A good way of looking at teenage sex.
The Way He Looks
Grade: A-
Director: Daniel Ribeiro
Screenplay: Ribeiro
Cast: Fabio Audi, Ghilherme Lobo
Rating: NR
Runtime: 95 min.
by John DeSando
“We have to say the things we feel. We can't keep it inside.” Gabriel (Fabio Audi)
The Way He looks is set in Sao Paulo but could be in San Diego for the universal experiences of teens, especially soon-to-be gays. Fabio and Leonardo have a fine friendship, which they share with Giovana (Tess Amorim), who was Leo’s friend first (an echo of Truffaut).
The film takes a delicate subject, the emerging homosexuality of the two males, juxtaposes it against Gio’s love for Leo, and slowly evolves to a sweet reconciliation of desires and loves. I’ll guess Latino filmmakers are more adept at these delicate balances, or at least it seems, as American films attack teen romance with bows and arrows and bullies bigger that NFL half backs.
Although Leo experiences the vagaries of being blind, an obvious metaphor for his emerging sexual orientation, the film doesn’t cash in on the schoolyard clichés, bullies and all. Even the explicit but lovely shower scene, in which Gabriel is able to survey Leo’s body, carries little threat of repercussions.
His home experience is benign except for overly protective parents and the classroom experience a minor irritation, no Blackboard Jungle that.
In other words, life is hectic for these kids in an almost ideal world, where violence is minor and love can find a home. This way, Leo can like the way Gabriel looks and not suffer for it.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
