Tatuagem (Portuguese) [Tattoo]

This film was good and I wanted to like it, but I feel that some where this film will connect more with the Brazilians more than the international audience. There are multiple reasons for it IMO, a lot has to do with the political situation in 1970s in Brazil and how theatre in Recife specifically was perceived at that point. Sure the film gives us an idea and I admired it but I believe I would have been able to appreciate a lot more, if I was aware of the political and the cultural sub-context of the country at that point. Surely this is a gay love story but the surroundings and situations are all so contextual that it helps. Also, this film weirdly reminded me of the documentary "Cockettes" that I had recently seen; I guess more an anarchist theatre point of view and all the colorful characters we get to see.

Brazil is still under dictatorship. We meet Clecio, who runs an alternate theatre group that shows sexuality, nudity, political issues, in all campy but entertaining. The star is Paulette, an immature and young transvestite who couldn't care less about things. Clecio is a teenage son with a girl form his earlier days and both of them occasionally hang out with Clecio and his group. We then meet Finhina, an 18 year old young soldier, who is seeing Paulette's sister and happens to visit the theatre group and instant sparks fly between him and Clecio. Finhina is also struggling in military because of constant gay bashing by one of his sergeants, who himself may have sexual issues of his own. Paulette doesn't take this very well but eventually her and Clecio sort things out. A torrid affair begins between Clecio and Finhina starts gradually with some misunderstandings. But theor love is genuine and Finhina even gets a tattoo to show his love but rest of the team is worried that Finhina may be military spy. Things are clarified, The theatre group gets banned from performing by the government and Finhina is expelled from the military. The ending is where the two men are on their own individual paths hoping that one day they can reconnect.

The film is filled with at least 3-4 instances of full on lengthy shows themselves. It is good that they celebrate the diversity, and spirit of those times but for non Brazil folks, this becomes an overkill. Subtitles can never do justice to such elaborate sequences and after a while you want movement to happen in the story. Double standards of Brazilian society during those times are exposed while carefully reminding us that no one is completely gay or straight. We are fluid and it all depends on who we fall in love with. The way the first interaction between Clecio and Finhina is filmed and showed is so pure and true that I loved it. You see nervousness in both of them , with excitement of what may come and feelings of that first dance, first kiss and first sex. It was awesome. Somewhere in between it got confusing in terms of what kind of relationship they had since we see Finhina sleeping with other man but also struggling with his military days. But ultimately in the end things start getting clearer that the love they share is for each other but at the sam time neither of them owns the other person. They have a genuine chemistry and the graphical scenes be it the sex or the shows is a proof to the liberation spirit of what people expected.

A very colorful film that needs to be seen and appreciated. Unfortunately the very local subcontext hampers people like me to fully appreciate the film to the extent that it deserves. (5/10)