This is your typical indie coming-of-age tale about a teenager, though it’s clearly working with a very tiny budget. Set within a migrant family living in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, the movie digs into how fragile old-school traditions and expectations can be. We follow a teenage son as he goes through the process of coming out and struggles to find acceptance while dealing with homophobia, domestic abuse, and a messy love triangle that involves his own sister. Goyo is seventeen and just about to graduate from high school. Since he’s been a bit more feminine since he was a little kid, he’s always had to deal with emotional and physical transition from his dad, Ramon, who is obsessed with him being "a man." The only real love he gets is from a lady next door who actually respects him for who he is. The family lives in a Mexican community where everyone works on a grape farm, but things get shaken up when a new guy named Lucio arrives. Lucio basically seduces Goyo ...
Yossi and Jagger are both in military. Yossi, the company commander, is an introvert guy and largely a man-of-the-system. Jagger, the platoon commander, is an open and much more liberated guy. He is the star of the company. Yossi is determined to keep their love in secret. Whereas, Jagger, who is about to finish the service, believes that Yossi should leave the army with him. We get to see how Yossi and Jagger steal few moments here and there to be with each other. An unexpected military ambush is planned for the night. Shorty before that, the couple has a fight because Jagger wants Yossi to meet his family and have a more meaningful life where Yossi knows what his limitations are being in the military. Sadly, Jagger ends up getting killed in the ambush. Yossi finally tells Jagger he loves him, but it is too late by then.
By showing the apparently small details of the commanders' and soldiers' lives, the film creators emphasize the distorted situation in which these men and women are forced to live and die. A few select locations and a small ensemble cast make this film beautiful and emotional. Background music again plays a very important part like in other Eytan Fox's movies. Some of the scenes are awesome. The scene where Yossi & Jagger having a playful snowball fight, putting down their weapons, laughing like kids, having a blast. Or the one after explosion of the land mine, when Yossi finally admits his love and concern, ironically too late for it to do any good. The lead actors give a very strong performance as Yossi and Jagger. You feel for their love and want them to reunite. I could feel the loss that Yossi probably is going through but still cut do anything about it. Some people complain that film was only an hour. But I think , this is also precisely one of the reasons that this is perfect and the film connects. I have seen bunch of films which are stretched for no reasons. The final scene in Jagger's home is extremely tender and ironic and left this viewer with tears in his eyes. Production wise, the film might not rank high up there, but when it comes to soul, it had plenty of it.
Honest, direct, tender, touching, funny, bittersweet and beautiful. This is a must watch. (8.5/10)
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