I watched all of the film which is why it got four stars. This wasn't a film that gets switched off after fifteen minutes. I wanted to know what would happen, so it did hook me. But ultimately the answer was "nothing".
It was tantalising but in the end gave very little to the viewer. Juan and Carlos were beautiful guys and we see them nude on occasion but the film seemed full of prim rectitude - there was no visible hanky panky. The few shots we got of them making out were in almost total darkness and the scenes were truncated.
One thing that did interest me was the population flight from the villages. There were so many old people there and so few young. The disco or dance nights at the local ballroom were for elderly people doing traditional dancing to an old-time group or orchestra.
However, nothing was really explained. There was no build up to the relationship, it just seemed to happen. It's hard to believe that in such an atmosphere that no one would notice their walks, nude swims, glances.
In between this story was some padding. A group of villagers re-enact the capture of the local castle from the Moors every year. Carlos's father used to be one of them but is now too unwell to join in. I found the legend interesting but having the actual re-enactment interspersing the film, and sometimes at length, was actually irritating.
As there is no real storyline, there is no real conclusion. I had a feeling the film was gearing up to end and it did, extremely abruptly. It's left to our imaginations to work out if Carlos stayed or not. There were hints in the film as to what he would do, but I'm not going to write a spoiler.
It was tantalising but in the end gave very little to the viewer. Juan and Carlos were beautiful guys and we see them nude on occasion but the film seemed full of prim rectitude - there was no visible hanky panky. The few shots we got of them making out were in almost total darkness and the scenes were truncated.
One thing that did interest me was the population flight from the villages. There were so many old people there and so few young. The disco or dance nights at the local ballroom were for elderly people doing traditional dancing to an old-time group or orchestra.
However, nothing was really explained. There was no build up to the relationship, it just seemed to happen. It's hard to believe that in such an atmosphere that no one would notice their walks, nude swims, glances.
In between this story was some padding. A group of villagers re-enact the capture of the local castle from the Moors every year. Carlos's father used to be one of them but is now too unwell to join in. I found the legend interesting but having the actual re-enactment interspersing the film, and sometimes at length, was actually irritating.
As there is no real storyline, there is no real conclusion. I had a feeling the film was gearing up to end and it did, extremely abruptly. It's left to our imaginations to work out if Carlos stayed or not. There were hints in the film as to what he would do, but I'm not going to write a spoiler.
