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Beira-Mar (Portuguese) [Seashore]

I understand the passion that film -makers sometime invest in making of a film. Everyone has a different motivation and for some it may also be personal stories, but the problem arises when a restrained approach starts becoming too lethargic. This film about coming-out-story of a teenager to his friend, doesn’t really go anywhere at all for over an hour before it comes to the point and by then , I personally had lost almost all interest in either the characters or the story.

Martin is sent by his father to retrieve some family document from the family of his deceased grandfather on the southern coast. His closest friend Tomaso decides to join him. They stay at their father’s beach house during this cold time. Almost first hour of the film focuses on the boys randomly walking streets of deserted town, killing time, drinking and smoking and finally picking up certain other young girls and a boy for an evening full of drinking. The next day when Martin goes to the family house again for the second time and has made some progress compared to the first visit, is when he asks Tomaso if the guy back at home is his boyfriend? This is the first time the boys openly talk about Tomaso being gay. Tomes tell Martin everything. More conversations follow before what’s expected happens. Both the boys realize that their feelings for each other might have been more than friends and its time to explore each other as lovers.

This film could have been so much better as a short film or something that would focus on something more concrete. Shaky frames, hand-held cameras, awkward pauses, sharp focus on faces, blue sky, aimlessly wandering; all this become a little too much too handle after a while and you wanna scream for the film to move ahead. The performances of the actors of average at the best but in my opinion, there was only so much they could do. The basic fault lies with the director and the script. This experiment is too much of a self-indulgent where the viewers are taken for a joyride without testing or caring for what they would expect.

There are a lot better teenage coming-out stories which keep you interested and you feel for the characters as well. This one unfortunately doesn’t come anywhere closer to anything. (3/10)

Comments

luigi43 said…
The most annoying issue -for me - watching this movie , was the sea noise during all the film .
Golu said…
lol.. yeah that too.
ILHiker said…
Finally, I finished something that wasn't a rewatch. Could be my mood of late, but this movie drew me in. I think the tension for me was Tomaso and where his story was going...unrequited love for his friend (which is an annoying plot line to m e) or just coming out or reestablishing friendship. I wasn't sure, and I wasn't even sure how close they had been prior to the trip. I tend to agree with your review of the movie, so maybe I just liked and identified with the boy, and loved the seashore, and liked that that older guy with the girlfriend flirted with Tomaso or some kind of chemistry there, and that Tomaso wasn't portrayed as sort of a weakling with a crush on his straight friend, and that it seemed fairly possible his friend wasn't all that straight. I don't know, but the movie for me was about Tomaso and not the friend, though I don't think that's how it was intended, so I think it's just one of those movies I was fonder of than perhaps its actual quality. I'll probably rewatch it in five years and wonder what I saw in it. Even so, I enjoyed it so am grateful. I see the two directors have done other things, so I may see if I can find them.

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