Skip to main content

Rotting In The Sun (English/Spanish)

At virtually every opportunity, Rotting in the Sun is daring you to hate it. It feels like the film is a meta version where the actual director plays a fictionalized self-loathing version of himself. But not just him, the other main character Jordan Firstman, playing himself in the film (I wasn't familiar with the guy, so I did my homework) is also an odd mix of comedy/meta/sattire, almost to the point of annoying. I still haven't made my mind on what really I think of this film. Also , just to put it out there there are scenes of male nudity, dick shots and sex, like full on. If you have ever complained that movies are scared of realistic depictions of sexuality; then this film is a dick-stravaganza with contextually relevant full-frontal male nudity on nude beaches and at orgies and more.

The story is also interesting, Sebastian is a fading director living in Mexico City. He should be working but instead he spends his day with his dog, snorting all kinds of drug, slightly depressed and always talking about suicide. He is mean to his dog and unforgivably rude to his housekeeper Vero. As suggested by a friend of his, he takes trip to coast, staying at a gay partying spot with shit load of hot naked men where he meets influencer Jordan Firstman. He is obnoxious, flirty, pushy and almost pushes himself to work with Sebastian on something together, which frustratingly Sebastian gives into. And then something terrible happens. In a freak accident Sebastian ends up dying and this is where the drama begins. Jordan is in town and can't find Sebastian , who has gone missing. What does Vero know? Is she the key to the details of what happened? I am tempted to write here where the story goes, but I will try my best. But the second half of the film is all about Jordan trying to find Sebastian with help of his friend and brother and Vero, who knows an dis involved in more than it meets the eye kinda situation. The film constantly keeps going back between English and Spanish.

Firstman’s bubbly and insufferably uninhibited on-screen persona clashes with Sebastian's tortured and misunderstood artiste demeanor. Neither of their characters is someone one would want to spend much time with, much less together. This film, in that sense, is a deliberate exercise in tolerance. The real star of the film, in my opinion is the maid Vero. When Firstman questions her about Sebastián’s whereabouts through a translator app on his phone, she knows better than to give away the secret that's keeping her employed. And the actress plays her role with such humanity that it’s easy to root for Vero's success at deceiving him. But at the same time, using his own role and that of his rich friend of Jordan; the film makers is trying to make a statement on Mexico City being taken over by expats and the privilege of rich, overuse of drugs. Mental health wrt suicide and how people react and support to that. The film constantly shows us the characters using insta or tik-tok to show how virtual distractions create a buffer from real-world concerns, which there are a lot of in this film. As I have mentioned before, there is a lot of 'good' nudity in the film but it still feels al little long tp watch. I kept going through phases of I like the film or I hate this film and that why even now, I don't really know how I feel about it. It's an interesting concept for sure. Bringing the very real world of influencers into the very strange world of filmmaking, it blurs the lines of fiction and reality  and comedy and weirdness. The end is a bit of bitter sweet as it seems to come from a place of necessity rather than style or narrative. With all its quirkiness and weirdness, it does offer an insight into the made up world of influencers, the cultures, sexuality and what not. I think the movie is trying to make fun of its audience by trying to show us how stupid we really are, but the satire is slightly complicated and may not be easily understood by many including me. I was anyways more than happy to see all the nudity and erect dicks and sex scenes in addition to the somewhat mixed up black comedy. (6.5/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

One Summer Night (Korean)

I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...