Quemar las naves (2007) aka Burn the Bridges

Quemar las naves (2007)

Director: Francisco Franco
Scenario: Francisco Franco, María Renée Prudencio
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Year: 2007
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 7.4/10
Subtitle: English

Actors: Irene Azuela, Juan Carlos Barreto, Bernardo Benítez, Ricardo Blume, Diana Bracho, Pablo Bracho, Juan Costa, Alberto Estrella, Jose Carlos Fermat, Aida López, Roberto Luna, Claudette Maillé, Ángel Onésimo Nevares, Úrsula Pruneda, Jessica Segura, Ramón Valdés

Description:

Ovih dana sam se bas bacio na posao tako da bas i nemam nesto mnogo vremena za filmove. A narednih desetak dana necu biti doma tako da će blog biti malo zapstavljen. Uostalom ima već dosta matirijala na njemu. Pretvorio se nekako u neki spisak filmova sa gay tematikom. Za linkove se i dalje morate pobrinuti na drugim blogovima i sajtovima. Imate spisak nekih meni najomiljenijih sa lijeve strane bloga pa potražite sta vam treba.

Quemar las naves (2007) se može svrstati u coming out priču mladog Sebastiana koji živi sa sestrom i majkom koja umire od raka. Njegova sestra Helena prinuđena da ostaje kući i brine se o majci dok on ide u strogu katoličku školu te ipak ima vremena i za izlaske sa drugovima. Sebastian osječa da ga privlače zgodni drugari, a posebno nekonvencionalni Juan sa kojim razvija jaku emocionalnu vezu koja će ga dovesti do njegovog prvog seksualnog iskustva. Na njegovu sreći ili nesreću ( zavisno od toga ko kako gleda na to) za njegovu vezu sa Juanom saznaju i njegova sestra i ostali drugovi u školi.
Već sam pominjao u blogu kako odvajanje od roditeljskih stega može dovesti do osjećaja slobode. Iako potrešen gubitkom majke,  pred Sebastianom se otvara put koji ga vodi u samostalan i nesputan život.Sebastianova stremljenja i želje najbolje razumije sestra, koja iako je teško prihvatila njegovu homoseksualnost, zna da mora da ga pusti da otplovi svojim vodama.

Quemar las naves se nemože svrstati u jeftine filmska ostvarenja, dobra gluma puna emocija, snažna muzika, izuzetna fotografija i lijepa priča će vas zasigurno prikovati uz ekran.

Mene je podsjetio na jednog druga koji je stalno bježao od kuće. Jedno vrijeme je stalno dolazio kod mene dok su moji bili na poslu pa smo se stalno zavlačili u jedan veliki plakar ili u podrumu zgrade u kojemu smo eksperimentisali sve ono što smo gledali u tada teško dostupnim porno časopisima. To je trajalo jedno dvije godine dok nije došlo vrijeme da svako nastavi svojim putem.

VARIETY.COM
By ROBERT KOEHLER
A son, a daughter and their dying mother are caught between desire, death and yearnings for the future in the remarkably pungent "Burn the Bridges." Theater-trained helmer and co-writer Francisco Franco makes the leap into features with striking confidence, coming up with one of the few superior dramas in recent Mexican filmmaking. Top prizes nabbed at Morelia fest set up the pic for a prestigious local profile, which could translate into fair B.O. on its April 4 release, while global fest interest should be fast and furious.
Unlike several recent family-based Mexican films which took risks with high-wire strategies (from the lassitude of "Turtle Family" to the hyper-strained absurdities of "Bad Habits"), "Burn the Bridges" passes every dramatic test it sets up, pulling off fine surprises when things could have gone terribly south.
Siblings Helena (Irene Azuela) and Sebastian (Angel Onesimo Nevarez) develop the hots for each other while caring for their dying, cancer-ridden mom, former pop singer Eugenia (Claudette Maille). Add in the family's snooping maid Chaya (Aida Lopez); the awkward homoerotic impulses Sebastian feels for the new boy at school, Juan (Bernardo Benitez); and the familiar tropes of a sprawling bourgeois manse on the edge of decay and the oppressive atmosphere of Sebastian's Catholic-run school, and the film would seem awash in cliches and narrative minefields.
Instead, Franco and screenwriter Maria Renee Prudencio find a groove early on that keeps the film hopping with the unexpected, hinging everything on the volatile emotions of a pair of teens on the precipice of major life changes. A fascinating tension results from how 19-year-old Helena, the eldest, must stay at home, while Sebastian, who's still in school, is free to roam and possibly connect with a companion -- even a potentially dangerous character like Juan. Helena stews in the old house (rendered as a perfect place for eavesdropping by Lizette Ponce's ingenious production design) while he plays, and hidden jealousies between the pair explode in the pic's second half, after mom dies and the fate of the house is unsure.
At this point, "Burn the Bridges" taps into a new energy source, ushering in a fresh set of problems involving rich kid Ismael (Ramon Valdes) -- who also has repressed desires for Sebastian -- and young Aurora (Jessica Segura) -- who rents a room in the house.
Though it never pushes its tone toward overt black comedy, pic carries strong reverberations from the earliest and latest films of Marco Bellocchio -- the wild nature of family units, the powerful position held by the youngest male and the urge for freedom in a heavy Catholic atmosphere, all captured with vibrant and brawny cinematic technique.
Franco elicits amazing perfs from his generally young cast, with Azuela and Nevarez vividly capturing teen dizziness, creative impulses and sexual indecisiveness. Benitez, Valdes and Segura keep the film operating on a giddy and highly engaging level.
Lenser Alejandro Giacoman's subdued use of color is just one of the film's subtle strokes. Locations in the lovely northern burg of Zacatecas are highly original and refreshing.