O Baile dos 41

A good cast and talented designers are left out to dry by incompetent direction and especially screenwriting. The characters are inconsistent and have no development arc. The understanding of social roles in history is abandoned for nonsensical melodrama. The most centred sex scenes are heterosexual, and queer love is left as a strangely posed affair in long shots.

Excelent film, but to say this is the "true history" is a slight exaggeration, there being very little documentation (and that skewered by the journalism of the era) about the event or the supposed "club of 42". While the incident was and is well remembered here in Mexico, how much is the "real truth" and how much is speculation (we don't know that Ignancio de la Torre was actually at the dance, although his sexuality was well established... fun fact, because Emilio Zapata was one of de la Torre's more important employees -- his horse trainer -- Zapata was "smeared" by his opponents as an allegedly gay man). That de la Torre was a self-indulgent elitist snob and oppresive member of the Mexican "one percent"... as were the other 41... had the unfortunate side effect of perpetuating the stereotype of gay men as a bunch of rich cross-dressing hedonists.

As a mexican LGBTQ+ member in my early thirties, I've known this story ever since I can remember, and to see it portrayed on the big screen, with such quality production, with a compelling narrative, and that can make straight people understand a little bit of our brotherhood excites me a LOT!

I'm so thankful that Director David Pablos took a chance to make this film, and to make such relevant characters, the main arch is so powerful, I have to confess the female characters surprised me for good, Amada en Luz are so relatable Mexican women, and the secondary characters from the "Club" gave so much depth to the story.

I hope this film will remember everyone why is important to keep fighting for our rights, our right to be a normal person within society.

The movie is well made but there is definitely a lack of vision. It seems like every shot if an hommage of everything that has already been done before and by someone who has an extensive background on advertisement. It's pretty but it feels empty. It is extremely obvious the way they want to punctuate the "stiff" life and the "joy" of the underground life but it never feels authentic. Many of the performances feel wooden as if they were making sure we understand what they want to convey, instead of pulling us into the story. We don't even get to extensively see the joy of the dance and we don't see the consequences and humilliation inflicted in them either. It's not terrible but it is not a movie that successfully tells an engaging and believable story and the never-ending parade of "artsy" shots are just too much.

"El baile de los 41" is a great film based on true events, a great love story about two men and their gay friends, a tale about homophobia and some events that still happen in this days, closeted gay men married with ladies. The production is amazing, the cinematography and filming locations are beautiful, the music score is wonderful, the performances are great, mainly Alfonso Herrera, Emiliano Zurita and Mabel Cadena and the direction is really good. A modern gay classic movie based on sad true events! The best Mexican film of the 2020!