Undertow

TedFlicks Rating:

$9.50 ticket on a scale of $0 to $13.50.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, PERUVIAN STYLE

There is a lot of cheesy stuff in Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” the story of two gay American cowboys who fall in love and have a lifelong affair (although both of them are married to women at one point or other during pic’s 30 year plot).  It’s a sort of gay “Same Time Next Year” lacking a sense of humor.  “Mountain” also runs 133 minutes, which is about 40 minutes too long.  Nothing happens in the first hour.  But its nature photography, shot in Canada, excels.

“Undertow” (Contracorriente), the official Peruvian entry in the 2011 Oscar race, handles similar themes with a lot less baggage and a lot more class.  There is much to be said for brevity.  “Undertow” lasts all of 100 minutes.  Its action takes place over one summer.  Maybe five minutes of padding can be detected by the harshest critic.  Helmer and screenwriter Javier Fuentes-León who shares producer credit with Rodrigo Guerrero, at least has a sense of when to yell, “Cut!”  His skein also excels in plausibility — at least in establishing a romantic relationship between two men.

“Undertow” is the story of a married Peruvian fisherman (Miguel, played byCristian Mercado) and poor-little-rich-kid painter Santiago (Manolo Cardona) who hook up in Cabo Blanco, a tiny Peruvian fishing village where everyone knows everyone else and the town’s Catholic priest (Padre Juan played by Julio Humberto Cavero) is its unofficial mayor.

The two boys have a torrid affair, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But some folks have a problem with it. Your critic’s Latin American friends say that in the big cities, nobody cares about gay but that in small towns it is still a taboo.  Married men in the small towns can have affairs with women, but if they mess with a guy it’s over. Ostracism.  It’s a machismo thing. Miguel is happily married to the smoking hot Mariela (Tatiana Astengo), heavily pregnant with Miguelito, his son.  He seems to love her.  Their intimate scenes together leave no doubt that that he is both hot for her (and she for him) and that he is ecstatic about the baby to be.  In other words, Miguel looks for all intents and purposes like a straight guy whose beloved girl is about to give birth to his first son.

The affair involves a lot of sneaking around, but the boys manage to pull it off without getting caught.  ThenSantiago is caught in a vicious undertow and bashed against some rocks.  He is dead although the body is missing.  That should be the end of it, but it happens well before pic’s halfway point.  Here is where Fuentes-León veers off into the paranormal.  In Cabo Blanco, people believe that the souls of the dead do not find rest until they are offered to God in a Catholic Mass followed by burial at sea. Santiago’s ghost appears to Miguel in all sorts of places — including his house.  Think “Blythe Spirit” without the wit.  Miguel is still in love withSantiago even after the artist’s death. It appears that Miguel is losing it.

Enter Isaura (Cindy Diaz), a somewhat attractive, gossipy teenager assigned to help Mariela during the final stage of pregnancy.  She develops a thing for Miguel which is made clear one night when she puts her hand on his thigh.  He pushes it away.  Insulted, she leaves in a huff.

Fast forward to Isaura and her boyfriend in need of a place to shack up:  The boyfriend takes her to the home of the missing artist, Santiago. There they find painting after painting of Miguel in the nude.  In no time Isaura tells Mariela of her suspicions — as well as the rest of the town.  Hell hath no fury….

Now the heat is on Miguel.  He findsSantiago’s body and ties it to a rock under water to keep his boyfriend around.  Tensions between Miguel and Mariela, who gives birth to a healthy boy in the midst of this.

Santiago’s ghost wants Miguel to bury him at sea.  When his body is caught in fishing nets, Miguel has to choose between denial and coming out of the closet before the entire town.  He has to choose between pulling himself together at great cost to himself and doing what his conscience tells him or sentencing his lover’s soul, he believes, to eternal torture.  The townspeople divide into two camps. Nobody believes Miguel’s denials anymore.  Mariela fears the stigma for their son.  She leaves Miguel.

Miguel’s choice, which takes place over the second half of pic’s final reel, is far more satisfying to auds than the end of “Brokeback Mountain.” “Undertow” takes place as much inside Miguel’s mind as it does in the real world, and Mercado conveys Miguel’s inner turmoil convincingly. Fuentes-León has the sense to shoot much of Miguel’s of turmoil with filters. When Miguel finally makes his Hobson’s choice, Fuentes-León shifts to broad daylight.  New York auds may think that this is much ado about nothing nowadays, but in its context, it works.  “Undertow” is really more a film about conscience than about a gay love triangle.  The triangle just provides the context for a morality play overlaid with a ghost story. “Undertow” is a small film that treats big themes with compassion. “Brokeback” is a sprawling epic that trivializes its subject matter. “Undertow,” in Spanish with English subtitles, is not rated.  Much of it is unsuitable for children.  There are graphically intimate scenes between two men and between a man and a woman.

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