Los Amantes Astronautas (Spanish) [The Astronaut Lovers]

Once again, I watched a film of Marco Berger not knowing that it was directed by him. And the funny thing is, while I watched this film, all I could think of was that the director of the film is so inspired by Marco, because this is so much into his zone. It's only when the film ended and it said 'Film by Marco Berger', I smiled and laughed so hard. So clearly I have figured out what this guy likes to direct. Movies with extreme sexual tensions and guess what, he is sooo good at these. Pedro, openly gay, and Maxi, happily straight and single, begin a close friendship and pretend to be a couple during a summer by the sea. Fill this with extreme dick and sex conversations with parallels of being an astronaut and in space, the film leaves you feeling extremely horny by the end of it.

Pedro returns to Buenos Aires to spend a holiday with his cousin and a group of his friends, including Maxi who he hasn’t seen since his school days. As they catch up there is a flirty energy between gay Pedro and the straight, recently single, Maxi, and their friends all notice the instant connection between the two. Maxi has absolutely no filter and peppers Pedro with playful questions, full of sexual connotations, which Pedro is happy to go along with.  These conversations happen day in and day out, and they both flirt so much that as an audience you start feeling naughty. After one of the parties and losing a bet to Pedro, Maxi’s punishment is to tell their friends they are a couple for the last three days of their stay and they’re surprised to discover everyone is not only supportive, but encouraging of their faux-mance. How is this going to end for these two guys. Pedro is clearly attracted to the handsome Maxi, and is more than happy to flirt, but is clear about having to draw a line between their heated banter and anything more. Maxi meanwhile is obviously enjoying this game of sexual chicken, but is he just a “cock-tease” or is there something more?

Apart from the ever-present “will they / won’t they” tension, like you see in almost of Berger's films. This time he also explores the contemporary landscape of sexuality where not everything is as binary as gay or straight. In a series of chats on the beach, the sofa, in cars and just walking around the two men engage in a constant push and pull of endless innuendo. They both have sex on their brain like horny teenagers. The film’s title is part of a running metaphor in their conversations about sex and outer space that is a little too laboured (full of phallic rockets, explosions and “milky” ways) but is saved by the warmth of the two actors. This is a hangout movie made up of one long, intense, sexy discussion spaced out over three days. Even when scenes build to a climax, Berger refuses to end things with a definitive full stop, merely a dangling question mark. There is an undeniable sexual chemistry between the two men, which they explore via fast-paced banter comprised of puns, movie, quotes, and dick jokes … so, so many dick jokes. I really cannot remember any film in recent times where you see so much sexual innuendo constantly one after the other. It just doesnt end. Dick jokes are one of the few ways that Maxi can talk about sexuality, and Pedro clearly finds it both amusing and arousing. What’s surprising is how quickly their light-hearted chats evolve into deeper questions about gay sex, the definition of desire, and finding excuses to touch each other’s bodies. On a flip side, this sexual flirting goes on a for a long long time and I feel that some tight editing can help the film. Also I found it weird that when it is a group of friends who are supposed to spend the summer together, we only see these two hanging out all the time and not many scenes where they all as a group do stuff. But these are minor hiccups.

The film relies on the two charismatic lead performances by its lead actors. They are an instantly likeable duo, quickly winning the audience’s trust and support and they do a superlative job. The sensuality and the sexual palpable tension is to be seen to be felt. This film joins the brilliant portrayal that Berger usually brings with his films. Sadly, the version I saw had some bad subtitling for me to understand the hidden jokes but still I cherished it very much. (7.5/10)