Memories of a Penitent Heart

Documentary filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo courageously explores a forbidden family secret in Memories of a Penitent Heart, which tells the story of her uncle, Miguel Dieppa, a gay man who died of AIDS complications in the 1980s. Having met Dieppa only once while she was young, Aldarondo has only the sketchiest of memories regarding his partner, a man named Robert. Pressing her mother, Nylda (Miguel's sister), for details, Aldarondo fills in a few blanks about Dieppa's life and eventually locates Robert, who is now a priest named Father Aquin. Aquin speaks with the director about Dieppa and the “hatred” that his dead lover's family harbored because they felt shame, given their conservative Puerto Rican and Catholic roots. To her credit, Aldarondo wants to know more than just what happened to her uncle and Robert; she also tries to better understand her grandmother, Carmen (with whom Miguel frequently argued—via letters—about his sexuality and God's love), her grandfather (who might have been a closeted gay man himself) and Nylda, who walked a fine line when Dieppa was alive, trying to save him and herself at the same time. Even as Aldarondo relentlessly probes this buried tale, she never forgets that she's making a film, drawing on strong visual metaphors to comment upon the universality of Dieppa's tragedy. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)