Skip to main content

Inferninho (Portuguese) [My Own Private Hell]

Set almost entirely in the confines of a low-rent dive bar, offers an enchanting tale of community, self-belief and belonging shot-through with very contemporary politics about government-backed gentrification and the displacement of non-conforming communities. The film is an ode on why community is important and a tender tribute to all those oddballs in the society. Whether, personally I liked the film or not is something we will see later.

Unfolding almost entirely within the confines of the seedy, gay-friendly Brazilian bar called Inferninho, we meet Jarbas, a footloose sailor who arrives at the bar. The easygoing dude immediately catches the eye of world-weary transvestite proprietor Deusimar, who offers him a room for rent. Of course, they dance and love sparks from the very first night itself. Jarbas is welcomes by other members of this seedy bar including a man always dressed as rabbit, bearded Wonder Woman and a chubby Wolverine and such other characters. A nefarious developer approaches the bar to buy it for property development giving a very high price which Jarbas refuses. Apparently he has become a couple with Desusimar, but soon his past catches up. He owed some money to other sailors who come looking for him to eventually one night he runs. Deusimar cannot bear to be alone after having found love in the sailor, decides to sell the bar and commit suicide leaving all her money to the patrons who worked in the bar. After a dreamlike sequence the films ends in a reverse scenario where Jarbas is working behind the bar, and enters Deusimar looking for a drink.

These kind of films are definitely not my cuppa tea. The campy-grimy aesthetic and artificial theatricality is just not scene. Somehow reminded me of a famous film "Querelle' which is big in critics world, but I never liked that film too. The whole idea of the misfit people dressed variously as Mickey Mouse, Pocahontas, Wonder Woman, the Silver Surfer and Darth Vadar finding safe harbour, is something I do not enjoy. I was watching this film strictly from a narrative point of view and to an extent the experimental nature of it was fine, but it kept going into this extreme theatrics and art zone, I just could not keep my interest alive. I am sure, there will be critics who would be going gaga over this new style of gritty film making  and taking on a subject of queer misfits, but this just did not work for me. (2/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

Drug Shore (Chinese)

Apparently tis film was adapted by a true story Well, true or not, movies/series about drugs are not easy to watch. I have always said that drugs is like the end of life for anyone. For those who sink into this sea of addiction, some manage to swim upstream to recovery, while others cannot make it to the shore. The film may not be the best, but it does have a noble intention to remind everyone of the evil affects of drugs and combining that with sex. Ah Zhe is in a happy relationship with his influencer boyfriend. On his partner's birthday, they end up going to a party, which interestingly is being hosted at a drug dealer's house and this is where for the first time he is exposed to the world of drugs. The duo somehow do it just enough and come back home but next day Ah She gets invited by the dealer Xiao Fei for a meal. The dealer has a soft corner for Ah Zhe, but before anyone realizes, Ah Zhe's life spirals out of control when slowly he starts doing more and more drugs, ...

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...