WORLD TOUR Day 56 - Brazil - (or is it Argentina?)
BEFORE: And it's day three of my hurricane-imposed vacation. Subways are still down, so I can't get to either job, so I can catch up on TV and comic-books, and get one step closer to the end of another Movie Year. It's also Halloween, and I don't have to rush home from work to hand out candy, since I'm already here.
Linking from "Missing", David Clennon was also in the film "Syriana" with William Hurt (last seen in "Changing Lanes").
THE PLOT: Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a homosexual, is found guilty of immoral behaviour and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on the situation he's in.
AFTER: The two main characters here are stuck in a prison cell, and talk about movies as a form of escapism. Meanwhile, I've been stuck in the house for three days due to the weather, and have been watching movies. So, really, aren't we all just people stuck in a South American prison, talking about movies? Aren't we? I've been bouncing back and forth between tragedies and comedies, but lately it seems like the World Tour's been more heavily weighted toward the tragic.
This is another movie that uses the technique of a "film within a film", as one man describes his favorite film to the other, and we the audience get to see it at the same time. It's a German-made film, sort of a spy film mixed with a romance - and the relationship between the German woman and the Nazi soldier is meant to parallel the relationship between the two men in prison, with all that that entails.
The use of the film-within-a-film also helps break up the monotony of the majority of the film being set in a small cell, but I'm not sure if this is the entire reason for its existence. That sounds too cynical, I suppose - and would almost be a case of the tail wagging the dog.
This was, no doubt, a groundbreaking film in its portrayal of a gay man, but even though it's only 27 years old, some of the stereotypes seem antiquated already - like the belief that gay men secretly want to be women. Some perhaps, but not all. And the fallacy that straight men in prison all participate in gay relationships because they have no alternative. Again, some but not all. I'm sure that sharing a cell and sharing stories is a form of intimacy, and no doubt a relationship could form that way, but it's hardly a given.
There seems to be some debate about where, exactly, this film takes place. Wikipedia says Brazil, and IMDB confirms it was filmed in Sao Paulo, but the original novel, and the stage play, seem to be set in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Also starring Raul Julia (last seen in "Moon Over Parador"), Sonia Braga (ditto).
DISTANCE TRAVELED TODAY: 1,609 miles / 1,131 km (Santiago, Chile to Sao Paulo, Brazil)
DISTANCE TRAVELED SO FAR: 39,842 miles / 62,666 km
RATING: 4 out of 10 bags of groceries
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