- Desire is mysterious. Desire is overwhelming. Desire is tragic. Desire is FURIOUS. The many permutations of that strange thing called desire are on full display in this stunning collection of short films: Daytime Doorman tracks the burgeoning desire between Marcelo and his sexy doorman Marcio. Xavier charts the beginnings of desire, when Nicholas begins to notice his son, Xavier, only pays attention to certain types of boys. The Other Side is about the frustrations of unfulfilled desire when the object of your lust is beyond your reach- literally. The Tigers Fight explores what happens when one man, unbound by the ancient traditions, decides to subvert what's expected of him to declare his desire for his best friend, and finally, in Loris Is Fine we learn about the lengths two young lovers will go to prove that their love is beyond desire.—tlareleasing.com
- Furious Desires consists of five short gay-themed films.
In The Daytime Doorman, a sexual friendship develops between two Brazilian men. Sensual Marcelo is gay, good-looking and something of a flirt. Márcio is the doorman at the apartments where Marcelo lives. Márcio is married with two young daughters, whose pictures he proudly carries in his wallet (but no photo of the wife). For their first intimate encounter, the two ride off on Márcio's bicycle in what has to be the sexiest, most voluptuous bike ride ever. They arrive at the apartment of a friend of Marcelo, who has asked him to take care of his cat while he is away. The first tryst is awkward and not successful, but Márcio, who suffered from erectile dysfunction originally, comes roaring back the next morning to make up for lost time. Their second encounter is all passion and lust, their love-making running the gamut of possibilities, portrayed in strikingly graphic images. The inevitable bump in the road comes when Marcelo and his friends throw a rowdy party one afternoon on the apartment grounds. One resident complains, and the police may be called. As the voice of authority on the premises, Márcio must put an end to the disturbance. The two men fight over the incident and stop seeing each other for a while. In the final scene (New Year's Eve night, after an indeterminate amount of time has passed) Marcelo is alone on the beach and receives a phone call from Márcio. Both Márcio's and Marcelo's minutes are about to run out, but they manage to suggest renewed contact for the new year.
The title character of Xavier is a young Brazilian boy perhaps 11 or 12 years old. His father begins to notice that the introverted youngster is gravitating not toward girls but toward other, slightly older boys. He sees Xavier chatting amicably with a fellow student on the stairs at school and watches him follow another lad walking along the sidewalk with his gaze. Both Xavier and his dad, Nicolas, are gifted musically: Nicolas plays the guitar, and his son is a drummer who is so wrapped up in his rhythms that he carries drumsticks around with him and drums on air as he walks or sits, tapping his foot. In one scene, Nicolas is in the kitchen chopping vegetables as Xavier is drumming (this time on a real drum set) in an adjoining room. The boy stops for a few moments, but dad appreciates his son's musical talent so much that he encourages him to resume playing. During an afternoon party at his uncle's home, Xavier is seated at a table with other kids somewhat older than himself. He listens and smiles at their stories and anecdotes, gazing frequently and longingly at the handsome Filipe, who expresses interest in learning to be a drummer. Xavier is delighted to give him a lesson, and the two boys drum on air, imagining they're performing at a concert. As Nicolas is chatting with his brother some distance away, he observes his son's attraction to Filipe. Then the older youngsters, including Filipe, leave to go to an entertainment venue where Xavier is too young to enter, so he remains behind. But Xavier's dad encourages Filipe to take the drumsticks with him, saying he can return them later, thereby confirming that he aware of his son's feelings and is on board with his behavior and identity. Nicolas asks for a guitar and, ending his recent musical silence, sings to his son. The song is O Leãonzinho ("Little Lion"), and its lyrics speak of the singer's love and admiration for the little one who brings sunlight and joy into his life. At the conclusion of this simple but heartwarming performance, Xavier says simply, "I love you, dad."
"The Other Side" examines how the relationship of two young gay Mexican men is profoundly colored by the circumstance of escaping to "the other side," that is, crossing the border into the United States. Claudio and Felipe coyly can't take their eyes off each other as they ride on a city bus. We next see them together in Claudio's garage workshop, where he is repairing a motorcycle. He confides to Felipe that his work fixing bikes is the only thing keeping him from going to the other side. When he finishes the repair, he takes off his T-shirt and tosses it to Felipe, whereupon Claudio's dad enters and announces that dinner is ready. The father is obviously suspicious and disapproving of Claudio's guest, who is introduced as a coworker at the shop where Claudio works. Felipe and Claudio's father shake hands, but if Felipe is a mechanic, why are his hands not stained or callused? When the father leaves, the boys share a tender moment. Suddenly, Claudio has left for the U.S., and Felipe is determined to go after him. The account of Felipe's travails in arranging his journey and making the arduous and treacherous trek north (paying a coyote, hiking across the desert, consoling himself along the way by wearing the cherished T-shirt Claudio had given him) is told in snippets interspersed among scenes of the men being happily together in Los Angeles (making love, frequenting gay bars, living the freedom and exhilaration of motorcycle rides along the LA river basin). Moments of agony and of ecstasy intertwine. At the end, as the men are in bed together, Felipe is asleep. Claudio wakes him, and Felipe's eyes open wide with a start, but it is unclear how much of what Felipe has experienced may be merely a dream, and in fact it appears he may have died fantasizing about being reunited with his lover during his crossing to the promised land.
