Marcos (Walter Rodriguez), a gay teen in a backwater Argentinian town, is passively yielding to his stressed, newly-widowed mother (Catalina Saavedra) on just about everything as she tries to cope with her husband’s sudden death. Marcos’s older brother (Ignacio Gimenez) gives his younger sibling a wider berth, but also mocks and humiliates him for not being a typical macho man. When Marcos puts on a dress and wig and dances in public for the first time, he is brutally sexually assaulted by three punks who routinely bully him. At every turn, when someone causes him physical or emotional damage (his angry mother tosses his women’s clothing into the fire), the normally taciturn Marcos really shuts down. But something will have to give in this story that sees Marcos briefly come alive only a few times, most rewardingly when he meets another young man who works near the unfinished housing project that Marcos hopes to move into. Although depressing, filmmaker Martin Rodriguez Redondo paints a convincing portrait of an isolated misfit whose solitude and misery are ignored by everyone. And the film’s gritty look captures the atmosphere of ruinous economic despair, dust, and destruction that represents a prison for all, but especially for a boy who is different. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)
Marilyn
Breaking Glass, 80 min., in Spanish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.99 Volume 34, Issue 4
Marilyn
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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