In my continuing quest to learn more Spanish, I've decided to catch this film at the Broadway Cinematheque - one of the theaters that show art films. Entitled "Reinas" or "Queens", his movie is dubbed as a "Spanish Art House favorite" since it was directed by one of Spain's bad/bright boys of cinema - Manuel Gomez Perreira.
Judging by the film's synopsis - the story of 3 gay couples getting married, and their mothers weighing in on the celebration - you'd think that "Queens" would refer to the gay guys in the story. Once you watch the film, though, you realize that the title refers to their mothers.
The 5 mothers, each from different socio-economic and political backgrounds, try to cope with their sons' homosexuality and marriage in their own quirky ways. In an "art imitating life" twist, we see that the different mothers have a different level of acceptance. Some of them are fag-hags, others are homophobic, while some others are just oblivious to the entire thing.
The most accepting would be Ofelia, who doesn't give an R.A. whether his son Oscar is macking his boyfriend Miguel in her presence. She's also the one who eggs the two guys to try and resolve their differences each time they fight. Magda, Miguel's mom, is a kick-ass chick in a power suit who's more concerned about her business rather than her son. Ergo, her apathy doubles as acceptance in this case. Nuria, the mother of Narciso, is a historian who gladly embraces her son's homosexuality. She even preaches how the greatest men in history had homosexual affairs, which are known and accepted by their wives. Among those she rattles off are: Alexander the Great, Ramses, Attila the Hun and Julius Ceasar. In the middle would be Carmen, the actress who has accepted the fact that her unico hijo - Rafa - is gay. What she's worried about is his future after getting married to Jonas - the son of their gardener. At the back of her mind, Carmen feels that Jonas is only after Rafa's money. And finishing up the list as the most homophobic of them all is Helena - a judge who is more devoted to her job than her family. Mother to Hugo, she was the only one who was very vocal about her disgust with regards to the gay marriages.
These 5 sub-stories are neatly and tightly packed into one big film that's well-paced, neatly narrated, and interestingly arranged. The 5 mothers, though run into each other throughout the film. Interestingly enough. they don't know each other personally, and this continues until the end of the film. Of course, their lives converge in the big gay wedding that punctuates the film - they're all there, but they still don't know one another.
What I like about the film is the fact that it doesn't try too hard to tie up all loose ends. While the ending is a positive one, it's not the "deliriously happy ending" that a lot of Hollywood films wrap up their films with. It's the kind of film that makes you think a step beyond - once the credits start rolling, you begin to wonder what will happen after that last scene. This happens because you know there are still a number of unresolved issues after the finale.
What I like about watching the film is that I realized how much I missed studying the Spanish language. Upon hearing the dialogues, it made me realize that I should really learn more Spanish, because if I just put my heart and attention into it, my command of the language will be better. At times, I didn't even need to look at the subtitles to understand what they were saying. In one scene, there were no English subtitles, but I got the joke and laughed. And according to my anfitrion in Mexico, if you can tell and understand a joke in Spanish, that means you're good with that language. I've done both, so I'll take that as a good sign.
I can't wait 'til they show another Spanish film in Hong Kong. Heck, I can't wait 'til I go back to Spain next year!
