film is ultimately thought-provoking. After seeing a preview, my wife and I discussed it all through lunch and well beyond.