This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Teenage Antonio lives along with his mother. They are making their ends meet while the father sends money from Dubai and is probably never returning. Antonio is trying to discover his sexuality and his first sexual experience happens overnight with his friend and sadly he freaks out and avoids him. His other best friend from childhood is more supportive of Antonio probably being gay. One day his uncle (father's brother) Jonbert visits. Them and needs to stay with them for few days. The two boys share a room. The uncle walks around naked sort of teasing Antonio. Then one rainy night, he begins to touch his uncle while the latter is sleeping. The next day Jonbert tells Antonio that he was aware of what Antonio did, and confessed that he enjoyed it. They regularly have oral sex but one day Jonbert wants to force himself on Antonio while he resists, leading to Joubert raping the kid. The mother sees it and kills Jonbert, while dealing with devastating news and proof that her husband has definitely abandoned her and their son.
The film is an interesting and different perspective of a growing boy and how he knows he is different. I loved his refunds support and how he tried to educate him about homosexuality based on information on internet. Some of those scenes were really nice. Antonio experiments, sometimes gets snubbed, loses out on friends but is trying to learn more about himself. He has no role model or anyone to talk to while he is discovering himself. Part of me understands the whole incenstuos thing where initially its Antonio who leads on his uncle, but the tables turn soon enough. You can feel the powerful attraction of the boyish Antonio for his uncle. The desire in hisses is so evident and shown really well. So in this sense, the film has a nice story to tell with some good performances. There are penis shots, which I don't think were needed but I appreciate. ON negative side, the film can easily be trimmed. There are scenes that are not needed and as I said before the camera work is very shaky and not stable, which gives a very amateurish feel to the film. The movie has few of the most erotic and well-shot sex scenes involving adolescent homosexuality; they not only seem so genuine and real, they are acted with such finesse that we almost feel guilty to be witnessing their private moments. (6/10)
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