JvH48

Interesting to see how people with little resources are living their life in the underworld of Sao Paolo, selling their bodies or (re)selling drugs. They do whatever may bring some income, allowing them to carry on in survival mode. Apart from being sort of a documentary, unintended perhaps, it also tells a romantic story. The relationship between Wellington/Baby and Ronaldo breaks several times and rekindles even so many times. In that respect, gay and straight relationships look not much different. That love survives everything in the end, is something we already learned from kitchen-sink-novels. For me, extrapolating it to the world of gay people, is however not the unique selling point for this movie.

In this case the story about Wellington's father (a policeman, known for his bad temper) is an extra conflict element, a logical reaction when his son announces he is attracted to men and men only. Obviously, parental love does not survive anything, at least not with a strict, law&order redneck father. It may be not the primary reason that Wellington's parents moved out of town without leaving a forwarding address, but it contributed significantly to their decision to break the connection, abandoning him, not even visiting him once in the detention center.

The story and its subsequent developments kept my attention. Still, I had expected more of it, though I cannot pinpoint what I really missed. Nearly all the people involved in this movie try to survive and to cope with their dire circumstances. I've read the actors were non-professional, picked from the Sao Paolo streets, so actually having been part of the world portrayed here. Whatever their backgrounds or acting training, their performances are convincing and believable.

Although this is a coming-of-age story all over, it is very different from the usual coming-of-age movies where the main protagonist starts from leading a happy and carefree life, suddenly interrupted by a drastic, invasive event, after which a transformation starts into a useful life. This movie did not start with the usual endless partying, caring about clothes and looks, and courting the other sex as main part of the day. That makes it stand out from the usual coming-of-age movies.

All in all, I may have left the venue with a feeling that I got less than expected, but in retrospect I cannot determine what it was that I missed. It may be that I find Wellington/Baby's personality underdeveloped, and we know only his short-term goals (finding his parents, earning some money, etc). Anyway, the documentary aspect and the casting of real-life actors, non-pros picked from the streets of Soa Paolo, contributes significantly to its value. And finally, the continuous on-off relationship between Baby and Ronaldo, is also interesting while not so common with gay relationships, especially given their age difference. Enough remains to mark this movie as valuable and a recommended watch. Finally, as assurance for those abhorred by gay sex, there is nudity but no "action" visible on screen.

This movie isn't a Horror in the usual sense: there are no creaking doors/stairs, no ghosts/devils, no horrible creatures, no dark corners in the attic, no blood, no gore, none of those. Neither do we see traditional weaponry, not even the household variant in the form of kitchen knives. Nevertheless, there are other means to make each other's lives miserable, as it appears.

The horrific element in this story is that residents are all handicapped in a way, some physically, some mentally, most a bit of both. It is difficult for staff to decide what is true and what is fantasy or imagined. We see resident Dave exploiting all these factors when bullying his fellow residents. Staff, preoccupied as they are with maintaining order and peace, deem finding the cause of any disturbance less important, as long as peace is restored after all. So, who is guilty is not their concern, not even if a repeat offender is clearly to blame. Registering a complaint or pointing to the one behind a disturbance can work counter productively, even to the extent that the innocent party is punished, reprimanded or scolded at.

In addition to the apparent fact that Dave could continue unhindered with his bullying actions, I myself found the misguided (re)actions of the caretakers even more worrisome, in the sense that this created an unsafe environment in a place where safety and peace should have utmost priority. Dave could go on with his pestering for too long a time. For me, THAT is the Horror for me in this story, though probably not exactly what the film makers had in mind to show us. An extra reason for me to find this a daunting situation, is my age of 76: in a very foreseeable future winding up in a "home" like this, helpless and dependent. It is a foresight of something that can and will happen to me sooner or later.

All in all, the story was not compelling for me, not captivating. Instead, it worked the other way around and I found it rather annoying. Maybe I misunderstood the role of the puppet Jenny Pen, not getting why this attribute of resident Dave was deemed central in the proceedings. Anyway, I found it awkward to watch how Stefan complained to deaf ears, over and over again, while we saw and knew how Dave was causing recurring problems without being hindered in any way.

The story develops slowly but steadily, though it may be hard to follow without first reading the synopsis, especially since it's not immediately clear that the central event is a gay bashing. Remarkably, victim Adi stays mostly out of the dialogs. We merely see him bruised but hear nothing of his perspective on the assault, while everyone around him is busy arranging things he did not ask for. Even worse, all of the running time we see Adi a lot but don't hear much from him, despite the fact he is the main protagonist and the ultimate cause.

It takes nearly one hour before the focus moves to Adi, asking him what he wants. He is "suffocated" as per a text message on his phone, wants out of the village and move to the city. After that, the other protagonists take over the story, again, and Adi disappears again out of the dialog. We see him physically present, merely being a subject of the proceedings, rather than the main protagonist. Everyone around is busy downplaying the incident, most of them especially attempting to keep it out of official records.

Adi's father can be relieved of his debt as soon as they withdraw the complaint, as offered by the father of the two assailants, promising that his two sons will be "talked to". And to wrap it all up, the police will see to it that the paperwork disappears. Things get a bit complicated when it is revealed that Adi's parents tied him up to let the priest speak a prayer on him. In his defense, the priest explains later that it certainly was not intended as an exorcism (the bishop needs to approve that), but more like a loving mother holding her child for a measle shot by a doctor who insists that is for the good of the child.

Suddenly a woman from child protection appears and takes over the proceedings, out of the hands of the police. She ignores the two fathers who were on the verge of dropping the complaint and nullify the debt in return. She is persistent, not at all satisfied with what priest and parents state about Adi being tied up for his own good. She orders everyone around and wants to know all the details. It seems to end the covering-up that was as good as agreed before. However, someone has called her boss, and she is assigned to another case. She must drop this case and leave it to a colleague.

Without making much noise, Adi packs his stuff and leaves by boat. We watch his back while sitting in the boat when the final credits appear.

All in all, I was kept interested from start to finish in the proceedings, watching everyone's efforts that could divert the case, or could end in a cover-up "for the benefit of the village", or wind up completely different. Given the setting in a former east-bloc country, I expected the story to reinforce common stereotypes, primarily having incompetence or corruption in mind. But the opposite happened. No one here seemed corrupt or dishonest in their approach, rather being uneasy with the situation without clear precedence in this rural environment. One minus point: What Adi thinks or feels is kept under the surface. Notwithstanding that Adi is obviously the main protagonist, he has suspiciously little lines in the screenplay.