User Reviews

Hawaii is Marco Berger's third solo feature film that comes to close a trilogy of sorts began with Plan B (2009) and continued with Ausente (2011). It's also very likely the best of the three with clear points in common with its two predecessors. The film begins with an overture where the main characters are introduced. Martín (Mateo Chiarino) is looking for a summer job in a small provincial town. He is homeless, we see him staying outdoors in some piece of ground with his very few possessions. Eugenio (Manuel Vignau)is staying at his uncle's, taking care of the property while his uncle is out, using time to work on a novel he is writing. This first part features almost not direct sound but an extra diegetic quasi-melodramatic orchestral arrangement. The second part starts when Martín arrives at Eugenio's place and begins to perform various maintenance works there. From their first encounter we learn they were childhood friends, that Martín used to swim in the property's pool, but now their relationship will be crossed buy an inevitable boss-employee link. The movie yet does not completely fall into some sort of "social realism". Eugenio and Martín's relationship develops into a bucolic tale, where the ambiguity of their intentions plays a fundamental role. Martín may be in a situation of abandonment, but he doesn't tell the truth to Eugenio from the beginning and pretends to be staying with some non existent aunt. Eugenio, on the other hand, takes care of his childhood friend, lends him new clothes, invites him to bath in the house and to swim in the pool, cures him when he cuts with some rusty wire and, when he finds out Martín has been lying about his aunt and is living outdoors, offers him a room. Eugenio needs to insist as Martín does not want to bother his employer and benefactor. An even if Eugenio's intentions are noble and born out of compassion, he can't avoid, with these actions, underlining their uneven, and, for that reason, somewhat uncomfortable relationship: Eugenio is in good financial position, he is a bourgeois, an artist, and the one who pays; Martín is poor, helpless, working-class, the one getting paid. But, for a good part of the movie, these social differences seem to get almost erased as their friendly relationship grows, as they have some kind of regression to childhood, playing child games and visiting old places that bring memories back (something that links this film to Plan B) I remember an Internet meme about Jane Austen novels: it features a female character saying something like "I love him, but he can't know it" and a male character saying "I love her, but she can't know it". Add to this the typical class tensions in Austen's work and you can see how Hawaii plays in these same coordinates. There are many subtle insinuations between both men, but, until the last part of the movie, it's not quite clear if there is a romantic attraction or if Eugenio's actions are born simply out of compassion, and Martin's out of gratitude. What comes to break this dreaminess of the semi-nude bodies in the summer (though far from the sticky atmosphere of Berger's short film Platero, Hawaii's summer is not an unbearable ball of heat in an overcrowded house but a clear and luminous countryside vision), this 'bucolism' of grass and plants and rivers (water, there's a lot of water in the film: the crook, the pool, Martín's bottle to drink, the faucet which he 'steals' water to wash himself of, Eugenio's house shower) is the coming of Eugenio's older brother, which constitutes a key moment (and a very powerful one). I don't want to spoil it, so I will just say it's a scene full of (verbal) cruelty but with certain honesty and accuracy that makes it even more painful. The romantic daydream is broken (the micro-climate created by having only two characters interacting in the same locations for most of the film is destroyed), the (insuperable?) social tensions and distance (re) appear at the center of the scene. The 'phantasmatic' epilogue that follows reminds us of Ausente's ending, though, I dare to say, with more subtlety and effectiveness. Special mention to both main actors. Berger's years of studying theater and as a theater teacher are noticeable, he brings out great performances from the leads and deserves to be consider a great actor's director. Vignau is in a different register to Plan B's Bruno, more obscure, bereft of the funny arrogance of that character, and full of the required ambiguity. Uruguayan Mateo Chiarino is extraordinarily photogenic, but much more than just a pretty face: the way he portrays Martín's abandonment is remarkable, in his way of speaking, his elusive eyes, his attitude that might resemble a stray dog the has found a helping hand but is still apprehensive.

Young(ish) writer Eugenio returns to his childhood home in a small Argentine town. At the same time, another of the town's prodigal sons also comes home: Martín, searching unsuccessfully for a long-lost relative. Homeless and short of funds, Martín starts doing odd-jobs around town and eventually knocks on Eugenio's door, looking for work. It transpires the pair knew each other as children and it isn't long before they are reliving happy childhood memories such as, er, stoning a cat to death. But Eugenio is homosexual and through his actions (spying on Martín in the bathroom; buying him clothes) it is clear he's hoping for more from the relationship than animal abuse. What will Martín's reaction be?

I could have done with director Marco Berger pulling back the camera at times; he loves the close-up so much that we never get an idea of how big are the house and grounds that much of the action takes place in because we never see so much as a single wall in full shot (this also means that in the few, mostly out-of-focus, incidences of nudity it's impossible to tell whether the viewer is seeing actors Manuel Vignau and Mateo Chiarino or uncredited body doubles). And the amount of shots that seem centred on Messrs Vignau and Chiarino's crotches is bordering on embarrassing. But the two leads do a nice job of portraying a growing relationship that seems based mainly on friendship rather than repressed desire; indeed (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!) I'm rather glad we didn't see them consummate their relationship; somehow, that would have spoiled things.

