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Memorias de lo que no fue (Spanish) [Boy Undone]

This is one of those films thats stretched beyond reason and the story could easily have been told in a short story format. In this film I can easily snip off almost 60m minutes worth of scenes and as an audience you will not miss a single thing about the film. Long minutes of silences , awkward advances and just random memory flashbacks. I guess I am not going through a good time of watching decent films.

A young man finds himself waking up to no memory. He is at Miguel's house and he doesn't remember a thing about who he is, where he is from and how did he get there. He starts to panic but after being calmed down he decides to stay in the apartment as he attempts to piece his memories back together. Almost an hour into the film and 3-4 days later is when the young man asks Miguel on how he got there. Miguel tells him that they met at a nightclub and he come home with him , had sex and slept but the young man remembers none of it. Flashbacks to sexual encounters and violent confrontations begin to surface and Fernando begins to put the pieces back together with the help of Fernando. It turns out that some of his so called friends are responsible for this state who suspected that he was closeted gay.

I am trying really hard to think about anything positive about the film. IN fact at almost 2 hours the film was stretched beyond imagination . The acting by the leads was strictly ok and had absolutely no chemistry. There were so many sex scenes, almost soft-pornish thrown in every now and then which was very uncomfortable to watch. Then there is a scene when Miguel goes to meet a creepy old man who for no reason goes on and on for almost 10 minutes on Mexico's existential crisis, which had absolutely no relevance to the film. The director tried to make a homoerotic thriller but this was far from it. The idea had potential had it been done right.

Bad direction, ok acting, endlessly stretching storyline and moments of silences. This movie is without a doubt a miss. (2/10)

Comments

Unknown said…
BOY UNDONE Memorias de lo que no fue
The subject: a young man, Fernando, on his way to live his sexual identity and find love. I immediately found an access to Fernando's person. He portrays me as I felt and saw myself at the age of 18. Unfortunately, openly shown sexuality is too often misunderstood as offensive in films like this. But those sexual needs and facts are there. It's usually the wrong approach to make those needs disappear under any sheets or bed covers. I love this film because it shows tenderness.
Striking how touching the touches are. That longing for someone else's hand to hold. Paul Act as Fernando gives this character a vivid, true face. The development from the insecure, stranded visitor of a gay bar is stirring. In search of orientation. In images between dream and reality (a masterpiece of Leopoldo Laborde to tell the story this way). Fernando's search for understanding, friendship and love towards Miguel. The questions, the uncertainty, the joy in his face that slowly develops whilst searching and having found a partner. Who after all also understands that it is a search for a loving partner. And who then really accepts Fernando. This development is reflected in the face of this young man (Paul Act shows a very natural acting talent in it), which touched me a lot in this film. It is on the same, high level as the French film "Mit Siebzehn" (original title: Quand on a 17 ans) by André Téchiné, shown at the Berlinale 2016. I am happy that there is finally a similarly honest portrayal of this QUEER topic on German television with the series ALL YOU NEED. For BOY UNDONE and especially the actors PAUL ACT and EDUARDO LONGORIA 10 points out of 10! I look forward to the next films with the two and by Leopoldo Laborde.

BOY UNDONE Recuerdos de lo que no sucedió.
El tema: un joven, Fernando, en su viaje para vivir su identidad sexual y encontrar el amor. Encontré un acceso inmediato a la persona de Fernando. Retrata cómo me sentía y me veía a mí mismo a los 18 años. Desgraciadamente, la sexualidad mostrada abiertamente se toma con demasiada frecuencia como algo ofensivo en películas como ésta. Pero esas necesidades y hechos sexuales están ahí. La mayoría de las veces, el enfoque equivocado es dejar que esas necesidades desaparezcan bajo las sábanas. Me encanta esta película porque muestra la ternura.
Llama la atención lo conmovedor de los toques. Ese anhelo de tomar la mano de otra persona. Paul Act como Fernando da a este personaje un rostro vivo y verdadero. La progresión del visitante inseguro y desamparado a un bar gay es conmovedora. En busca de orientación. En imágenes entre el sueño y la realidad (una obra maestra de Leopoldo Laborde para contar la historia de esta manera). La búsqueda de amor y amistad de Fernando con Miguel. Las preguntas, la incertidumbre, la alegría en su rostro que evoluciona lentamente mientras busca y encuentra un compañero que ama . Que al fin y al cabo, también entiende que se trata de una búsqueda de pareja amorosa. Y que luego acepta y abraza a Fernando. Esta evolución se refleja en el rostro de este joven (Paul Act muestra un talento interpretativo muy natural en él), que me emocionó mucho en esta película. Está al mismo nivel, alto, que la película francesa "A los 17 años" (título original: Quand on a 17 ans) de André Téchiné, que se presentó en la Berlinale 2016. Me alegro de que con la serie ALL YOU NEED haya por fin un retrato igual de honesto de este tema en la televisión alemana. Para BOY UNDONE y especialmente para los actores PAUL ACT y EDUARDO LONGORIA, 10 de 10 puntos! Ya estoy esperando las próximas películas de ambos y de Leopoldo Laborde.


Golu said…
Thank you for your comments
ILHiker said…
I watched this last night. I tend to agree with your review. I ended up judiciously forwarding. The young men are lovely and nice to look at. The sex was passionless and it seemed intentional. I got a little confused as their appearance changed slightly throughout the film--reading about it I see it was filmed over the course of an entire year, so that makes sense now, though didn't help in trying to follow the film. I went back and did a quick fast forward through the key scenes to see if I could actually piece together what really happened. It still felt a bit cloudy and perhaps that was intentional once again. It was interesting, but didn't add up to anything. Fernando exclusively topped the boy who drugged him, or was remembering him instead of the girl, yet Fernando exclusively bottomed with the boy who helped him. The boy who helped was ex-boyfriends and current sex buddies withe the drug supplier, who was able to find and seemed almost to know the boy who drugged Fernando. And the aggression towards the boy who drugged Fernando at the end made some sense, but not the trip out into the country. I wonder if I'm missing some cultural nuance and helpful dialogue due to poor subtitles. I wish I weren't so poor at learning and mastering my Spanish oral comprehension. Still, though some of the vagueness seems intentional, I don't have the sense of it alluding to either a clearer explanation or deeper conspiracy or mystery. I celebrate the creation of the film. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me slightly of one of my all time favorite films, the non-gay Oslo, 31 August. It was the first film I was strongly compelled to watch very closely immediately after my first viewing. I had to see why I was both shocked at the end and also felt a sense of inevitability. The second viewing was agonizing to watch, in a powerful way. My second viewing of this film felt as passionless as the sex scenes.
Golu said…
"My second viewing of this film felt as passionless as the sex scenes." : This is hilarious

And I agree with everything that you have said. I always wonder about the cultural sub-contexts whenever I watch foreign films, because it is hard to ignore those but at the same time as foreigners, its hard for us to understand the nuances.

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