The Tiger's Fight, set in a central Mexican village, depicts an indigenous folk tradition that has been observed for centuries during times of drought, wherein men dress up as tigers and engage in ceremonial combat. The noise or "thunder" of their fights is intended as a stimulus to encourage the god of rain to send showers and revitalize the parched earth. Part of the ritual involves each man-tiger harvesting blossoms from a particular type of tree and offering them to his lady love (thus, the tiger and the flower). In advance of the event, Pablo uses a punching bag to train Nico in techniques of fighting. "Hit hard, like a man," he commands. He asks Nico to whom he will give his flowers, but Nico dodges the question. We see the two of them out later picking the flowers, which grow on the branches of trees. Nico scales one tree to pluck a bloom but pricks his finger on a thorn. "Love hurts," Pablo informs him. Pablo will not be giving flowers to any girl, because after a year he is still in mourning over the death of his father. So he hands a flower to Nico, remarking, "Here, I don't need it." A scene in church of villagers attending mass underscores the unique ways in which the Catholic religion and prehispanic practices and beliefs have become blended in Mexican culture. In this scene we learn that another young man, Santiago, is in love with Nico's sister, Lupita. As the festival approaches, Pablo helps Nico to prepare his tiger costume, which had belonged to Nico's father. Pablo paints the finishing touches onto Nico's mask and his own, and we think that masks may hide many secrets. The awaited day of ritual music, dancing and fighting arrives. Nico has gathered a great many flowers, more than Santiago, so in order that his sister can feel justly proud of her suitor, Nico gives his flowers to Santiago, who embraces him warmly and dashes eagerly to deliver his bounty to Lupita. When Pablo sees Nico flowerless, he tells him "we still have time," and the two run off to the place where flowers are picked. Nico is holding a flower when Pablo insists on knowing the identity of Nico's beloved. After a moment's hesitation, Nico extends the flower to Pablo, who seems not to know how to respond. But then he quickly throws the blossom to the ground. Nico pushes Pablo backward, and the two begin to stumble and grapple. Pablo's pointers on how to fight have apparently not been lost on Nico. As the fight continues, however, Nico's physical contact with Pablo begins to look more like affectionate touching and embracing, and Pablo's moves do to some extent as well. Amid the scuffle, thunder is heard, and rain begins to fall. At length, the exhausted young men slump to the ground, back-to-back, drenched, breathing hard, leaning on each other for support. The rain god may have been moved to action by the struggling of these two young men in particular, whose fight is perhaps more significant and affecting than those of the other villagers. In any event, the drought has been broken, and life in the village will go on, bringing both continuity and change.
The protagonist of Loris is Fine is a 22-year-old gay man searching for love. He lives with his aunt, who seems to feel a sort of strange attraction and dedication to the boy. She curls his hair so he'll look handsome, she pops the pimples on his back, and she asks who besides her will love him when nobody else can? Loris has hooked up with a guy on line, who shows up when the aunt is out. Their first meeting is awkward. The visitor lives alone but doesn't invite hook-ups to his place. After some small talk, Loris says "My room's a mess. Can we it here [in the living room]?" The visitor, who is apparently HIV-positive, is disturbed by this rush to sex, hoping instead that the two will simply get to know each other. He is even more upset to learn that Loris, who admits he's looking for a one-time encounter, has a boyfriend, Valerio, who is HIV-positive. Foolishly, Loris may want to become infected so that he can have a full-fledged relationship with Valerio. He and his visitor chat a little more and part amicably. We see Loris one night sitting in a public place, checking his cell phone, waiting for Valerio, who never arrives. Loris goes to an arcade and plays the game where one tries to drop a crane-like device over items of jewelry and watches, trying to snag one and win it. No luck with that, just as in his search for love. As Loris and his aunt prepare to attend a party, he admonishes her, "Don't embarrass me at the party today." When Loris drives to the party his aunt gets out of the car and says, "I'll just be a sec." She closes the door and walks away. Loris is left looking at himself in the rear view mirror. Has he been abandoned by everyone?
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