Marco Berger's Spanish language Hawaii is small with a simple story made into something more than the narrative. Boy meets boy, boy becomes attracted to boy but doesn't know what to do about it, there's a history; what's going to happen?) Berger uses long scenes of pause on scenery, character's processing, and body framing that evokes erotic tension, to evolve the story into an unfolding emotional journey. He's talented at using all the elements of film; character posturing, shot framing, scenery, music and dialogue to that result. The sparse dialogue incites and exhibits complication in human behavior rather than define everything. (Except a scene I thought was clumsy between Eugenio and a visiting relative where the dialogue makes perfectly clear the situation.) I read that disparity in character vocabulary is used to manifest class difference, which was lost in translation on me (subtitles ;-). Class or status is a component of the character's stories but I missed it as a struggle between them aside from Martin's shame of his situation. Intentional or not, Berger's themes are fodder for porn fantasy. However, he engages them as real world, contemplative journeys of discovery, though certainly sexually charged. Berger's use of eroticism is a bit obvious in this. Perhaps because I've seen his moves before, they stand out as a bit contrived. Berger might just be f****ng with you in using setups he's probably seen in porn and turning them into something else, he's a tease. I didn't get a powerful sense of chemistry between the leads. The guys are handsome real world types. Manuel Vignau gives Eugenio purpose and inner workings that make the character interesting. He radiates charm and warmth in simple shrugs and smiles. Mateo Chiarino's charming too. His angelic good looks and almost wide eyed innocence are engaging. He's good as the down on his luck Martin but he doesn't match Vignau's abilities so he's out classed in many scenes. Maybe intentional, but it made question any attraction beyond the physical. I suspect Marco Berger will be doing "bigger" things soon. I applaud him telling these small stories that he wants to tell. If you haven't seen his other films, you should. For me he's played out this toy box. But that said, I hope that he continues using his beautiful voice to tell stories of this genre.

So there was alot wrong with the film. The music in the beginning that lasted for 10 minutes until the title screen, and then after the title screen...the music came back. There was alot of unnecessary music and underscore but because there was so few dialogue spoken they had to fill the silence with something.

This movie is a very slow burn. I expected that it would take a while before they both realized they were attracted to one another, but it all took too long. 1hr45min. I expected 40ish minutes to discover the attraction and then the rest of the film to show the growth of the relationship. All the buildup for a kiss...it left me with a sense of blueballs so to speak. I expected more. With that being said I still enjoyed the film. And it had a happy ending which is very rare in gay films that aren't comedies.

Watch it or don't watch it. It's not cinematic masterpiece so you can go your entire life without seeing it and not regret it. But again, I enjoyed the film.

I've been watching a lot of gay movies recently and this one is the worst so far. I like slow movies with moments to think and with only a few characters, but this one was even for me too much. Empty scenes and silence are only good if there is a meaning behind it. The whole story seemed pointless and so did most of the scenes. The close ups of the guys crotches were so overdone (we get it- it's a gay movie). Everything in this movie seemed to be shot for the sake of looking artistic or deep. But they just copied the outer shell of such movies and wrapped their hollow story with it. So now we have something that seems like someone's first try. There was no chemistry between these guys. I just couldn't buy it. Their relationship is based on what? On not talking to each other and weirdly looking at each other body parts? At one moment it seemed like half the movie these guys are drying themselves with a towel! There are just too many unnecessary scenes in this movie. I think the most important thing to start a relationship is to enjoy each other's company, to laugh, have fun and TALK. The guys don't know anything about each other. After 2,3 weeks this guy asks the other- hey, what are you writing? Come on! And the last scene was unexplained (I guess because of lazy writing) and totally not-magical or romantic. The guy disappeared for a while and suddenly appeared again and had nothing to say. And the kissing scenes were really bad. The movie could have been so much more.

This is one of those films that shouldn't be categorized as a ''gay love'' film. And usually, being categorized is the main reason why the movie was so underminded, by some of the people from the lgbt community who likes to see movies that focus more on human's sexuality and/or sexual/eroticism. Because the movie was being categorized, not many people and/or critics outside of the lgbt community, cares enough to even bother to give this movie a watch. Because this movie is truly beautiful. Remember what I said before ? This movie didn't necessarily focus on sexuality. Yeah it had a few *eye catching* moments here and there, but only to highlight the realistic and ordinary - the life of the two main protagonists, Martin and Eugenio. Yes, this movie focused more on the two characters; their development and history. The further the story lines goes, the more contrary it becomes with the movie's slow paced. Not only the story line being highlighted, but also the out-look and the music in this movie deserves a notice. Scenes with literature meanings, gets you to actually think, not just stare. The music sounds like a silent orchestra, gives you this nostalgic feels, the get-away and the returning to home, adds to the theme of this film. The two things created such hollow and vague atmosphere, that your mind will be lost in it. As for the dialogue, it was also something that feels very close to home. It's intimate, sometimes a little awkward, bringing this movie to life. And each character's dialogue truly highlights their personality *watch to see*, showing the contradiction between the two characters, but only to develop into something touching, sweat and adorable.

This film has beautiful colors, music, and atmosphere. The men are attractive yet don't have that artificially buffed-up gym look, which makes them all the more compelling. Sometimes, I wish the inevitable romance had moved along a little more quickly. Letting it linger (with predictable sexual innuendo) helps keep the audience in suspense, I suppose, but the delay is sometimes annoyingly coy. And I cannot understand why the character who had initiated the physical intimacy in the first place had to recoil after receiving that first kiss.

Yes, I enjoyed watching the evolving romance of these two guys and their childhood reminiscence -- that is until they both smugly refer to the time they stoned a cat to death (and don't seem to feel any remorse). Somehow, this put a damper on my appreciation of their "sensitivity" and made me care about them less. If I could edit out those lines, I'd like the film much more. But come to think of it, the cat reference in the film might be a sinister narrative trick to make us realize that these two guys are, in reality, a couple of self-centered creeps whom we should care nothing about!

If you are not a Latino you may feel that the way they act is not real. However, putting aside all the sexual tension, Latino men behave like that with their friends ( yes, even guys over 35 years old can be so 'childish' among friends while having a wonderful wife and children at home). I have to mention that because for many viewers their interaction is like fantasy or unreal.... but not, it is real